“The growth of Culture Days since its launch in 2010 is truly remarkable representing a tremendous demand for exchange and collaboration within the burgeoning cultural network,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.  “I am delighted to see Ontario’s talented artists and committed cultural workers seizing the opportunity to showcase their process and work to the public – helping to inform and inspire people across the province.”

2012 Culture Days Workshops in Ontario include:

• On May 25, a one-day French-language symposium exploring topics related to community arts, outreach and arts education will be presented at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. This unique event is produced in partnership with Québec’s Culture pour tous (producers of Les Journées de la culture), the Fédération culturelle canadienne-français and the National Arts Centre.   
• More than 25 Information sessions are taking place in communities across Ontario hosted by community arts councils and municipalities. Culture Days staff will share tools and resources available to participants while encouraging networking and collaboration in the community.

“These learning events will help local activity organizers create rewarding experiences during the Culture Days weekend and have a positive impact on the public’s engagement in arts and culture throughout the whole year,” said Warren Garrett, Chair of the volunteer task force for Ontario Culture Days.

EVENT DETAILS

Cultural Mediation Symposium

This one-day symposium will bring together stakeholders in the Franco-Ontarian community in the National Capital Region to discuss the concept of “la médiation culturelle” – an expression current in Québec that brings together ideas of community art practices, arts education, audience development and outreach strategies. The aim of the symposium is to present various positions on cultural mediation, and discuss initiatives undertaken by arts, community, and municipal groups. Attendance is free but requires pre-registration, please click here to RSVP.

Information Sessions

Communities throughout the province are hosting Culture Days information sessions, where everyone is welcome to learn about tools, tips and resources available to Culture Days activity organizers. Early info sessions have already been held in London, Stratford and Cornwall attracting enthusiastic participants. Info sessions bring together artists, arts and cultural groups, municipal cultural staff, community arts councils, business improvement associations, local media and other people interested in forging collaborations to organize Culture Days 2012 activities. All info session are free to attend. The following information sessions have been scheduled:

ABOUT CULTURE DAYS

Culture Days invites everyone to explore, discover and participate in arts and culture in every community across the country. In 2011, the second annual Culture Days event took place in more than 800 Canadian cities and towns, with attendance topping 1.2 million Canadians. Last year, more than 1265 activities were presented across Ontario, a 36% increase over the first year’s participation levels.

This year’s Culture Days weekend will take place on September 28, 29 and 30, 2012. Once again, the event will feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes”—and to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.

Early-registration continues until April 30. Individuals and organizations are invited to register one or more activity before April 30 to be featured in a national Globe and Mail advertisement. To register a Culture Days activity or to see who has already joined the movement, visit www.culturedays.ca

For more details about Ontario Culture Days announcements please visit: www.on.culturedays.ca.   Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

Culture Days in Ontario is supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Government of Ontario in recognition of Celebrate the Artist Weekend.

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For more information about Culture Days in Ontario:

Aubrey Reeves

Ontario Culture Days Manager

aubreyreeves@culturedays.ca

(416) 646-7469

1-800-387-0058 ext. 7469

Photo by Erin Samuell, Courtesy of Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Learn about tools and resources available to Culture Days participants at an information session hosted by Perth Arts Connect for Stratford and Perth County with Culture Days staff in attendance. Aimed at helping participants increase the impact and success of their Culture Days activities, this information session is open to artists, professional and volunteer-run cultural groups, libraries, museums, schools and anyone else wishing to participate in the third annual pan-Canadian celebration of arts and culture taking place on September 28-30, 2012.

EVENT DETAILS

DATE / TIME: April 18 at 3:30pm – 5pm

LOCATION: Stratford Public Library, Auditorium, 19 Saint Andrew Street, Stratford, ON

Ontario Culture Days staff will be in attendance to answer questions and facilitate. The information session is free and open to all.

To  find out more and apply, click here.

EVENT DETAILS

DATE / TIME: April 11 at 4pm – 6pm

LOCATION: 251, Dundas Street, London, ON

Ontario Culture Days staff will be in attendance to answer questions and facilitate. The information session is free and open to all.

London Arts Council contact:

Dhira Ghosh

Events Coordinator

London Arts Council | London Heritage Council

dghosh@london.ca

(519) 661-2500 ext.8474

www.londonarts.ca |  www.londonheritage.ca

Photo by: Christian Badanjak

“Kir Stefan the Serb Choir was very pleased to be a part of such an amazing movement. We certainly hope to participate next year too. Judging by the comments, the audience enjoyed the event and we even got a new choir member!”

– Nada Dimitrijevic
Kir Stefan the Serb Choir
2011 Culture Days @ the Library participant

The Toronto Public Library (TPL), the Neighbourhood Arts Network (NAN) and Culture Days are pleased to continue Culture Days @ The Library for a second year. This exciting partnership was created to help artists and arts groups share their creative work with the public. Now in its third year, Culture Days is a pan-Canadian celebration of arts and culture. For more information, visit www.culturedays.ca.

The Toronto Public Library is offering free venues to Toronto-based artists and cultural groups wishing to be part of Culture Days on September 28-29, 2012. This partnership enables artists to take their practice out of their private studios into the accessible spaces of library branches so that the public can discover and engage with their work. Past participants describe Culture Days @ the Library as a great opportunity to connect with new audiences and to build strong community relationships. From Etobicoke to Scarborough, North York and downtown, some 40 TPL branches spanning the city will provide venues at no cost.

Toronto-based individual artists, small and medium-sized professional arts as well as volunteer-run cultural organizations, collectives or groups that wish to organize their events at a TPL branch are invited to submit to the simple application by April 30, 2012. Activities in all artistic disciplines are encouraged as well as those that appeal to families and to audiences of diverse ages. To be considered for a space, the arts activity must be free and interactive.

TPL staff will make their selections from among the applications and contact activity organizers for further information. Decisions will be based on the suitability of the activity for the branch’s venue space and the interactive nature of the activity. This program cannot provide any financial assistance for supplies or equipment; however, participants do receive administrative, marketing and promotional support for their activity via the joint efforts of Culture Days, TPL and NAN.

40 Toronto Public Library Branches Open their Doors

“I just wanted to tell you how wonderful Culture Days @ the library was. I had such a fabulous afternoon at the Annette St. branch. It was a pleasure to work up there. What a supportive, generous environment.”

– Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Independent artist
2011 Culture Days @ the Library participant

The following branches have committed to hosting Culture Days activities. The majority of activities will be scheduled on Saturday, September 29, with a limited number scheduled on Friday, September 28. For location and other details about each branch, go to http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/hours-locations/index.jsp

Participating Branches

How to Participate

A simple application form is now on-line. Applications will be accepted from now until April 30, 2012.

Applicants will be matched with the appropriate library branches based on the suitability and interactive nature of the activity. Those applicants who meet the criteria will be contacted by Toronto Public Library Branch Heads in the latter part of May to discuss in detail their activity and may be required to submit further information related to space requirements, equipment, etc.

Notification and Confirmation

Branches will send out confirmation notifications by May 30, 2011.

About Toronto Public Library

Toronto Public Library is the world’s busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 18 million people visit our 98 branches and borrow more than 32 million items. As cornerstones of their neighbourhoods, our libraries connect people to each other and to their community, inspiring the spirit of exploration, the joy of reading and the pursuit of knowledge for people of all ages and backgrounds. To learn more, please visit www.torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131.

About Neighbourhood Arts Network

Neighbourhood Arts Network is the place where arts and community engagement meet. NAN helps artists and community organizations do what they do best: enrich Toronto and transform it into a more vibrant, beautiful, and liveable city. We catalyze new relationships and conversations, collect research and share information. We envision a Toronto where all residents are empowered to discover and shape the cultural life of their communities. Neighbourhood Arts Network is a project of the Toronto Arts Foundation. To learn more, please visit www.neighbourhoodartsnetwork.org

For more information about Culture Days @ The Library, please contact:

Aubrey Reeves

Culture Days Ontario Manager
(416) 646-7469
aubreyreeves@culturedays.ca

As part of Culture Days 2011, the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC) hosted an open house which featured an Artist Trading Card Workshop, a live performance by Jeffrey and Evie Sawatzky and a selection from each of our touring Visual Arts exhibitions.

Our conference room was transformed into a mini gallery and workshop space, while our break area served as a musical venue.

In addition to an afternoon of diverse cultural activities, performances, and light refreshments; participants were able to increase their familiarity with the OSAC offices and staff.

We built upon the success of previous OSAC Culture Days activities by incorporating the musical performance and workshop with the mini-gallery of the previous year. The content we produced this year was more reflective of the programming we facilitate as an organization.

OSAC is an umbrella organization that enables community arts councils and schools to tour and hold live musical and theatre performances, visual arts exhibitions, workshops and special events across Saskatchewan.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories[at]culturedays[dot]ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

I wanted to get involved with Culture Days as it provided an amazing opportunity to open my studio to the public. I had been trying to grow loofahs as a project in my studio space and  wanted to share the experience with visitors.

I made information available about growing the plants and the methods I’d used, such as making self-watering containers using recycled five gallon buckets. I participated as an individual, but being located in an arts complex helped attract more visitors. While there were quite a few curious people wandering through my studio, there was one person in particular who had seen my event posted on the Culture Days web site and made the trip just to learn more about growing loofahs!

This individual certainly made the event worthwhile, allowing me to connect my studio practice with the public in a meaningful way. I certainly appreciate the efforts of those that made Culture Days possible and would gladly participate again.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories[at]culturedays[dot]ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

We are the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. The Tattoo hosts the words largest annual indoor show on earth, it is a blending of the traditional and the modern as we cohesively sew together performances between military and civilian performers from around the world. This was our first time participating in Culture Days, and we got involved because we saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community that has supported us for 32 years. Nova Scotia has a strong Celtic culture, and all of us as Nova Scotians can embrace this heritage, whether we have inherited it through birth or not. As Nova Scotians, we get the privilege of embracing it and making it ours, which is why the event that we participated in for Culture Days represented that Celtic heritage and taught it to others.

Our Culture Days activity was an interactive workshop for all age groups. We had a piping demonstration done by two of the Tattoo pipers, they spoke about the history of the Bagpipes, the variety of music that may be played with the pipes, and they illustrated all of this with examples of the music. We also had a group of Tattoo Dancers, who demonstrated and taught a variety of Highland dances while the pipes piped. Both the pipers and the Dancers explained their outfits and the meaning behind the Tartans and plaids. The tartan kilts all had meaning and represented different families, regions, clans or events.

The goals that we had for the weekend, was we really just wanted to get out there and interact with Haligonians one on one. Sometimes, we feel that the Celtic Heritage we have in Nova Scotia may be overshadowed and underappreciated. We set out to bring this back to the forefront of people’s attention.

It was beautiful to look around and see the faces of these children shining as they’re watching the dancers, moving to the beat with one another, and to see a little girl dancing in the aisles as she was trying to imitate every move that the dancers are making. It was a small enough group that for the Tattoo dancers to partner with every child, walk them through the steps and lead them in the movements.  The one-on-one setting is allowed the children to learn a great deal.

We received positive feedback from the participants and are planning on participating again next year. The Tattoo loves getting out and interacting with our Haligonian audience, and we want to get a younger demographic interested in the Tattoo. Who knows, some of these children could become hooked on Highland dance and then join the team of Tattoo dancers once they grow up. We had a ton of fun at this event, and so did the everyone involved.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories[at]culturedays[dot]ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.