Posts Tagged ‘getting involved’

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My Invisible Library

September 15th, 2011 by SaskCulture

Below is a blog entry by Paul Wilson, an active Culture Days Animateur in Saskatchewan. Paul is a writer and publisher, and has been engaging the public through an exercise of creating an “Invisible Library”.


I’ve been writing poetry since I was a baffled teen, about forty years. I have published four books of poetry and have just completed my fifth collection, “The Invisible Library”. I am also a culture worker, editor, and publisher (Hagios Press). Currently I have the best summer job ever as an Artist Animateur for SaskCulture promoting Culture Days, September 30, October 1 and 2, 2011. Culture Days is a celebration of arts and cultural involvement from coast to coast to coast in Canada. I’m proud to be one of its champions this year. for the last three years as I have worked on a poetry manuscript titled “The Invisible Library”. Invisible books have no substance beyond the context given in the books where they are mentioned. They are fragments of the imagination of the author, but yet somehow they light a flame in the imagination of the reader. What would that book be like?

Once aware of the invisible library I began to notice entries in books I was reading. It seemed a short leap from these discoveries to wanting to create entries in the invisible library myself. In this writing process I have been inspired by the invisible library but all the titles used in my poems are original and not borrowed from other sources. Soon the poems I was writing took on more imagistic and metaphoric weight. I found that the concept was leading me into fascinating thematic and psychological territory.

In June I began a term position as an Artist Animateur for SaskCulture in aid of supporting and promoting Culture Days, Canada’s celebration of arts and culture from coast to coast to coast. This summer I have acted as Poet in Residence (at the Invisible Library) at several events in southern Saskatchewan, where I have read poems from my book and engaged people in the creative act of writing their own “invisible” titles into a book I’ve carried with me. The response when I ask someone to participate is usually a smile or even a chuckle at the thought of them becoming an instant author. While the writer may want to pause and think it over, I encourage them to use the first good thought they have. Many of the participants use their own name but they are also allowed to sign a pseudonym that plays off the title.

Here are a few samples of the anonymous entries I’ve collected:

The creation of a book title, imaginary or or real requires a creative leap and writing the title of an invisible book one that resonates, requires employing one’s intuition. It’s fascinating to watch participants as they contemplate and then write their invisible book title. While many have not written a book, they all have read books and have perhaps entertained thoughts of writing one day. They may tap into a humorous idea or one that speaks to them personally and as they do they are also thinking about the the importance of books in their lives.

So far I have collected over seventy book titles in my Invisible Library, and welcome more via e-mail: wilsonhpaul@gmail.com. At the end of my term I will post the complete list of titles here on my blog and the “library” will be archived with SaskCulture. I look forward to seeing your entry into the world of invisible books.


Follow Paul on Twitter! @InvisiblePoet11

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Saskatchewan, opinions, seen, uncategorized, ways to get involved | Tags: , ,

Volunteers Can Make All the Difference!

September 2nd, 2011 by Culture Days

Nazanin Shoja, OAC’s Ontario Culture Days Animator/Coordinator, interviewed Gina Rim, Volunteer Coordinator Reel Asian International Film Festival, about how to recruit, train and show appreciation for your Culture Days volunteers. The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival  is Canada’s Premier Pan-Asian International Film Festival. The 15th Anniversary Edition takes place  November 8-13 in Toronto and November 18-19 in Richmond Hill. Check out their 2011 Culture Days event “Meet the Festival.”


Nazanin Shoja – How far in advance do you post a call for volunteers? Where do you advertise?
Gina Rim – Since the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian) holds year round events, I post monthly calls through our volunteer e-bulletin. For the film festival in November, I post a call for volunteers in September by inviting them to our Culture Days event, ‘Meet the Festival’. It’s a great way for all our potential volunteers to meet the entire staff, learn what happens behind-the-scenes, and hear about the roles they will be playing during the festival. I also advertise volunteer postings through our various social media, such as Facebook, and I spread the word through local community and student groups as well.

NS – What incentives do you give?
GR – We offer free volunteer t-shirts, vouchers for any of the films at our festival, and a letter detailing their contributions.

NS – What draws volunteers to the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival in particular?
GR – Volunteering at Reel Asian is a great way to interact with film and the industry, as well as a great opportunity to meet people. Every staff member at Reel Asian including myself, is a previous volunteer for the festival so we treat all of our volunteers like family.

NS – What is involved with training to become a volunteer?
GR – Training varies depending on their volunteer roles but our general training sessions are done at the theatres that we use during the festival. Chris Chin, our Operations Manager, did a walk-through of the venues with the volunteers, gave them an overview of the night, examples of questions that may be asked, and what to do in certain situations. We try to train all our volunteers with as much information as possible so that they feel confident in what they do and have fun while they volunteer with us!

NS – What role do the volunteers play at your festival? What tasks are involved?
GR – Like any other film festival, Reel Asian relies on the help of dedicated volunteers for various tasks – from office help to ushers and front of house support, industry series and special events hospitality.

NS – How do you communicate with your volunteers and determine scheduling?
GR – I have a one-on-one scheduling session with each and every volunteer. This allows me to get to know my volunteers better, what their background and interests are, and see if what we have available for them suits their schedule.

NS – How do you ensure their commitment?
GR – During our volunteer orientation and the one-on-one scheduling session, we make sure that the volunteers clearly understand that they play a very important part in our festival and that they are the ones who puts into action the months of work and planning.

NS – How do you show your appreciation to volunteers? How are they recognized?
GR – We have a volunteers appreciation party with food, drink, music and some great prize giveaways a week after the November festival. This year, Reel Asian will also have a screening just for the volunteers before the party as well. We realized that last year, a lot of our volunteers didn’t have time to watch many of the films because they were volunteering instead. To appreciate such participation from our volunteers, we decided to have a screening of one of the festival selections just for them as our way of saying thank you.

NS – How do you ensure that your volunteers return year after year?
GR – The most important thing is for the volunteers to have a positive experience with us. If the volunteers enjoyed their experience and had fun during their previous shifts, they are more likely to return to volunteer with us again this year. We already have a few volunteers from last year who volunteered with us on our pre-festival screenings this year!

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days 2010, Ontario, for activity organizers, uncategorized, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 3)

September 2nd, 2011 by Culture Days

“Ripple Effect” is the third installment in a series of blog posts that document Catherine’s (aka Kingston Through My Lens) experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Find out more by reading the first and second installments.

One of the greatest things that can happen when you embark on a journey to make change in your community is knowing that it has inspired change in other places as well. Through My Lens started off as an initiative in Kingston, and has now grown to include an event in Toronto as well as a second initiative to come in Kingston through the Kingston Frontenac Public Libraries. Here’s an excerpt from Jenn’s latest blog post about Toronto Through My Lens.

Over 100 photographers will be taking city inspired images for 10 days in Toronto. For added inspiration, we are leading 4 neighbourhood walking tours around Toronto. Their images and stories will be collected for our Nuit Blanche exhibit in Parkdale.  We are 1 of 18 rental truck installations in Leitmotif and 1 of 5 community based installations. Our truck installation is an interactive city building themed truck.

When you come to visit us on October 1, you are the curator of our exhibit. You will help us design our exhibit with hundreds of city images, then we will  layer your stories and build dialogue. Inside the truck you can participate in storytelling and a photo shoot with a cardboard city scape backdrop. We are looking to gain insight into what the community focuses on in the city and how we can inspire positive change.

Change can start anywhere and from the smallest of ideas. What can you do to inspire change in your community?

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

UPDATE: Click here to read Catherine’s summary blog post detailing her Culture Days weekend experience with Kingston Through My Lens.

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@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Ontario, Results and impact, for activity organizers, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 2)

August 25th, 2011 by Culture Days

“Confessions of a First-Time Organizer” a great blog post written by Catherine (aka Kingston Through My Lens) and is the second installment in a series of posts that documents her experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Click here to read Catherine’s previous post.

Organizing Kingston Through My Lens has definitely been a whirlwind adventure. We’ve experienced many ups and downs, but already the results are amazing. We’ve inspired multiple other photography projects, and we’re looking forward to the start of the project. Thinking back, there are three things that I have gleaned from starting this initiative. They’re my three tips for successful community engagement practice if you will.

Be excited and spread the word

People need to know what you’re up to, and they need to see that you believe in the project. Bring other people on board who can share that excitement with you as well.

Dream big and be flexible, but never lose sight of your mission

You need to have a clear goal of what you hope to achieve from your project while being able to adapt to the circumstances. We all have the ability to be creative, so tap into that! It’s really important, though, to remember why you decided to start the project in the first place, and to make sure the end result is true to that original vision.

Use your connections and don’t be afraid to build new ones

Starting with the people you already know is a great way to go. Further to that, with technology and online media being what it is today, it’s even easier to send someone an email and let them know what you’re doing. You’ll be surprised with how willing people are to meet you and learn more about your project.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

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@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , , ,

Waabi-ma’iingan (Grey Wolf) Traditional Teaching Lodge – Thunder Bay, ON

August 12th, 2011 by Culture Days

Nazanin Shoja, the OAC Culture Days Ontario Animator/Coordinator spoke with Cynthia Coons, Assistant Coordinator of the Waabi-ma’iingan (Grey Wolf) Traditional Teaching Lodge about what they offered the residents of Thunder Bay, ON during Culture Days 2010.

Culture Days – Who are you and what do you do?

Cynthia Coons – Waabi-ma’iingan is a teaching lodge which reconnects people with their spiritual side. We have ceremonies 4 times a year, Elders and Youth Gatherings once a year and a sharing circle every two weeks. At Waabi-ma’iingan, we encourage tolerance and offer a comfortable environment where non-aboriginals can learn about Aboriginal culture as well.

CD – What made your 2010 Culture Days activity unique?

CC – We held an Elders and Youth Gathering entitled “Voices from the Past, For Tomorrow.” We had Elders come from 50 different communities, from all over Ontario. Many people were invited to come to the lodge to listen to the Elders speak.

CD – What inspired or surprised you about Culture Days?

CC – The event was very successful. People kept asking when the next one would be happening.

CD – What do you feel is the impact of culture in your community?

CC – There has been a very positive impact. On the last day of the event, the youth were invited to speak. They discussed issues such as racism and expressed their desire to learn more about their culture and reconnect with their native language and heritage. As a result of these discussions, the lodge has been going to St. Pat’s high school, where an Aboriginal counselor visits with the students and teaches them about Aboriginal culture and traditions. They are also in the process of arranging a sweat lodge for them, since they had no access to that before.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days 2010, Ontario, community organizers, opinions, seen, uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON

August 11th, 2011 by Culture Days

Here’s a great blog post written by Catherine (aka Kingston Through My Lens) that documents her experience as a first-time activity organizer.

If you were to look in my desk, you would find a thick brown notebook filled with many of my hopeful community initiatives. The ideas in this notebook range from book swaps to transit reform, small art projects to large institutional changes. The majority of these ideas will remain just that – ideas. However, within those ideas are scattered a few creative seeds that do manage to take root, and will one day blossom into something bigger and better.

Near the beginning of this book, dated sometime in February, you will find scribblings from the start of my current project, Kingston Through My Lens. In a nutshell, Kingston Through My Lens is a 10-day, themed photo adventure that hopes to capture life in Kingston as is. It aims to allow the people of the community to see where their life intersects with the lives of others, and to bring everyone together to affect change within the city. Every day, participants will submit one photo, which will be added to a growing collection to be exhibited both online as well as in print during Kingston Culture Days. At the print exhibit, everyone will be able to experience the photographers’ stories and pictures, and they will get a chance to add their own stories to the collection. At its core, Kingston Through My Lens is about community creation, conversation, and transformation.

Over the last few months, I have been asked on multiple occasions to encapsulate the growing process of Kingston Through My Lens. The story you are about to read is my attempt at putting those thoughts down on paper, of documenting how this idea really came to be. This is a story of what happens when you give one idea a chance – a chance to grow, to develop, and to adapt to the world that it is born into.

For the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of living and learning in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a mid-sized town in Eastern Ontario with a lot of history and a bright future. Its claims to fame include being Canada’s first capital city and home to Queen’s University, where I recently graduated from the Faculty of Education. Kingston is no stranger to community events, and with its friendly atmosphere, it seemed the most suitable place for me to try my hand at organizing my own community initiative.

Something you need to know about me is that I am no professional photographer. Mostly, I use my point and shoot camera to capture the world around me. Despite my limited experience, one thing I know for sure is that a picture is worth a thousand words. And with prevalence of cameras being what it is today – phones, digital cameras, SLRs – I thought that photography would be a perfect vehicle for my first community project.

The first thing I needed to do was to get some people on board with my idea. After spending hours online looking at other projects, developing my own idea, and scoping out people who could help me, I decided to go out on a limb and email some of the people I found. The emails were simple – I told them who I was, what I wanted to do, and that I would really like to meet them. Through these emails, I ended up meeting two individuals who would both play a large role in getting Kingston Through My Lens off the ground. The very first person to respond to my emails was Greg Tilson, the program coordinator at the Kingston Arts Council. He was the one who introduced me to the Culture Days movement and who encouraged me to make this project happen right away. The second person I met was Jennifer Chan, the founder of a design thinking organization called Exhibit Change. She was someone that I had stumbled upon through Twitter, and who had a ton of experience in community building initiatives. She agreed to work with me on this project and together we started to hash out our ideas. We really liked the free, participatory, arts-driven mandate of Culture Days, so we decided to register for the movement. The project found itself the name “Through My Lens” and it was decided that Jenn would head up an exhibit in Toronto called Toronto Through My Lens, while I would continue with my vision for Kingston Through My Lens.

April was the month where we really started to get moving on the project. The Kingston Culture Days planning committee held its very first get-together, and I was invited to be part of the group. There, I met Aubrey, the Culture Days Ontario Manager, as well as some movers and shakers from the City of Kingston and other prominent local groups. It was at that first meeting that I really began to build partnerships with other organizations in Kingston who would be able to help me realize this idea.

From there, it has been a whirlwind adventure. The past few months have been full of both wonderful surprises like being given the chance to be featured in a local magazine and frustrating obstacles, such as struggling with how to print all the images. I’ve had to look into countless things, from the larger vision and how to secure sponsorships to individual logistics like how to set up the space on the day of and how many volunteers I’ll need. Days have been spent in front of the computer, setting up the website, starting up social media pages, and promoting the event. Through it all, I have relied on my supports to keep me afloat, and I often need to remind myself to share the workload and to ask for help. When in doubt, I am reminded to go back to the root of the project, which is to give people a chance to see their community in a new light, to document their everyday life, and to share it with others who live around them.

In the end, I know it will all be worth it. To be able to see people in a community enjoy themselves while getting to know their surroundings in a new and creative way – that is the greatest gift.

This post is the first in a series of blog posts that will follow Catherine’s experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

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@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Susana – Winnipeg, MB

July 28th, 2011 by Culture Days

As the Culture Days weekend approaches, some activity organizers have taken to the web to document their participation in the movement.

Here’s an excerpt from a great blog post written by Susana (aka Lemon Dear).

The key to keep up with all the happenings is to be informed. Recently, misinformation cost me not being able to attend Winnipeg’s very own Soca and Reggae festival, which I had been looking forward to for quite a while (I must keep my senses more open).

After Michelle encouraged me to participate in Culture Days, ideas starting flowing and since then, she has kindly helped me shape them into their current form, her input has inspired me so much and all of her suggestions have made my projects bloom, so this is, in the very core, a thank you note to her and Culture Days.

It is not easy being a newcomer, and being able to participate in this amazing event is a truly beautiful way of feeling welcomed and home at last.

I am developing a personal project (a comic book!), alongside with working on my Culture Days activities, and soon my tiny flat will be an explosion of thread, fabric, paper and super fine pens… actually, it already is!

Thankfully, there are some very kind people out there willing to inform us! I was blessed to meet one of those wonderful persons (Michelle Rosner) during a Freeze Frame workshop given by the great local photographer Dustin Leader in which I was one of his assistants.

It was a pleasant surprise and an honour to find out about Culture Days through Michelle, and when I say an honour, I truly mean it, since Culture Days is, to me, an open arms invitation for all the inhabitants of Canada, regardless of their country of origin, to participate and express themselves and release their creativity – and in my case, to do one of the things I aspire to with my art: to honour my roots.

Click here to read Susana’s blog post in its entirety.

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@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Manitoba, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

The Elevator Pitch: A Short Explanation of Culture Days

July 14th, 2011 by Culture Days

As the Culture Days event weekend grows nearer, lots of people are talking about it. However, you may be wondering how to explain what Culture Days is all about. Without getting too lengthy or going into too much detail, how do you talk about Culture Days?

An elevator pitch is a great way of highlighting key aspects of what makes Culture Days unique to someone who is unfamiliar with the movement. An elevator pitch is a clear and concise description, and its name reflects the idea that one should be able to deliver a short summary in the span of an elevator ride.

When telling friends, family and anyone else about your activity or Culture Days in general, an elevator pitch is an enticing and efficient way to share your message!

Below is an elevator pitch you can use when talking about Culture Days.

Culture Days Elevator Pitch

  • Culture Days is a collaborative pan-Canadian, volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.
  • Culture Days is a grassroots movement that self-mobilizes to implement concurrent, annual, province-wide public participation events that take place throughout the country over the last weekend of September.
  • This year, Culture Days is taking place throughout the country on September 30, October 1 & 2.
  • Thousands of artists, individuals, organizations and communities are involved in organizing Culture Days.
  • Culture Days events feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.
  • Culture Days is the largest-ever grassroots campaign to celebrate the arts and promote cultural participation in Canada.
  • You can find out more via the Culture Days web site: CultureDays.ca
View Comments | Posted in community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR | Tags: , ,

Community Spotlight: Ed Schleimer – Woodcut Printmaker, New Hamburg, Ontario

April 14th, 2011 by sbattle

As many across the country are starting to organize activities for Culture Days 2011, people are writing in, sharing their stories and what they’re planning for this year’s event, happening September 30, October 1 & 2. Here, we’re profiling individual artists who will be sharing their craft with those in their communities over the 2011 Culture Days weekend.

We heard about Culture Days through Martin DeGroot’s Saturday column in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and we’ve elected to participate to give the public a window on our world and an opportunity to explore the possibilities of the woodcut medium.

For Culture Days, I would suggest that the interested come in with a drawing to be reversed and transferred using a mirror or carbon paper. I recommend a straightedge slant because the image has to be transferred to wood, and grain is a determining factor. Participants will therefore be able to work through the wood and translate their ideas to a print using ink and press. I will show some examples of colour approaches, but the basic exercise will be in black water soluable ink – I have done reduction cuts as well as offset multiple blocs in colour, but there is much more involved – jig saw puzzle approaches are another variant of colour possibilities.

Woodcut Printmaking is the oldest method of reproducing images. Its earliest application in the Western World was to give “everyman” the opportunity to understand scripture through the “universal language” of art.  I have embraced that slant and was told early on, before I put knife to wood, that my work had a religious flavour. Curiously enough, my wife and I now find ourselves retired from the workplace in a refurbished 123 year old church I call the “Chapel of the Glass Stoneman”. We are adrift in this Ark on a See [sic] of Landscape.  In the last 3 years out here, I have done about 55 blocs inspired by the land, its history and architecture on my mythic journey.

Self-portrait by Ed Schleimer

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, for activity organizers, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

Innisfil Public Library – “Where Culture Lives”

April 8th, 2011 by Reuben Finley

Nazanin Shoja, Ontario Arts Council Culture Days Animator/Coordinator, recently spoke with the Innisfil Public Library, which hosted a number of Culture Days activities in 2010. Here’s an account of their experience and thoughts on the active role that can be played by libraries in promoting local talent.


Celebrating Culture Days 2010

Innisfil Public Library is a multi-branch system within a geographically diverse community located in central Ontario.  The Culture Days initiative complements the library’s mandate as a community gathering place providing progressive, user-oriented library service that anticipates the educational, cultural, leisure and other informational needs within the community.  Participation in the program achieved several organizational goals including collaboration with local partners to enhance community involvement, promotion of the library in order to encourage the widest possible use of services, and focused attention on the achievements of local artists.

Innisfil Public Library has participated in artist studio tours and regularly displays artwork in its main branch.  However, through the Culture Days planning process, staff realized that we had neglected to promote artisans in our communities.  As a result, Culture Days became an opportunity to highlight a neglected aspect of local talent.  Through previously established partnerships with arts groups, possible participants were identified. We were specifically seeking artisans whose work would engage the public with hands-on activities.  For example, at the Cookstown Branch, woodcarving and quilting were highlighted and library customers were fascinated to watch the works unfold before them.

Through Culture Days, the perception of the library’s role within the community is shifting.  Libraries are viewed, not only as a source of information, but also as a place “where culture lives”.  Library customers have come to view the library as a destination that will continually surprise and delight them with the breadth of arts programming and variety of experiences to be shared.  This perception will continue to grow as the library continues to participate in futureCulture Days weekends.   As a largely rural population, Innisfil residents can take pride in participating in a cross-Canada celebration of culture.  Participation in this event was worthwhile for the Innisfil Public Library and we will most definitely continue in the future.  In 2011, the Culture Days theme will be “performers” and we anticipate an even more exciting celebration of community talent.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days 2010, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, role of arts and culture | Tags: , , , ,
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