HomeMy WebLinkAboutArts & Culture - 2016-06-21 Minutes
ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES
JUNE 21, 2016CITY OF KITCHENER
PRESENT:Danielle Deveau
Mark Derro
Shantal Myers
Eric Rumble
Dave Schnider
Linda Zensner
Judy Allred
D. Morton
Kristy Smith
REGRETS:Wayne Addison
Shirley Madill
Kate Swift
Sam Varteniuk
STAFF:Silvia DiDonato, Manager, Arts/Culture
Emily Robson,Coordinator, Arts/Culture
Michelle Drake, Neighbourhood Strategy Project Manager
Josh Joseph, Community Engagement Consultant
Renate Willms, Supervisor of Administration, Community Services Department
Kathleen Woodcock, Manager, Service Coordination and Improvement
CALL TO ORDER: Danielle Deveau
1.0Acceptance of agenda:
Items 3 and 4 reordered; agendaaccepted as reordered.
2.0Declaration of conflict of interest: none.
DELEGATIONS
3.0Community Investment Strategy Overview: Renate Willms and Kathleen Woodcock
Purpose of presentation: to provide information on grants arts/culture groups can access
through the City.
City completed a review of grant program in 2008, which resulted in Policy I-525, about
Community Investment.
Grants available: Community Development Infrastructure Program (CDIP), community grants
(tier 1 and 2), community environmental improvement, community garden grants, heritage
grants, inclusion grants, in-kind facility grants, Neighbourhood Matching Fund Grant, Safe
and Healthy Community Advisory Committee Inclusion and Belonging Neighbourhood Grant,
travel assistance grant, youth recreation grant
Grants most pertinent to arts/culture groups:
Tier 1:provides operating support for foundational organizations and groups
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incorporated as not for profit which providemunicipal services for a safe and healthy
community. Not an application process. Must have received a tier 2 grant for 5 or more
years, and as approved by Council.
Tier 2:to organizations/groups that provide services for the common good of residents.
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Only organizations/groups providing not for profit municipal services in the areas of arts
and culture/special events, sports and recreation, and community support and
development are eligible. Intended to provide operational support for new andemerging
organizations and groups. Annual application deadline is typically the first Friday in
December. A peer and staff review committee recommends grant allocations to Council.
Budget amount varies annually. For 2016: $156,509in available funds, Grant requests
exceeded $300,000.
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June 2016-ACAC Minutes
ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES
JUNE 21, 2016CITY OF KITCHENER
Travel Assistance Grants:Offered to Kitchener youth 18 or younger involved in non-
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profit minor sports or cultural activities.Applicants must have qualified to compete
outside the city in their discipline (round trip over 500 km). No application deadline. .
In-kind Facility Grants:One time opportunity for groups providing a special event in the
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area of arts cultureat a City facility. Maximum amount is $500.
Community Development Infrastructure Grant:Open to Neighbourhood Associations
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and communities of interest who wish to take action to address issues they have
identified in their community. Open until funds are exhausted.
Neighbourhood Matching Fund Grant: one-time matching funds grant to provide support
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to neighbourhood and place-based grassroots initiatives. Grant runs until funds are
exhausted. Arts/Culture unit has contributed to this grant to enable community arts
projects and initiatives.
Safe and Healthy Grant: one year cash grants for one-time projects promoting belonging
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and inclusion. Must be led by a resident group in a Kitchener neighbourhoodthat can
demonstrate an ability to follow through. Available amounts include $2,000 for groups,
$500 for individuals, and smaller amounts for informal groups.
75% of Tier 2 grant recipients are typically from the arts and culturesectors. Tier 1 is
similar.
Access more information about Grants on the Kitchener web site.
4.0Community Engagement Review and Engage Kitchener:Josh Joseph
As Community Engagement Consultant, Josh is reviewing the city’s engagement processes
and working to find ways to improve it. Seeks one or two members of ACAC to participate in
an upcoming workshop to explore further.
Engage Kitchener has recently been launched (an online forum allowingcitizens to offer
feedback, share opinions and exchange ideas about city programs, services and decisions
that affect them). Reflects the city’s commitment to be transparent and accountable to
citizens.
One or two representatives
Today, ACAC members contribute their input by completing a questionnaire regarding the
city’s current engagement processes and providing comments
ACAC’s comments:
City uses a wide variety of means to inform citizens, which is positive.
City seems to undertake a lot of consultation.
Sometimes the feeling is that the results are a foregone conclusion, or that consultation is
being completed for to satisfy a requirement, rather than to collect input, or that the
feedback is landing on deaf ears.
A better mechanism to report back on the input received, the priorities for decision-making
and the outcome of the decision-making process could help. Need to communicate that
community input is just one of many factors that must be considered.
Can the weight given to community input in any given decision be somehow quantified?
City should communicate what it heard during consultation and what it did.
Provide various options for participants to receive feedback on the outcomes of consultation.
Options: a video, and email signup, an appealing visual, something easy and inviting to read
(executive summary).
Appearing before Council can be intimidating. Should not be the only option to provide
input for any topic.
Should identify audiences not being engaged and find best ways to communicate with them
(i.e., students, connect through schools and their favoured social media vehicles).
Must be convenient to provide feedback.
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June 2016-ACAC Minutes
ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES
JUNE 21, 2016CITY OF KITCHENER
The consultation topic may dictate who needs to be consulted and the best way(s) to reach
those audiences. Some topics are best suited to an in-person presentationwith opportunity
to hear the feedback of others.
ACTION: Staff to share details of workshop participation opportunity when available, and solicit 1-2
ACAC members to attend.
5.0Neighbourhood Strategy Engagement: Michelle Drake
A city-wide consultation process is now underway to help inform the development of the
Neighbourhood Strategy.
Additionally, a ‘Neighbourhood Placemaking Challenge’ has been issued. The hope is that
through the experiences of the participants, the city can identify ways to better assist
community groups undertaking grassroots projects.
Today, ACAC members contribute their input to the strategy by pairing up and answering a
questionnaire to be considered as part of the advisory committee feedback.
Staff plans to bring a draft strategy to advisory committees in the fall, prior to presentation
to Council.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
6.0Arts Action Plan: Silvia DiDonato and Emily Robson
Staff is preparing an overview of the status of the Arts Action Plan for Council in the fall.
Arts Action planwill align with the city’s other corporate strategies and plans, and will nest
under Make it Kitchener(Economic Development strategy), along with plans/strategies for
special events, small business centre, market, downtown, and business development.
Two streams of activity in the Arts/Culture unit: arts program deliveryand business
development. Work is accomplished through strategic planning, community partnerships,
and working with municipal processes.
Action planning process: analyze data, develop a vision, anddetermine launch points.
Lots of existing relevant data/community input relevant to the Arts Action Plan has been
analyzed, including Culture Plans 1 and 2, Downtown Arts and Culture Clusterreport,
Prosperity Councilfindings, mapping exercises, past consultations regarding the city’s
economic development strategy, Centre in the Square Mandate refresh consultations, Arts
Reboot findings, JM Drama strategic refresh, and feedback from advisory committees.
Vision--In 2020 we will be a community that:
Fully values creative practitioners(commit to artists in the region, take creative
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collaboration seriously, and invest in innovative cultural startups).
Builds on strengths and enhances what already exists(augment existing cultural
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facilities, investigate arts investment opportunities, and encourage all people to
make, initiate and do).
Cultivates opportunities for entrepreneurship within the creative sector.
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Offers places and spaces that foster creation.
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Potential barriers: encouraging connection, collaboration and trust in a collective vision
within the complexities of the current multifaceted creative community.
Launch pointsto achieve the vision:
Be a catalyst forsuccess in creative industries.
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Recognize arts/culture as an economic Development sector.
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Support professional development opportunities and foster a startup landing pad
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program for creative industries.
Support and enable high impact projects and programs.
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Facilitate collaboration and positively contribute to the development of creative industries.
ACTION: Staff to circulate information, and allocate 30 minutes to this topic on the next agenda.
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June 2016-ACAC Minutes
ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES
JUNE 21, 2016CITY OF KITCHENER
INFORMATION ITEMS
7.0Council Report: Dave Schnider
In response to the staff report about 48 Ontario St. N., Council approved that staff
commence consulting with the community on possible uses for the building.
8.0City Updates: none
9.0Public Art Working Group (PAWG) update:Judy Allred
At its last meeting, PAWG toured outdoor spaces and public art at city hall and developed
comments to inform the outdoor spaces master-planning exercise now underway and
discussed that the Artist in Residence program design for 2017 will remain constant. At the
next meeting, PAWG will receive a recommendation on public art for the Bridgeport
community centre from the selection committee for that project. Following PAWG’s review,
the recommendation will come forward to ACAC (also in July).
ACTION: Staff to send ACAC link to information about the outdoor spaces project.
10.0Downtown Action and Advisory Committee (DAAC) update:Linda Zensner
At the last meeting, DAAC was consulted about the Neighbourhood Strategy.
11.0Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) update: Shantal Myers
At the last meeting, EDAC was consulted about the Neighbourhood Strategy,received a
presentation by Silvia about 48 Ontario Street, and heard from Rod Regier (Executive
Director, Economic Development) about the start-up ecosystem in Tel Aviv.
12.0Members’ updates: deferred
ADJOURNMENT: The chair adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: July 19, 2016, 4:00 p.m., Conestoga Room, ground floor, Kitchener city hall
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June 2016-ACAC Minutes