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HomeMy WebLinkAboutArts & Culture - 2018-05-15 Minutes ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES MAY 15, 2018 CITY OF KITCHENER PRESENT: Judy Allred Lydia Workman Pam Patel Dave Schnider Lori Thompson Julie Soulis Aaron Francis Linda Zensner REGRETS: Sam Varteniuk Shirley Madill STAFF: Silvia DiDonato, Manager, Arts/Creative industries Emily Robson, Coordinator, Arts/Creative industries, at 5:25 p.m. Hilary Abel, Manager, Downtown Community Development Mistie Brown, Downtown Marketing & Program Coordinator Karoline Varin, Recording secretary GUESTS: Judith Stephens-Wells, Compass Kitchener Sumaira Tazeen, 2018 City of Kitchener Artist in Residence CALL TO ORDER: Judy Allred 1.0 Acceptance of agenda: agenda reordered; accepted as amended 2.0 Declaration of conflict of interest: none DELEGATION 3.0 Compass Kitchener update: Judith Stephens-Wells Compass Kitchener is one of eleven citizen advisory committees at city of Kitchener Its role is: o To work with the city and citizens to gather input for the strategic plan o To create periodic citizen report cards for Council to show how the city is doing in following the strategic plan o To bring together all committee chairs and members at annual meetings All committee members are invited to attend an annual meeting on: June 21, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the city hall Rotunda; refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is: o To present the results of the 2018 Compass Kitchener Community Survey. o To engage the participants in a discussion about the survey results in order to gather further insights into the community priorities for the next four years o To gather feedback about the 2017 Citizens Report Card process, focusing on opportunities to improve communication channels when developing the next report card This process is part of Your Kitchener, Your Say, aCommunity Engagement initiative designed to offer input and insights from the citizens of Kitchener on what and where they feel the community's priorities are that the City should be focusing on The annual meeting is an opportunity for committee members, as citizens of Kitchener, to provide their input to be consolidated by Compass Kitchener into development of the April 17 - ACAC Minutes Њ ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES MAY 15, 2018 CITY OF KITCHENER Citizens Priorities report which will be presented to Council on September 24th to guide the planning of the next strategic plan The next Strategic Plan will be created following the municipal elections and will run from 2019 to 2022; it is expected to be approved by City Council next spring 4.0 DTK summer programming: Mistie Brown and Hilary Abel The downtown DTK team has been exploring various pilot programming since 2012 There was a need to focus more on weekend and weeknights events The new programming focus is part of Shape DTK 2020 strategy The goal of the programming is to enforce a sense of belonging There are weekly events and also monthly events th The season starts with the Beaches concert in Carl Zehr Square on May 30, which is part of the True North Conference; there will be 15 other activations throughout downtown including music in res and activities at 44 Gaukel Summer programming takes place from June to end of August th As of May 24, with lights, permanent picnic tables, music, free public wifi and games put out at events The goal is to encourage people to inhabit less used spaces downtown A brief overview of the weekly lineup: o ability to receive volunteer hours; each Monday a different not for profit will lead a volunteer activity; partnering up with Volunteer Action Centre o Tuesdays: a bloc party from 5 p.m. to sunset on Ontario Street which will be closed to traffic; each month a different programming theme concluding with a o Wednesdays and Sundays: yoga in the park with Queen Street Yoga; on Wednesdays taking place at noon, on Sundays in the afternoon o Thursdays: Books & Nooks, an intimate night concert amongst books aimed at millennials; partnering with KPL, Berlin restaurant and KW Bookstore; free, by registration o Fridays: music during lunchtime on Carl Zehr Square; using space in the middle under a tent with bistro tables set up around Highlights of summer festivals include: o Two Luna Markets; a late evening holistic market with practitioners, organizations and makers o Tame the Lane in partnership with Google: party at Breithaupt block with games, food and music o Feminist Fridays, pilot project: every Friday, events showcasing female artists, community builders, business owners and organizations; impetus for the project is to support downtown as a safe place with great experiences o More information is available: www.feministfridays.ca The list of events is published in a flyer which was distributed at the meeting and is available at various locations downtown including city hall Feedback on the programming is encouraged 5.0 2018 Artist in Residence: Sumaira Tazeen Sumaira gave an overview of her practice and plans for her residency: o She moved to Canada in 2012 from Pakistan April 17 - ACAC Minutes Ћ ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES MAY 15, 2018 CITY OF KITCHENER o She has been working as a practicing artist, educator and curator since 1996 when she graduated from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan o Sumaira was trained in the tradition of miniature painting technique, using traditional mediums and tools: self-made brushes, paints and paper o She moved on to use subject matter of personal interest, exploring cultural issues of gender and relationships o This led her to become more minimal in style and to explore other mediums such as sculpture, textiles, murals, digital, installation, audio and video o She collaborated with artists on a variety of projects o Upon coming to Canada she became interested in migration, displacement and the newcomer experience particularly as experienced by females o In her work, she often uses flowers as symbols of gender, as well as biting birch bark to use as material, referencing frustration o Through her residency she will be working with female newcomers and the general public, to make art and share stories through verbal or written interviews, about immigration and cultural diversity o This will be done through focus workshops and cultural events in the community: Victoria Hills Community Centre, Multicultural Festival, Kidspark, Feminist Friday, amongst others o Kitchener Post has done an article about Sumaira, here is the link DISCUSSION ITEMS 6.0 Corporate Business plan overview: all members A hardcopy was handed out to members present The aim in reviewing the plan, is to be pro-active and highlight items which are of interest to ACAC to voice their input Items of interest will be discussed at the next meeting ACTION ITEM: members are asked to read through the report and email their top five items of interest to staff Action ITEM: an electronic version of the report will be emailed to members by staff ACTION ITEM: an electronic link to the current status of projects will be emailed to members by staff 7.0 Creative Hub updates: Emily Robson thth The report goes to Council May 28, and it will be posted for public access on May 18 ACAC members are welcome to read through it and are encouraged to come to the Council meeting if possible, to show support Staff gave a tour of 44 Gaukel to Council and Mayor The recommendations that were initially shared with members, have been scaled down In summary: o It is proposed that the hub operates in a partnership model o It is proposed that there is combination of tenant space and rental space o It is proposed that the capital and operating expenses be funded through the Economic Development Reserve o It is proposed that direction be given to go into legal agreements with the existing tenants ACTION ITEM: staff to email link to the report once it is posted for public access April 17 - ACAC Minutes Ќ ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC) MINUTES MAY 15, 2018 CITY OF KITCHENER ACTION ITEM: staff to inform members what time the report might be presented on May 28th INFORMATION ITEMS 8.0 City updates: Silvia DiDonato The FMIMO report has been approved and ratified The position for the FMIMO officer has not yet been posted One of the places that it will be circulated will be via the two e-newsletters: Arts and Culture and Film and Music; members are encouraged to sign up via The city underwent a re organization of its cooperate structure: under the office of the CAO there are five departments with General Managers (GM) managing five departments each; our new GM is Justin Readman ACTION ITEM: consider inviting Justin Readman to a meeting to introduce everybody 9.0 Downtown Action and Advisory Committee: Aaron Francis No updates 10.0 Economic Development Advisory Committee: Shirley Madill She sent her regrets with an update that Compass Kitchener and downtown team delivered presentations as during this ACAC meeting Councillor Scott Davey added to the agenda a discussion on the possibility and strategies around rallying around rapid rail from Toronto to the Kitchener/Waterloo region 11.0 Public Art Working Group: Lydia Workman Missed the last meeting, but as per staff instruction: o Sumaira presented the presentation viewed today by ACAC o There was a brief discussion of possible additions to the marketing plan for the Artist in Residence 12.0 Council Report: Councilor Dave Schnider There is vibrant discussion on the position of FMIMO and the Creative Hub It is good to see that there is support for the artists th Encourages ACAC to attend on May 28 for the presentation of the Creative Hub report or to register a delegation in support Attended a youth forum entitled My Ideal City, where Grade 6 students presented their essays on said topic; encouraging to see their engagement 13.0 Aaron: CAFKA will hold its opening reception in city hall on June 2 at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m. a party at the Critical Media Lab, 44 Gaukel Pam: thnd Julie: her sister is directing a play in Toronto which plays May 30 June 2; all interested are invited to attend; she will send out information ADJOURNMENT: The vice-chair adjourned the meeting at 5:45 p.m. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, June 19, 4:00 p.m., Conestoga Room April 17 - ACAC Minutes Ѝ