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Home My WebLink About2023-06-22 DAAC Minutes Downtown Action & Advisory Committee Minutes Thursday, June 22, 20234:00 p.m. Location: In Person, City Hall (Schmalz room) In Attendance Brandon Van Dam, Sandra Castle, Jeannette Makad, William Turman, Annabelle Girard, Darren Becks, Debbie Chapman, Aislinn Clancy, Thea Mistry Meeting Called to Order: 4:04pm Disclosure of Pecuniary Interests: Nothing to declare Agenda Items 1. Welcome, Land Acknowledgment and DAAC Business a. Accept May minutes (with corrected attendance) 2. Culture Plan Presentation Emily Robson, Manager, Arts & Creative Industries, Economic Development, City of Kitchener (4:07pm) - Emily Robson introduced herself and gave some background about the Culture Plan process - Exploring what makes it possible to people to make art here - One of the things the Downtown visioning work is focusing on is vitality and people on the street we are also interested in these things - Early engagement process across the Region to come up with common themes/findings/opportunities/challenges that each participating municipality can take and figure out how to address with their own assets and resources - These are early directions/findings that we are hearing (presentation is attached) - Wanted to hear from people we havent heard from before, prioritizing equity deserving communities and key contacts with one on one interviews and focus groups - Kitchener is recognized as being more supportive and willing to take bigger risks then other municipalities, and is perceived to have more resources for art (but there is a gap in who is able to access those resources) - In the art community, Kitchener and Waterloo are perceived as having a similar practitioner experience - Kitchener feels like a close-knit community, but those networks can feel closed off - A missing central hub where people can collaborate and share resources Areas for further investigation (interested in DAAC perspective): - What would it mean to have culture as part of the Citys identity? - What have we learned from past attempts at addressing the issue of needing better promotion/communication? - What is meant by a central hub? What does this look/feel like? How might they offer access to resources/networks? - What of this resonates? Does it make sense? Where is there intersection with Downtown? - What questions do you have? What do you believe is important about having a central hub downtown? - Question: Are we looking at this through the eyes of a consumer or an artist? (Give feedback from whatever perspective you are coming from) DAAC conversation: - Downtown should have a hub for art. - The office scene has obviously dropped a bit. How do we make DT a thriving community at all hours? Arts and Culture plays an important role in this. - Music, theatre, but also visual art! - There is stuff (Conrad, KWAG), but it doesnt feel to people like there are centres for art available. - Button Factory, Globe Studios, 44 Gaukel if I go into 44 Gaukel, I run into a bunch of doors/walls. How does the art community find out how to participate in event there? We need a space that is more open to the public. Does such a space exist? o The Theatre Centre in Toronto is often mentioned as an example of a place people like. Run by a co-op of theatre companies. On the main floor there is a coffee shop and its open to the public. o The Power Plant, the Distillery District there are shops where people can purchase art from local artists (what if 44 Gaukel had a shop where the artists there could sell things?) o The recent artisan markets Downtown have been well attended. There is demand. o Like Launch in Waterloo, could partner with Developers first floor for retail, but also integrated in the building is arts and performance space. - Arts and Culture has to also include the Culture part different cultural groups, support organizations, more diverse groups. Idea: the old Manulife (something like that could be owned by the City and rented to a coop of artist and community groups.) - A haves and haves not situation locally about space and funding. Reputable artists who have stopped trying to apply for funding because of cultural/linguistic challenges with the process. Also related to networking power. o There is a conversation internally about how we could better operate those spaces to ensure they are equitably accessible and affordable. o Important to build into the lens of this work. o Festival inclusivity. o Access to information is critical. How many languages can we provide to access these grants? - Arts and Culture is already part of DTKs identity. More of this! - How do we communicate with new Downtown residents about whats happening? o Get most info from Influencers. - Next steps: report going to Council in August o Meeting with her team to design engagement for working groups for this next phase. o Emily will send an update and can come back in the Fall 3. Draft DTK Vision and Principles Darren Becks and William Turman (4:40pm) DAAC provided feedback on the most recent draft of the vision statement for Downtown Kitchener, proposed by the consultants on this project, LURA. Using the new survey for the DTK Vision Engage page as a template, Thea took detailed notes of DAACs input, and will pass this along to LURA. Thea will also share the link to the survey once the DTK Vision Engage page is updated, for members to comment further. DAACs unanimous input: - Hire a local poet/artist/writer to work through it and write something interesting. - The vision must conjure feelings. - The vision must be more ambitious/aspirational. - The vision must be more specific to Downtown Kitchener. Motion to support 4 recommendations to LURA about the DTK vision and principles draft (unanimously approved) 4. DAAC Business a. DAAC Term of Reference check-in (5:15pm) - The plan was to take the commenting online, to share the document using Google Drive (Brandon has sent the invitation) o Deadline for comments: July 22 (Thea will send a reminder) - It would be helpful to understand how to make this work beneficial to EcDev and Council - Focus and value-add activity so that this work is meaningful. Actionable work. - The committee exists in a middle space where we arent staff but were a group that can push things. - Could be useful to see the terms of reference for the Downtown Community Working Group. - Darren and Thea will speak to Clerks to get guidance around what we can and cannot edit, and will bring DAACs comments to the Director of EcDev to review prior to our next meeting in September. b. Wn DTK - An animated conversation about all the new things we are excited about in DTK, including - Four All update - Both fried chicken places are open - Odd Duck is open! (Above living wage employer with no tip model) - New Portuguese chicken place next to Humble Lotus - More wayfinding is being added downtown - Eby Street gates (test concept with hope to someday add them on King Street) - DTK 2023 series and upcoming events Adjournment - 5:38pm