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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-07-002 - Cultural Capitals of Canada - Kitchener ApplicationKITC~R Community Services REPORT Report To: Community Services Committee Date of Meeting: January 8, 2007 Submitted By: Cheryl York, Arts/Culture Co-ordinator Ext 3381 Prepared By: Cheryl York Ward(s) Involved: All Date of Report: December 13, 2006 Report No.: CSD-07-002 Subject: CULTURAL CAPITALS OF CANADA - KITCHENER APPLICATION RECOMMENDATION: That further to the motion adopted by Council at its meeting of September 11, 2006 regarding the Cultural Capitals of Canada program as outlined in Community Services Department report CSD-06-092, the 25% share of the projected program budget up to a maximum amount of $667,000, be approved with funding to be provided in 2007, 2008 and 2009 Capital budgets and forecast. BACKGROUND: Further to CSD-06-092, considered and approved by Council on September 11, 2006, CSD-07- 02 requests the new Council's ratification of the allocation of funds to the Cultural Capitals of Canada project. Kitchener's application to the Department of Canadian Heritage program was endorsed in principle and submitted to Canadian Heritage on the understanding that ratification of financial support would be considered, decided and communicated by the new Council prior to January 13, 2007. REPORT: The Kitchener application was sent to the Department of Canadian Heritage by the October 15, 2006 deadline. A letter accompanied the submission, explaining that 2006 was an election year in Ontario and therefore the outgoing Council was only able to endorse the application in principle. Subject to funding, the following projects are proposed for the 2009 program year: CSD-07-02 Page 2 a) IMPACT -International Multicultural Platform for Alternative Contemporary Theatre As a new, celebratory 10-day performing arts festival, IMPACT will encourage the development of new audiences including the high concentration of new immigrants and university students in our region. IMPACT will also encourage regular theatre goers to view and explore new concepts and forms of performance and share their ideas and comments. The project organizer, Multicultural Theatre Space (MT Space), is mandated to explore cultural diversity by working with artists from the wealth of multicultural identities who have settled in Waterloo Region. MT Space's primary objective is to increase activity between performance artists of many disciplines, cultural orientations and forms of contemporary artistic expression. The international festival IMPACT is a forum for young and veteran performers to exchange ideas in workshops, lectures, and performance. b) Tapestry Multicultural Arts Network (TMAN) An expansion of the existing Tapestry Festival, the Tapestry Multicultural Arts Network (TMAN) will foster expressions of cultural diversity in our community and build an infrastructure legacy. Through the promotion of professional artists, new programs and festival partnerships, and access to more varied funding streams, a valuable cultural community resource will be established that will play a leadership role in the further development of multicultural policy in the community. Tapestry will expand its program of activities through a coordinated and integrated approach using shared resources capable of responding to changes in the character of the community - year round. Professional artists from the multicultural community, including Aboriginal peoples in Waterloo Region, will have new opportunities to reach a growing audience. TMAN will become a viable community arts organization managing a venue in Kitchener and providing a small performance space, gallery, and office space for current and developing groups within the multicultural arts community. As a membership driven network with fee for service resources such as graphic and web design, database management, bookkeeping, professional development opportunities, and grant writing and research services, it will be positioned to develop strategies for `multicultural tourism". It will take a lead role in establishing and implementing strategies to highlight, promote, and strengthen the capacity of culturally diverse arts groups on behalf of the community. c) CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area) The 2009 CAFKA Biennial will be an expansion of this contemporary visual arts celebration. In September 2009, the nine-day forum will offer contemporary artworks assembled and installed in public spaces by artists who gather here from all over the world. This event illuminates the theme Grand Assembly on several levels. The 2009 program year will generate a permanent installation, a traveling exhibit, and a virtual exhibit on the web. CAFKA is committed to presenting works of high artistic quality that demonstrate the cutting edge of contemporary art. Through innovative artistic projects and interactive artistic programming, CAFKA invites the public to connect with artists of today and the art they create. CAFKA's activities culminate in a thematic art forum that takes works of art out of galleries and studios and puts them into civic spaces. Throughout the event, guided tours of artworks, artists' talks and screenings of contemporary video works will take place. Afull-colour catalogue will be produced to record the forum. With six years of festival history behind it, CAFKA continues to develop and strengthen. Encouraged by its growing success CAFKA has decided to take the forum to the next level and increase its international significance. CSD-07-02 Page 3 d) Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound The celebratory Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound proposes an expansion to its programming in the spirit of Grand Assembly: "Patric", a cycle of related music dramas created by Murray Schafer during the last thirty years, requires a coming together of community, and an exploration of music and sound within the community environment. Artistic Director Peter Hatch has chosen Patric 2: Requiems for the Party Girl as the ideal choice for the 2009 festival. Unlike many of the works within the Patric Cycle, this one is performed within atheatre -important given that the festival takes place in late April. He will mount the production using artists residing in our community, and will explore the possibilities of apost-modern look at a work that was written and designed in the 1970's. A minimum of five performances will be presented for general audiences who are interested in 20th century Canadian works. e) "Architecture Town" Collaborations for creativity, professional development and dialogue will be the foundation of `Architecture Town'. Celebrating creative design in the built environment, the event's three inspirational components are Architecture Town, Artists and Architects, and Industrial Heritage. Throughout the year 2009, installations of temporary architectural structures will create public assembly spaces for cultural events. Exhibits with partner agencies will be mounted to show the work of Canadian and international architects and public artists, supplemented with demonstrations of how design influences the quality of life in the community. Tours and talks will illuminate the community's built industrial heritage, and Artist/Architect teams will collaborate on temporary public art installations. Rick Haldenby, Director, University of Waterloo School of Architecture will be responsible for the overall project design; Allan MacKay, Curator, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery will organize the Artists/Architects component; Nicholas Rees will develop the industrial tour component on behalf of the Industrial Artifacts Project. Community dialogue regarding the use and design of public spaces through tours, talks, exhibits and the project's web presence will be accessible to all of those wishing to participate. Artists, architects, students and historians as well as the general public will benefit from participation in the project. f) Kitchener-Waterloo Opera's "Tyendinaga" Opera Ontario has two production arms to service a regional mandate. The local arm, KW Opera, will present a new Canadian opera entitled "Tyendinaga" in 2009. With support from Canada Council and other funding agencies (Opera.ca), this new opera's development began in 2003 with the commission's launch. Now in its third stage of development, the work continues to be funded by Canada Council. Composer Tomas Dusatko and librettist ElizaBeth Hill have created an operatic work in two languages, English and Mohawk. Ms. Hill is of Aboriginal heritage. "Tyendinaga" is based on the life of the great Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant who sold land along the Grand River to immigrants from Europe. The transaction area became know as the German Town Settlement and grew to become Kitchener. Remembering the first assembly of two cultures in the Grand River watershed through highlights of Brant's life is a significant creative exploration of our shared history. This opera will be a 21St century addition to the Canadian opera repertoire and, as such, a national legacy. CSD-07-02 Page 4 g) Community Expressions This program offers three components. Artists in Our Neighbourhoods will offer a multidisciplinary artist-in-residence program at community centres. Applications will be invited from artists and from community centres, with a maximum three artist/centre partnerships being selected. Residencies will be 300 hrs (about 8.5 wks) in length. Artists will act as leaders, mentors, teachers and collaborators in the community. Citizens will explore and apply new skills to build creativity and communication. This celebration of the arts will take place throughout 2009. Artists in Our Workplaces will be a program inspired by research carried out by Waterloo Regional Arts Council (Artist in Residence Development Initiative). Throughout 2009, artists will develop creative projects in workplaces (private sector, other public sector). Applications will be invited from artists and from businesses, with a maximum of 6artist-business partnerships being selected. Residencies will be 300 hrs (about 8.5 wks) in length. They will establish opportunities for creativity and non-traditional workshops and build relationships with the private sector leading to new or increased arts support. The work of artists will be de-mystified while increasing appreciation for creativity and new audiences for the arts. Young Writers' will be a new writing workshop series that links young people with published authors as teachers/mentors. Young people will learn the writing skills needed to create graphic novels, fiction, rap poetry, lyrics, journalism and blogs. The successful application of new skills and the participants' later mentorships within their own peer group will be eligible for cash awards. A multifaceted legacy will be the result, with the learning and application of literary skills, mentoring, and the growth of future programming for "The Word on the Street" literary festival. `Young Writers' will position literary arts in the 2009 schedule as well as respond to young audiences and participants. The program will be scheduled to end with "Word on the Street". h) Arts in the Community will provide an opportunity for artists and arts organizations to participate in new, celebratory activities. Following a call for proposals, submissions will be received and reviewed by a selection panel. All events and activities will be scheduled throughout 2009 in order to link to core, signature projects. The broad support and interest for the Cultural Capitals of Canada project, as documented in our community consultation (see enclosed "Cultural Capitals of Canada - Kitchener Application Community Consultation Summary Report") will be reflected in multi-disciplinary events that help to develop audiences and encourage new partnerships. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The potential award amount for a winning municipality in the over 125,000-population range is up to 2 million dollars, based on the proposed program budget, at a 75/25 cost-share (2 million/$667,000). Thus from the municipal and federal governments, the potential amount of program funding totals 2.6 million dollars. Additional funding from other municipalities, granting agencies and the private sector would service a project budget exceeding $2.6 M. Kitchener's proposed 2009 program carries a projected budget of $3,635,111. Municipal support includes $63,314 in `in-kind' services and $667,000 in new cash contributions. The Department of Canadian Heritage's portion is $2M, with additional revenues coming from other Federal sources, Provincial sources, and the private sector. CSD-07-02 Page 5 The timing of the final commitment to the funding of this project is prior to the Finance and Corporate Services Committee discussion of the 2007 - 2016 10-year capital forecast on January 15, 2007. However, prior to that date, Council members will have already received a copy of the draft capital forecast and had an opportunity to see the impact of its inclusion on the timing of other projects in the forecast period. Cheryl York Arts/Culture Co-ordinator Community Services AP