EC3 in the News: KawarthaNOW
February 2nd, 2021
“Local artists can apply for funding for Peterborough Artsweek ‘pocket festival’ taking place this spring” by Sarah McNeilly, KawarthaNOW.
Posted in Media Coverage
February 2nd, 2021
“Local artists can apply for funding for Peterborough Artsweek ‘pocket festival’ taking place this spring” by Sarah McNeilly, KawarthaNOW.
Posted in Media Coverage
February 1st, 2021
Hello Everyone,
It’s January, and we are all working through another pandemic lockdown, so we hope this Bulletin comes as some good news.
As previously announced, Artsweek 2020, Peterborough’s biennial, multidisciplinary, ten-day-long celebration of this city’s vibrant arts scene, which was originally scheduled for last September, has been postponed until the fall of 2021 (assuming pandemic conditions permit).
In the meantime, we are pleased to announce Artsweek SHIFT², a program including both Mini Grants to Professional Artists to advance their work, and Project Production and Presentation Grants for events taking place between March and May 2021.
This “pocket festival” of events will be the second phase of Artsweek SHIFT, which kicked off late last year with a curated, multidisciplinary program of arts projects in Peterborough, both live and online. That phase included Downtown, organized by Justin Million, which featured a storefront exhibition of paintings by John Climenhage and a program of spoken word and poetry readings throughout the city; and Post-Code Tour, curated by Hannah Keating, an innovative re-imagining of accessibility and inclusion in Peterborough’s downtown far into the future, which can be experienced on Instagram at @post_code tour.
Now, we are proud to launch the second phase, Artsweek SHIFT².
Artsweek SHIFT² has two Components:
Applications are now open for both Components of Artsweek SHIFT².
Click HERE for more detailed information, or click HERE for a direct link to the Program Guidelines and Application Forms PDF.
The deadline for both Components is February 22, 2021.
Completed applications will be accepted at infoartsweek@gmail.com.
Artsweek SHIFT² and EC3 are committed to equity and inclusion, and welcome applications in both Components from diverse cultural communities within the City of Peterborough, including artists who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ2+ artists, artists from marginalized communities, artists who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or living with disabilities.
If you are a first-time applicant, identify with the groups above, or just need assistance with the process, please contact the Artsweek team at infoartsweek@gmail.com.
Got any questions about applying for Artsweek SHIFT²? Looking for some tips & tricks?
EC3 and Artweek will present two Artsweek SHIFT² Application Information Sessions online via Zoom on Thursday, February 4, at 5:30pm and 7:30pm. The sessions are free and will each last approximately one hour.
Pre-registration is required for these sessions:
(If you can’t make it, we will make a recording of the event available after it’s done.)
If you have any questions, you can contact EC3’s Program Coordinator Gabe Pollock at infoartsweek@gmail.com.
We can’t wait to see your proposals!
For up-to-the-minute updates about all Artsweek programs, be sure to follow Artsweek on Facebook, @Ptbo_Artsweek on Twitter, and @artsweekptbo on Instagram, and check out the Artsweek SHIFT website for more information.
Please stay well and let us know how we can help.
TRACK THE IMPACT.
Be safe, stay healthy, and please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Su Ditta and the EC3 Board and staff
Contact
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
705 749 9101
Posted in COVID-19, Bulletin, EC3 Announcement
January 26th, 2021
Where to Watch the Reply, and How to Find Out More
This past Saturday, the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and ReFrame Film Festival co-presented the ‘So You Want to Make a Documentary’ workshop, featuring filmmaker Maya Bastian, Hot Docs Canadian Programmer Aisha Jamal, Ontario Arts Council Media Arts Officer Mark Haslam, and moderator and ReFrame Creative Director Amy Siegel.
It was a fascinating and lively conversation, full of useful information for emerging or practicing filmmakers at any level of experience. Nearly 30 people joined us virtually for the live event, and over 60 people have watched it since then.
If you weren’t able to attend the workshop, you can still watch a replay through ReFrame’s website until the end of the festival, this Friday, January 29.
After that, we will be archiving the video on EC3’s website.
“So You Want to Make a Documentary: Advice and Resource List” provides a summary of some of the key takeaways from the workshop, as well as a list of the many resources and organizations (grants, festivals, etc.) that the panelists brought up.
“Grant Writing Tips & Tricks” is a document put together by EC3 following a workshop in 2019 that’s full of useful advice on grant applications.
Please stay well and let us know how we can help.
TRACK THE IMPACT.
As always, keep checking the EC3 Facebook page, @ECThreePtbo on Twitter, @ec3ptbo on Instagram, and the COVID-19 Updates page on EC3’s website, where we are providing daily updates on programs and services available for ACH workers and organizations.
Be safe, stay healthy, and please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Su Ditta and the EC3 Board and staff
Contact
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
705 749 9101
Posted in Bulletin, EC3 Announcement
January 21st, 2021
Hello Everyone,
This weekend is the start of the ReFrame Film Festival, Peterborough’s annual documentary film festival, which is going virtual this year, streaming dozens of local and international documentaries from January 22 to 29, 2021, through their website.
As part of the festival, EC3 and ReFrame are co-presenting a workshop, So You Want to Make a Documentary, with panelists Aisha Jamal from the Hot Docs documentary film festival, Mark Haslam from the Ontario Arts Council and filmmaker Maya Bastian. The event takes place virtually on Saturday, January 23 at 2pm, and is FREE to attend – sign up HERE.
Read on for more details!
An online professional development workshop co-presented by the Electric City Culture Council and ReFrame Film Festival
Featuring: Aisha Jamal, Mark Haslam and Maya Bastian
Saturday, January 23 at 2:00pm
Online
FREE
Making a documentary film and getting it to an audience is a unique undertaking. Developing projects, making funding applications and pitches, putting all the funds together, finding producers, securing a good distributor, getting into the festival circuit, big screen, television and non-broadcast deals are complex and can seem overwhelming. Where to start? What to keep in mind? Who can help?
ReFrame Film Festival and the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) have brought together a panel of experts to help you make it happen.
This professional workshop will introduce filmmakers to opportunities available to them in terms of funding, festivals, media-making resources and advice from the field. This FREE workshop is geared to emerging artists, but is suitable for all levels of experience! This is a great chance to hear the latest from the world of independent documentary filmmaking, build your skills and knowledge and move your project forward.
To access the workshop, you must sign up for an account (no charge). Click HERE to sign up.
Aisha Jamal has been working as Canadian programmer at Hot Docs since 2016. In 2019 she worked as Programming Associate for Canadian and Nordic features at TIFF and for four years she was Head of Programming at the Syria Film Festival. She also teaches film theory and criticism while working on her own film projects.
Mark Haslam is the media arts officer at the Ontario Arts Council. Previously, he was the Founder and Executive Director of the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival in Toronto. He is a filmmaker, and has worked in television as a documentary writer/director/producer. He began his career in radio broadcasting.
Maya Bastian is a Tamil Canadian filmmaker and artist. She has spent several years travelling the world as an investigative video journalist, documenting areas of conflict and post–conflict which has culminated in an ongoing exploration of trauma as it relates to community and culture. Her award-winning work has been shown in Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, UK, South Asia and across Canada. She is currently in post-production on her short film ‘Tigress’ which looks at militant rebellions. Tigress was recently chosen to participate in the Netflix/Canadian Film Centre Calling Card Accelerator. In her spare time she works as a programmer for several film organizations as well as being a strong champion for filmmakers of colour by sitting on panels and teaching workshops.
Please stay well and let us know how we can help.
TRACK THE IMPACT.
As always, keep checking the EC3 Facebook page, @ECThreePtbo on Twitter, @ec3ptbo on Instagram, and the COVID-19 Updates page on EC3’s website, where we are providing daily updates on programs and services available for ACH workers and organizations.
Be safe, stay healthy, and please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Su Ditta and the EC3 Board and staff
Contact
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
705 749 9101
Posted in Bulletin, EC3 Announcement
January 18th, 2021
Hello Everyone,
Happy new year! This year has started off on a challenging note, with a province-wide lockdown leading into a full stay-at-home order. This is putting additional strain on arts organizations and individual artists who are already facing serious financial challenges.
This Bulletin provides an update on financial relief programs that are available at the provincial and federal levels that may help with some of the burden. Read on for more details, and as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to EC3 if you need support or help during these times.
And, at the end of this Bulletin, we are offering an opportunity for local artists to WIN passes to this year’s ReFrame Film Festival, which starts this Thursday, January 22.
Along with the latest round of stay-at-home orders, the Government of Ontario has announced the new Ontario Small Business Support Grant. This grant will provide up to $20,000 to small businesses that have experienced revenue loss since the beginning of the pandemic, and who were deemed non-essential and had to close on December 26, 2020. EC3 has also confirmed that non-profits and charitable organizations are eligible for this grant.
This includes performing arts organizations, theatres, museums, galleries, and film and television productions, as well as any retail that was forced to close for in-person shopping.
Apply for the grant here, and read more details in the Application Guide (PDF).
The Ontario government is also offering property tax and energy cost rebate programs, as well as Ontario’s Main Street Relief Grant: PPE Support, to offset the cost of purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) – read more about those programs here.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government of Canada has offered a range of programs that can benefit organizations who are struggling financially, including:
Business/Arts recently held a webinar entitled “The State of the Arts,” which discussed the federal government’s COVID response from an arts perspective and looked at some of these programs, as well as looking ahead at what other initiatives are expected in the coming months. You can watch a full recording of the webinar here.
We also recommend the official government page Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, which goes into detail on all the programs available for organizations, individuals, and specific sectors.
The ReFrame Film Festival is going virtual this year, streaming online from January 22 to 29, 2021.
EC3 is partnering with ReFrame’s Community Access Pass program to give away 8 Festival 5-Packs for ReFrame, to local artists facing financial barriers. Each pack will gain you admittance to five films screened during ReFrame.
To Enter
Send an email to ec3.research@gmail.com with the subject ‘ReFrame Ticket Giveaway’ and:
a) your name
b) your email address
c) answers to as many of the following Peterborough film trivia questions as you can.
Deadline
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at noon. Winners will be contacted via email.
Questions
Please stay well and let us know how we can help.
TRACK THE IMPACT.
As always, keep checking the EC3 Facebook page, @ECThreePtbo on Twitter, @ec3ptbo on Instagram, and the COVID-19 Updates page on EC3’s website, where we are providing daily updates on programs and services available for ACH workers and organizations.
Be safe, stay healthy, and please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Su Ditta and the EC3 Board and staff
Contact
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
705 749 9101
January 5th, 2021
“businessNOW: Hillary Flood is new communications manager of Peterborough DBIA” (EC3 discussed at bottom) by Bruce Head, KawarthaNOW.
Posted in Media Coverage
December 29th, 2020
“Art in spite of all: how the Kawarthas arts community survived the year of the virus” by Sarah McNeilly, KawarthaNOW.
Posted in Media Coverage
December 18th, 2020
Happy Holidays Everyone,
We are trying to breathe, slow and deep, as everyone is at the moment, rushing to a much-needed break in what has been both an incredibly difficult, and at the same time, inspiring year.
We want to thank each and every one of you who have helped with advocacy, fundraising, provided leadership and emotional and moral support to the EC3 team, and for everything you have done to keep our arts, culture and heritage (ACH) organizations going, creating opportunities for artists to make work and for audiences to experience it, COVID-19 or no.
It is a time of both great gratitude for what we have and for what the ACH community has done to carry on, and a time of deep concern for the very tough circumstances so many people are facing and for what the near future will bring.
Many artists and arts organizations are still suffering, and we are a long way yet from fully opened venues and the return of box office ticket sales, familiar fundraisers, and a “normal” landscape of exhibitions, concerts, performances, fees paid to artists, groups working together and live arts experiences. In the meantime, this community has shown outstanding resilience and extraordinary imagination and innovation with digital projects and performances in every imaginable safe outdoor space. We are honoured, proud and so grateful to work in this amazing community.
Special thanks go out to City Council and City staff for their support of the ACH sector and to the Peterborough Performing Arts Recovery Alliance for their terrific advocacy and fundraising efforts. We are also so very grateful to campaign champion Deborah Berrill and all the folks who donated and are still donating so generously to the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund in our partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.
EC3 owes a particular thank you to curators Hannah Keating and Justin Million, and all the fine artists who took part in Art Loves Pride and the Artsweek SHIFT projects Downtown and Post-Code Tour. Thanks as well to Christy Haldane, Sarah McNeilly, Julie Gagne and all the artists who participated in ESSENTIAL and Conversations on Art in a Pandemic.
Finally, a huge thanks to Gabe Pollock who brings such great skill and intelligence to his work as Research Lead and Program Coordinator every day, to our inimitable bookkeeper Susan Newman and ou ever-creative designers Jeff Macklin and Rob Wilkes, to our amazing President Bill Kimball, and to all our Board members who work so hard serving the ACH community.
EC3 wishes you and all your near and dear ones a good break, and a happy, healthy and safe New Year. Keep the faith. Bring on the joy!!!
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
(705) 749-9101
Posted in Bulletin, EC3 Announcement
December 10th, 2020
Hello Everyone,
The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) invites you to our 2020 Annual General Meeting, taking place online over Zoom on Tuesday, December 15 at 5pm.
If you are interested in attending, please register in advance for the Zoom meeting. (You will receive a confirmation email with the meeting link after you register.)
If you would like to sign up for an EC3 membership, or renew your membership, please do so by Monday, December 14 to be counted among voting members at the AGM. You can sign up though our website. Payment can be made via PayPal.
If you have any questions, please email electriccitycc@gmail.com.
Posted in EC3 Announcement
December 1st, 2020
Hello Everyone,
Today is Giving Tuesday, and we’re encouraging everyone to help keep the arts alive with a donation to the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund. You can donate HERE.
The Peterborough Arts Alive Fund, administered jointly by the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough (CFGP) and the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), provides Strategic Response and Resiliency Grants to local charitable arts organizations working in any discipline and in any capacity (creation, production, exhibition, presentation, performance, etc.). These grants will assist organizations in managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, responding creatively to the current situation and preparing to effectively reopen/relaunch when they can. Your donation will help keep theatres, concert halls, festivals and galleries alive and well, and ensure that artists can create and present their work.
Throughout the day on Facebook and Twitter, we are sharing stories of the challenges arts organizations are facing due to the pandemic. The Peterborough Arts Alive Fund will help these organizations survive the pandemic, and thrive when it’s all over.
If you would prefer to give “directly” to the campaign, you can write a cheque to the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and put “PAA Fund” in the memo line (and/or include a brief letter of explanation with the cheque). Cash can also be accepted with a letter of explanation – but please do not mail cash. Click here for the Foundation’s address.
For more information, email electriccitycc@gmail.com.
Please stay well and let us know how we can help.
TRACK THE IMPACT.
As always, keep checking the EC3 Facebook page, @ECThreePtbo on Twitter, @ec3ptbo on Instagram, and the COVID-19 Updates page on EC3’s website, where we are providing daily updates on programs and services available for ACH workers and organizations.
Be safe, stay healthy, and please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Su Ditta and the EC3 Board and staff
Contact
Su Ditta
Executive Director
Electric City Culture Council (EC3)
electriccitycc@gmail.com
www.ecthree.org
705 749 9101
Posted in COVID-19, Bulletin, EC3 Announcement