The Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Women’s Directorate have launched a $2.25 million, multi-year funding program to help develop relationships between the arts and social services sectors in the area of sexual violence and harassment prevention. Artists and arts organizations will have the opportunity to collaborate with organizations or experts working to prevent sexual violence and harassment.  For more information on the fund please click here.
The deadline for applications is Tuesday, December 15 at 12:00 noon.

On November 16 and 17, the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough will be holding their annual Philanthropy Forum to provide professional development and networking for non-profit organizations.  This is an amazing, inexpensive, professional development opportunity right here at home.  So, if you or your Board could use some expert training in grant writing, fundraising, marketing or governance, check it out. For further information, schedules and registration, please click here. 

As you may have heard, the City of Peterborough is about to undertake a Community and Stakeholder Consultation as part of Vision 2025: A 10-year Strategic Plan for Recreation, Parks, Arenas, and Culture.  EC3 attended the Vision 2025 Stakeholder Forum on Wednesday, October 28th and will be attending the Arts Forum on Wednesday, November 25. We will report back to the membership on the discussions that occur.  In the meantime, we encourage you to visit the Vision 2025 website and complete the Community Survey. To go to the Vision 2025 website please click here. 

In October of this year, The Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, began developing its first-ever cultural strategy.  Entitled Telling Our Stories, Growing Our Economy: Developing a Culture Strategy for Ontario, it contains a number of ways that Ontarians can contribute their voices to this development process in order that the strategy is based on what is important to people across the province.  The Culture Strategy aims to help identify the principles and priorities that will guide the government’s support of culture in the future. 

One of the engagement tools for this strategy is the town hall.  The Ministry is holding eleven of these across the province, five of which take place in the Hamilton, GTA, Barrie corridor, but none in the Peterborough region.  EC3 attended the first town hall in Barrie on October 13.  While individuals and organizations are very much encouraged to participate through the online tools, town halls and written submissions, EC3 believes it is important to present a united voice from the Arts, Culture and Heritage community in Peterborough. 

To this end, we have developed this survey to encourage further engagement in our own community and to ensure that as many ideas and opinions as possible are recorded and promoted.  Some of the questions in the survey are taken directly from the Discussion Paper provided by the Ministry and others have been designed to more directly pertain to Peterborough. T he full set of questions, as well as the Discussion Paper and ways to participate in the Culture Strategy, can be found here.

EC3 will prepare a written submission to the Ministry on behalf of our community. The written submission is due Monday, December 7 and a draft will be available for feedback from community members prior to the submission date so as to ensure all voices have been heard.  EC3 will hold a Flash Forum on December 3rd, 2015 to receive feedback on the submission and collect any new ideas. The location of the forum will be announced shortly.

MAKE SURE YOUR VOICE GETS HEARD AS THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF TOURISM, CULTURE AND SPORT DEVELOPS A ROAD MAP FOR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE PROVINCE.

TO TAKE THE SURVEY PLEASE CLICK HERE

On Monday, September 28, 2015 the Electric City Culture Council, Artspace and Showplace Performance Centre hosted Peterborough Artsvote, an all-candidates debate with a focus on questions that matter to the city’s arts, culture, and heritage community.

If you missed the debate you can listen to Trent Radios recording of the debate here. 

Participants included:

Toban Leckie – Strength and Democracy
Doug Mason – Green Party
Maryam Monsef – Liberal Party
Dave Nickle – NDP
Michael Skinner – Conservative Party

Artsvote Peterborough was moderated by Jack Roe.

Monday September 28, 2015
Nexicom Lounge at Showplace Peterborough
290 George Street North 
Doors Open 7:00 pm
Debate starts 7:30 pm 

The 2015 Federal Election is upon us. Do you want to know where the city’s Federal election candidates stand on arts and culture issues? Then Artsvote Peterborough is the debate for you! An all-candidates debate with a focus on questions that matter to the city’s outstanding arts, culture, and heritage community – come out, inform yourself and have your voice heard.

Confirmed participants include:

Toban Leckie – Strength and Democracy
Doug Mason – Green Party
Maryam Monsef – Liberal Party
Dave Nickle – NDP
Michael Skinner – Conservative Party

Artsvote Peterborough will be moderated by Jack Roe.

Candidates have been asked to make an opening statement on their party’s approach to arts, culture, and heritage and to answer a series of questions that are of interest to those who care about the development of the local ACH sector. Members of the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to candidates.

Capacity is limited to approximately 100 seats, so please arrive early to ensure your spot. The Nexicom Lounge at Showplace Performance Centre is an accessible space.

Artsvote Peterborough is a partnership project between Artspace, the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), and Showplace Peterborough.

This September, Artsweek Peterborough kicks off its 11th anniversary with a dynamite mix of programming by 60 new and established artists, presenting work in every artistic genre imaginable: visual art, theatre, dance, music, film, photography and literature, both written and spoken word. The locations for these activities are literally all over the Peterborough map: from Hamilton Park in the north end, to East City and the downtown. There are events happening indoors and outdoors; in storefront windows, cafes and front porches; and along the waterway that connects the edge of town with the center of the city, Jackson Creek. Best of all, admission to all Artsweek events is free of charge, with donations of any amount accepted.

Programming for Artsweek 2015 features four signature programs of work created by artists especially for Artsweek: BLINK, AlleyWatz, The Jackson Creek Project and Pop-Up Arts.

BLINK features nine artists transforming nine downtown storefront windows into unique art exhibits. The works on view include paintings, landscapes, streetscapes, film, intricate woodcut screens, photography and more. Guided tours of all nine BLINK storefronts will take place throughout Artsweek.

AlleyWaltz takes audiences on a family-friendly adventure through the downtown to find five secret stages featuring artists performing in a myriad of styles, from aerial arts to clowns, puppetry and more.

The Jackson Creek Project features special works dedicated to reveling in and revealing the pleasures of this urban waterway that has had such an influence on the history of the city. The highlight will be Sunday in the Park on September 20, an afternoon of arts experiences in Hamilton Park (adjacent to Jackson Park) featuring music in the woods, dance performances and an art installation taking place directly in the creek itself.

Pop-Up Arts are an eclectic mix of music, theatre, literature and crafts. Among them is an original theatrical performance at the Lift Lock; a daily writing workshop in a vacant downtown store where the public is invited to interact with the resident artists; poetry published on coffee sleeves available at most cafes across the city and a series of front porch concerts in the Simcoe-Stewart Streets neighborhood with musical styles ranging from classical to country.

Artsweek Opening Night Gallery Hop and Party. Opening night, Friday September 18, will feature five Peterborough galleries taking part in a gallery hop beginning at 6:00 pm: Artspace, Christensen Fine Art, Gallery in the Attic, Evan’s Contemporary, Art Gallery of Peterborough. Check out all five and finish off at Artspace for the official opening night party at 9:00 pm.

The Artsweek brochure with event listings, a calendar and a map can be picked up at numerous locations throughout the city and can be found on the Artsweek 2015 web site: artsweekptbo.com/

The EC3 is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Board members.  Sue McGregor-Hunter, Michael Gallant and Jonathan Bennett will join the EC3 Board effective September 1, 2015.  This brings the Board complement to nine members and these new appointments bring a wealth of experience to EC3’s work in the areas of heritage, architecture, literature, governance, marketing and communications. 

In June, EC3 was the proud recipient of a $2,000 grant from the CFGP’s Bierk Art Fund to support the start up of the EC3 Arts Awards program.  This program will recognize the achievements of and provide cash prizes to distinguished local artists and arts champions.  The Awards will be given at the inaugural Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts in the late fall.  Many thanks to the CFGP, Bill Lockington (LLF) and Mayor Daryl Bennett for their support.

We received a $10,000 grant in July from the Ontario Arts Council to support The Jackson Creek Project, a special initiative of Artsweek 2015.  This project explores the social, cultural, political, historical and environmental impact and significance of the Creek in Peterborough.  EC3 has commissioned a number of new works from artists that will appear in Jackson Park and all across the city (where the Creek travels) as part of this initiative so, keep an eye out for the Artsweek postcard/map and brochure coming soon.