• Blink
• Words
• Porchapalooza
• Pop Up Arts
• New Moon Afternoon

Artsweek 2016 events are organized by our intrepid Program Director Laurel Paluck, who describes Artsweek 2016 this way:

ARTSWEEK IS…
BOLD quiet INTENSE playful SERIOUS mysterious INTELLIGENT delirious
MAGICAL practical EMOTIONAL curious DEMANDING rewarding…
ARTSWEEK IS a thought-provoking, soul-evoking journey into the heart and soul of Peterborough. 
It’s all true and it wouldn’t be possible without the Artsweek Team, dozens of individuals and the 85 collaborating businesses and organizations that we are calling Planet Artsweek.  You can find out more about Artsweek 2016 at artsweekptbo.com or check out the Artsweek Facebook page.  The web site is live now and the Program will be the centre spread in ECMagazine’s September issue, available at all the usual spots on September 7th.
 
On the Advocacy Front
City of Peterborough
EC3 made a presentation to the City of Peterborough’s Budget Committee in July this summer.  We were fortunate to work with Katherine Carleton of Orchestras Canada (headquartered here in Peterborough) and Blair MacKenzie, (Peterborough Symphony Orchestra).  After consultation with a number of groups and individuals, we focused our “ask” on a 10% increase to the Community Investment Grants Program.  Follow up will continue this fall.
 
Federal Government
EC3 represents the local arts, culture and heritage community on MP Maryam Monseff’s innovative Social, Cultural and Arts Development Council.  This is an advisory group and EC3 has been in touch with numerous organizations in the City to get information and ideas to inform the work of this committee.  It’s a unique opportunity to speak to our MP, who is a Cabinet Minister, about what federal programs and policies are crucial to our sector and what direction we would like to see the Government of Canada take.
 
Professional Development
We are currently putting the finishing touches on the Professional Development program for the fall and are planning an in-depth marketing seminar with Jennifer Murray of Porchlight Consulting.  Watch for further details coming soon from EC3.
 
New Subscribers
This will be the first time some of you are receiving a missive from EC3.  If you want to continue to hear from us and stay in the loop, do nothing and if you don’t want to, please Unsubscribe.
 
See you all at Artsweek!

ARTS VETERAN TO LEAD ELECTRIC CITY CULTURE COUNCIL

​Peterborough, ON –The Board of Directors of the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) is very pleased to announce that Su Ditta has been hired as Executive Director of this important arts service organization.  Su has been an effective and important leader in arts management nationally and locally and was recently named to Peterborough’s Pathway of Fame for her outstanding contribution to the arts in Peterborough. 

Su has previously held positions as Executive Director of the Canadian Images Film and Video Festival, Associate Curator at the National Gallery of Canada, Head of the Media Arts Section of the Canada Council for the Arts and Adjunct Curator, Media Arts at the Oakville Galleries.  She also previously managed the Media, Visual and Interarts component of the Flying Squad Program, an organizational and management capacity building program at the Canada Council for the Arts.  She has worked as manager of numerous non-profit arts organizations, including Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise, the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts, Canadian Images Film and Video Festival and locally for Arbor Theatre and Artspace.  An award winning Media Arts curator, she has worked with dozens of art galleries across Canada and served as an advisor to multiple federal, provincial and municipal agencies and arts councils.

Ms. Ditta graduated from Trent University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Studies and Canadian Studies.  Originally from Toronto, she has lived in Peterborough for many years and freely contributed her expertise to the community through her Board involvement with Artspace, the Art Gallery of Peterborough, the Arts, Culture, Heritage and Advisory Committee, the Community Grants Committee, and as co-founder of Peterborough’s Artsweek and Benchmarks, a major public art project celebrating Peterborough’s 100th anniversary. Su was a founding director and served as Vice Chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough. 

Su Ditta has developed and delivered multiple grant and awards programs and led or been a member of more than 60 juries.  She has taken an advocacy leadership role for the benefit of many arts organizations and other cultural projects and supported numerous efforts to advance the recognition of women artists and achieve racial equality and cultural diversity in the arts in Canada.  Her work as private management consultant at Wild Ideas further extends her knowledge, expertise and specialized skills to assist community-based organizations in achieving growth and stability.
The Electric City Culture Council, more commonly known as EC3, is proud to have Su Ditta at the helm as Executive Director, knowing that her knowledge, her expertise, her past passionate advocacy for artists and arts organizations will provide strong and effective leadership, helping to make EC3 a dynamic and essential part of the Peterborough community.
For Further Information: 
Call: 705 749 9101 or electriccitycc@gmail.com

For the first time in Peterborough, a showcase of short films by filmmakers with disabilities will be screened at Trent University, entitled CRIPCUTS. Presented by Tangled Art + Disability in collaboration with The Electric City Culture Council and ReFrame Film Festival, with community partners Trent Accessibility Services and Trent Active Minds, CRIPCUTS highlights films from across the globe exploring themes of discrimination, institutionalization, accessibility, mental health, and why it’s okay to own many, many cats.

The filmmakers, and content of the films span across experiences of disability, race culture, gender, sexuality, and nationality, as CRIPCUTS: Short Films Exploring Disability and Difference is as diverse as the global disability community itself.

The short films of CRIP CUTS will be followed by a fantastic panel of filmmakers from the screening, moderated by jes sasche, long time contributor to Disability Arts in Peterborough!

CRIP CUTS Panel:

ALI SAEEDI – Tokens of Exclusions
Ali Saeedi – I am a Deaf Iranian-Canadian actor and film maker aspiring to one day start my own media company. I have written, acted and been an assistant director in many films and theatre productions, and I have taken courses in motion picture production and cinematography at Ryerson University. I know the fundamentals of editing and I have a diploma in make-up and special effects. I am eager to take advantage of other learning opportunities, especially since it has been difficult for me to participate in workshops and gain mainstream volunteering, because people have been unwilling to accommodate my language needs (ASL-English interpretation). I am passionate about media and dedicated to my craft. I very interested in people and culture. I would greatly appreciate this opportunity as I have so many creative ideas and talents to share with the world.

CANDICE LEIGHA – Tokens of Exclusion
Candice Leigha is an emerging artist with 10 years of experience working in the disability rights movement. Candice made several short films in 2011, when she was supporting local disability organizations in southern Africa through her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). However, Tokens of Exclusion is her first publically screened film. She is currently working on an short animated film about the experience of being put on psychotropic medication as an adolescent, which speaks to the pathologization of people and the importance of having person centred indicators of success in the mental health systems.

ROMEO PIERRE – In the Dark Night
Romeo is a multidisciplinary artist, musician and performer passionate about the performing arts and trans-activism. He uses his experiences of growing up with an intellectual disability and being a trans man to inform activism around issues of intimacy and disability. He is a co-researcher in the Reimagining Parenting Possibilities project, and has presented work in national and international contexts.

JES SACHSE – Panel Moderator 
jes sachse is a genderqueer visual artist, writer and curator obsessed with disability culture, public art, the post-industrial malaise of twenty-somethings living and breathing in toronto, and puns. Foremost a storyteller, they use sarcasm and contradiction to juxtapose disability archetypes with self-representations, to pervade public and private spaces and present audiences with the invitation to look.
Through the use of an interdisciplinary array of media, sachse has presented work on the international stage, including their recent curating of a unique disability arts program Kriptonite for Peterborough’s Artsweek in 2012, and 2011. They have also been working closely with other Toronto-based disabled artists, facilitating a CHIR funded digital story-telling initiative, Project ReVision, since 2011. sachse’s work has been featured in publications such as WORN Fashion Journal, The Toronto Tempest, Ryerson Free Press, The Toronto Star, Abilities Magazine, NOW Magazine, Xtra, Eye Weekly, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

This event will be held in an accessible location. ASL interpretation and attendant care provided. Audio description provided for visual art exhibition and film. Film also includes captions. We request that you assist us in making a scent-free space.