INNOVATION & RESILIENCE
IN CANADA’S CULTURAL SECTOR

On Stage created a virtual dance recital, with dancers learning routines at home and sending in videos.

The Tom Thomson gallery connected a local grade 9 class with an artist to create a mural on “what is essential to you”.

This project enabled students of Burlington Student Theatre to present their production of Thoroughly Modern Millie despite public health measures. In a normal year, several dozen high school aged students are given the opportunity to stage a full-scale musical at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. With live theatre cancelled in the first wave of the pandemic, staff at Student Theatre had to find a way to make the show go on. The Virtual Millie Project was born. Students rehearsed at home, and performed at home. The performances were edited together into a full-scale Zoom-only musical, which was later shown on the big screen as part of a Student Theatre Film Festival at the Centre, when restrictions were partially lifted in fall 2020. Students recorded a podcast to document the Project. Despite the pandemic, the show did indeed go on, giving students, staff, families, and the community a bright light in the midst of the early months of the pandemic.

Staff and students - including staff who accepted honoraria in lieu of payment - shifted gears from live to video theatre on a dime. Students’ human rights to education, to expression and to play were safeguarded through the efforts of the Student Theatre team. The Virtual Millie Project was a testament to resilience, tenacity, and love in a local child-focused theatre program.

From March 2020 on, Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) based multi-disciplinary artist Nicole Bauberger created the Dalton Trail Trail Gallery using disregarded brush along the path just off her backyard as gallery spaces. Motivated by the constraints imposed by the pandemic, the Dalton Trail Trail Gallery opened the day after art galleries and the city’s other cultural spaces closed due to COVID-19. Since then, the ‘gallery’ has provided safe and accessible opportunities for diverse audiences, including casual unsuspecting folks just walking by (e.g., cyclists and moms with strollers) and intentional show goers (e.g., the city’s arts and culture audience hungry to attend a live show).

The story is impactful and innovative in part because of the manner in which Nicole pivoted almost immediately following the closure of typical exhibit and performance space. She saw a way to provide a space where folks could go to safely experience art and performance, and enjoy the company of other audience members, all the while maintaining a 2 metre distance – together/apart. Exhibits and performances on the trail have been diverse and are ongoing, and include Civil Twilight performances (poetry readings which were also broadcast live via Facebook), a dance performance with a canoe at -35 degrees Celsius (ooooh to witness the steam rise off the dancer lying in the canoe in the snow!), and Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival opening event, RavenMonsterDress, where over 100 audience members gathered on a frozen pond at the end of the Gallery and listened to music performed on small islands speckled across the pond, while viewing the festival’s opening exhibit. The discussion around what is exhibit space, and how to diversify the audience our work attracts, as well as how to engage community are now part of a community discussion here and will have long-lasting impacts on how to present art and engage (new) audiences – including those who are not intentional audiences ‘going to a show’ but because an audience member just by being where they are, and at the show circumstantially.

Me choisir comme artiste, matière et sujet.
La pandémie a eu pour effet de me confronter au moment présent et au désir de création, en fait de questionner l’artiste que je désire être. J’ai traversé une période de sidération pendant laquelle ma pratique s’est arrêtée. Après quelques mois de stagnation, j’ai porté mon regard sur mon présent et ma vie de confiné. J’ai alors réalisé que j’avais sous la main tous les outils et le temps nécessaires pour reprendre ma production et que je pouvais devenir mon principal matériau. Malgré l’isolement, je voulais rejoindre la vie qui continue de bouger à l’intérieur de moi et trouver un sens à ce qui me semblait insensé et inacceptable.
Pour ce faire, j’ai choisi d’explorer une nouvelle approche de ma création. Je me suis dirigé vers la vidéoperformance et la transformation de l’image par procédé numérique. En me filmant sur quelques mois, je suis devenu le sujet et le médium artistique. Cette nouvelle approche est devenue comme un territoire à raconter et à explorer.
En faisant face à cette nouvelle réalité, l’inspiration a su retrouver un équilibre entre mes réflexions et l’exploration de nouvelles techniques pour présenter un corpus d’œuvre différente. C’est ainsi dans ce contexte d’isolement et d’exploration que j’ai repris le chemin de la création.

Réorienter ma pratique.
Ce projet a une grande influence sur la suite de mon parcours artistique. Durant le processus de réflexion, d’exploration et d’apprentissage de l’art numérique (le temps mis sur pause le permettait), j’ai pris le temps de réfléchir à l’image, à la gestuelle, et au mouvement. Durant tout le processus créatif, j’ai eu le désir et le plaisir d’habiter mon œuvre en devenir et de donner une âme au lieu où je me trouvais. Je pouvais être à la fois le modèle et la copie, et composer avec ma présence, une image topographique du temps présent pour ainsi donner un nouveau sens à mon travail.
La vidéoperformance et la transformation numérique de l’image m’ont permis de mettre en contact le temps et l’expérience. La sélection d’images pertinentes à travers l’ensemble des propositions que les vidéos m’ont proposée a ouvert la porte à une nouvelle direction créatrice dans laquelle ma pratique pourra évoluer. Les séquences filmées et les arrêts sur image sont devenus une topographie proposant des zones de dépression et d’élévation, des reliefs de mes conforts et inconforts. J’y ai recherché une corrélation entre la réalité, la représentation et l’imaginaire. Cette manière de travailler m’a mené vers une nouvelle authenticité, qui m’était encore inconnue.
Mon projet se veut évolutif, un travail en progression qui me mènera graduellement à des éléments et concepts nouveaux qui se grefferont au travail déjà commencé.
Pour terminer mon projet, au-delà de mes réflexions artistiques et l'exploration de nouvelles techniques, le temps en résidence au mois de mars 2022 à l’Atelier Silex de Trois-Rivières m’aidera à compléter et réaliser une exposition qui présentera un nouveau corpus d’œuvres multidisciplinaires.
Finalement, le confinement aura permis de me retrouver en tant qu’artiste et de relever des défis et de revoir ma pratique, ce que je n’aurais pas fait en temps normal où tout va trop vite.
Mon intention pour ce nouveau corpus est de témoigner d’un temps présent et d'inviter le regardeur à la partager avec moi.

Like all of us in 2020, the Vanier Museopark has faced and overcome many challenges: COVID-19, a fire which devastated our sugar shack, as well as the sudden passing of our general director. 2021 may be equally unpredictable, but the Vanier Museopark has proven that it can reinvent itself by offering digital alternatives to existing activities and by designing new programs while respecting social distancing regulations.

The Charlottetown community

Instead of a traditional parade, Long said that from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 a convoy made up of a police cars, fire trucks and Santa will weave through seven Charlottetown neighbourhoods. "After much discussion with fire and especially with police and thinking creatively, we thought we really wanted to, as much as possible, take Santa as close as possible to the children and to the community," said Long. "And that's what we're doing." There won't be a tree lighting ceremony this year, Long said, but "the tree will still light in all its glory." Fundraising concerts for the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle campaign are still a go, he said, but have been moved to the Confederation Centre of the Arts where patrons can be spaced out. Once Upon A Christmas Tour and A Christmas to Remember will take place Nov. 28 and 29, with both concerts performed on both nights. Although there is a limited capacity, free tickets will be available starting Nov. 13.

Concerts, comedy and more from a dock for paddlers.

In the beginning of April, STEPS Public Art facilitated a national call for artists to create temporary public artworks in public-facing parts of their homes, gardens, balconies or courtyards. STEPS believed that during the pandemic, while we may be physically distanced, our desire to create, share and learn will always connect us together.

Artists were asked to consider the idea of public space and their sudden lack of access to it, exploring their public-facing private spaces and how the surrounding community could engage from a distance with their creative projects. We received an overwhelming response of 120 submissions in only two weeks.

STEPS supported ten artists from across Canada to bring eight projects to life. INsiders projects are diverse, ranging in materials and approaches from a front yard concert series with immersive set and costume design to an infinity room located in an empty storefront window that invites the public to both respond to and engage with an oversized COVID-19 disco ball. Selected artists represent both established and emerging practitioners and include Olivia and Hilary Wheeler (Victoria, BC), Michel Dumont (Thunder Bay, ON), Whyishnave Suthagar (Toronto, ON), Anna Camilleri (Toronto, ON) Somewherelse Collective (Toronto, ON), Taylor Boileau Davidson (Ottawa, ON), Tara Arnst (Lunenburg, NS), and Suzi Oram and Jordan Strong (Sydney, NS).

INsiders was STEPS’ response to the Covd-19 pandemic, with a sole focus directed towards supporting artists, connecting communities and exploring public space during this uncertain time. The arts and culture communities are some of the hardest hit during the pandemic, with many artists, arts workers and producers suddenly out of work. Through INsiders, STEPS seeks to amplify the creative work taking place in public space across Canada. We continue to support artists to reimagine their communities over the pandemic recovery period.

We managed to completely rebrand and run a series of focus groups and user zoom calls - something we struggled w before the pandemic. The time out allowed us to regroup and really dig into our audience.

We are the main hub for the creative community in Canada - we needed to get out front and listen to our fans. This process will continue after the pandemic. The lessons to share are many...but the main ones were to use this time to shift and get forward leaning, build tools to listen to your community, and to connect with makers who can help create new products and experiences.

Dès mars 2020, la bibliothèque Rosemont a mis à la disponibilité des montréalais gratuitement 37 129 livres numériques, afin d'accéder à la littérature pendant le confinement

Rendre accessible la culture au plus grand nombre: maintient de la mission des bibliothèque malgré les mesures sanitaires

We are very glad to report that The virtual Latin American Festival 2020 it was a great success and completely exceed our expectations. The Festival included a virtual art exhibition and a series of cultural activities that surrounded the exhibition. This virtual experience provided us with the opportunity of bringing some joy to people in isolation, projecting the talent of diverse artists and gaining experience with the use of technologies and management of online programming. All of these goals were accomplished. The festival was planned from May 15 to June 15, 2020, but it was extended until the end of June.
The virtual exhibition had the participation of 22 visual artists from Canada, Mexico and Ecuador. Additionally, we presented a symbolic presential exhibition at the main level of cSpace King Edward with some artwork pieces of our participant visual artists. All the artistic profiles and their artwork was presented in a digital booklet that was posted in Casa Mexico website and in our social media channels. We hosted personal interviews via Casa Mexico Facebook Livestream with most of the visual talents.
The cultural program of the Festival was delivered in an online platform using Zoom and Facebook Livestream as our main media. We are proud of having showcased the talent of individual artists and cultural groups who presented their artistic work in diverse disciplines including dance, film making, literature, music and theatre.
The virtual Latin American Art Festival hosted a total of 40 online activities which include interviews to visual artists, poetry evenings, theatrical nights, cultural country presentations, musical conversations, virtual concerts, children storytelling, and educational seminars. We reached more people than expected and according to our Facebook views, the program was seen by thousands of viewers.

When we invite to one of theatrical groups to present a project using the zoom platform, the director of the group was very hesitant to be involved, since she considered that theatre was only possible in front of a physical audience. Finally they decided to participate with the creation of a theatrical solo performance they did with a cell phone and an application to combines images. The result was a great performance, but most importantly that the director is now very motivated to start experimenting more using digital platforms.
One of our activities included the participation of a film video art producer and a writer who presented some short stories written in isolation. Both artists did not know each other. They met at one of our activities. We propose to them to work together in a future project where they can create film based on these short stories. They are working now in this project.
As part of the Latin American Art Festival, we start to project storytelling for kids every Sunday. The project is so inspiring that we decided to continue to broadcast live every morning on Sunday.

We consider that the new digital economy, that has been accelerated due to COVID-19 pandemic, represents a great area of opportunity for all of us to create meaningful work to have an impact in our society. We are very glad on our decision of moving forward with the festival in a virtual format. We are sure that we provide happiness to some people in the community and we are inspiring more people to move forward and be ready for the future.

Working with an Innu artist, two high school classes participated in an intercultural exchange through new technology.

With a nation-wide shutdown and Museum closure announced just days before our 2020 March Break Camp, staff quickly adapted and launched our inaugural virtual program, an online exhibit-creation competition. Staff continued to collaborate closely to deliver a robust slate of COVID-friendly programming. Adult audiences attended a four-part virtual lecture series and remote movie screening. Families with children enjoyed five take-home craft kits and an 8-week, web-facilitated summer camp. Three virtual collections tours gave the public a behind-the-scenes look at our artefacts. To cap off the year, the Museum hosted a Virtual Holiday Market and outdoor photos with Santa. The challenges of remote work were considerable—especially for team members with children and new hires who had never seen the Museum in-person. The team persevered by focussing on one goal: to act as a pillar of support and engagement for the local community.

In 2020, the Kick & Push Festival was reimagined in ways that pushed the boundaries in terms of live performance in partnership with Canadian theatre artists through creative uses of technology coupled with physically distanced in-person gatherings. It did so by switching from a presentation model to one composed entirely of creative residencies in which artist were asked and paid professional rates to respond to the pandemic via their practice.

The opportunities the Festival generated brought energy and attention to the local theatre scene during the summer months and it also resulted in the increased involvement of artists, audiences and supporters. It was the only presenter of live theatrical performance in southeastern Ontario in the summer of 2020.

Hands On Media led virtual critical thinking and digital citizenship workshops to special needs adults and others.

Highly impactful, local, innovative: Seniors online art diary. Book club addressing BLM and BIPOC readings and discussions. Partnership with Indigenous organization for online beading circle.

The School created a virtual year-end celebration concert to maintain a feeling of being together while apart.

The Brockton School World Music program produced 12 videos as part of their 2021 Music Room Sessions.

Rethinking how they produce; made the season free.

Limited-time access, $20 per household, encouraged viewers to share links with up to 5 other households; program notes normalize the online experience, allow recognition of sponsors and donors

The development of difference-centered design (the practice of human-centered design with a critical access lens) went through a close collaboration with ReVision Centre for Art and Social Justice at Guelph. A really innovative collaboration between an arts-based action research institution, community-based partnership, that is informing Creative Users Projects business model going forward.

The business implications have grown stronger as of late, after an initial lack of certainty.

B.C. Artist Diane Moran led workshops on mindfulness and presented a student exhibit at a local gallery.

Music teacher Caitlyn Belanger created recordings with Garageband with the tracks that students sent in from home.

The gallery offered virtual tours and online workshops, and made new instructional videos for their Contemporary Indigenous Arts program.

Happenings is the first and only Toronto festival made by community artists, giving centre stage to the talents and skills of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee artists. This year’s festival takes place during the entire month of May and will bring together over 80 artists and performers belonging to diverse communities.

As a young company, Bailiwick does not have operational funding funding from the Canada Council which has made working through the pandemic extremely hard. However, Bailiwick's founder Tara Bailey has remained positive. Throughout the pandemic she was able to connect more with her artists and moving forward hopes to continue this working environment.

What's special about this story is how the pandemic changed her outlook on working relationships. During the pandemic, she became close with her artists as they needed emotional support in a time of upheaval and uncertainty. Moving forward, she will try and keep the number of artists she represents lower to build more meaningful artist relationships. It also means that she gets to choose the artists that she works with, contributing to an overall more fulfilling experience.

The Tuckamore Chamber Festival pivoted from a planned live festival to a fully digital event. Their main goals were to produce quality content with internationally acclaimed musicians as well as offering opportunities for emerging artists. Their digital festival included 50 guest artists in 30 performances either live or curated for Tuckamore events. They had listeners from across North America and Europe and YouTube content achieved over 3500 views.

Post-pandemic, they are encouraging of digitization and are inspired by future realities of performance and presentation. They hope to leverage newfound expertise into their future programming. In their audience survey in September, it became clear that their audience enjoyed and would like to see more of their digital concerts.

The Buffys, also known as the Wood Buffalo Excellence in Arts Awards, is an annual program that recognizes and celebrates excellence in various areas of the arts and builds awareness of the incredible contribution artists make to Wood Buffalo. The Buffys invest in the future of our growing arts community by supporting our most exceptional artists through appreciation and employment opportunities, and by connecting artists to the wider community.

Typically, the Buffys are a live, in-person event featuring live performances and presentations; however, with restrictions due to COVID-19, Arts Council Wood Buffalo adjusted the format of the awards showcase and turned it into an online cinematic experience that was pre-recorded and then broadcast for free on multiple platforms. Historically, the in-person showcase has reached an audience of about 400 people, but by offering it in an online format, the awards showcase reached an audience of over 14,000 households during the event premiere.

This story is special and impactful because the local arts community was featured to a much wider audience, which gave local artists a much wider reach to build their reputations despite restrictions due to the pandemic. After the event, local artists (award nominees, recipients and performers) were able to access the video as a legacy piece for their portfolios and continued promotion of their art forms. The Buffys provides artists with paid opportunities to showcase their work, and by moving the awards showcase to an online format, even more opportunities became available for artists to be paid for their work - this was especially important during a time when paid opportunities for artists had decreased significantly.

This was also the first time that the Buffys reached as far as Hollywood. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented virtually to Tantoo Cardinal, who is an Indigenous Canadian Actress from Anzac (a hamlet just south of Fort McMurray). Cardinal has been in feature films such as "Dances With Wolves," "Unforgiven," and "Legends of the Fall."

The goal was for the WSO to remain open through the pandemic and to support their musicians and staff while providing patrons and the community with quality performances they could enjoy safely from their homes.

The WSO pivoted from a planned live season to a digital season when they had no technology. Jerry Wisdom, a former CBC producer, managed the filming of concerts. They balanced budget with the desire to produce high quality content to make sure their initiative was feasible. They were able to film and produce many wonderful concerts and programs for their community.

The group had great success after adapting their school performances and theatrical readings to a digital format.

These concerts were meant to be thankyous to VIS's donor community. The goal was to maintain audience engagement through the pandemic.

This was a great way to engage audiences and offer performance opportunities for their musicians in a time when there were none. Additionally, they were able to focus on community relationships. With a maximum of 40 audience members, the concerts are intimate and community based.

The Academy developed online, interactive dance class options for kids, teens and adults in a program called C-19.

Presenter fundraising to make all performances free for everyone

Created a whole new revenue model.

Business and Arts NL is working on a design thinking project with 15 collaborators from across the technology, public and creative sectors to look at how we might situate creativity as core to the vision of a new innovation centre for the tech industry. This work has been extremely illuminating, showing some of the biases and attitudes towards the arts in the private sector, and some of the self-imposed limitations in the arts sector.

The goal originally was to take a year and make art - then Covid struck. In the midst of this my partner left and in February 2021 I was diagnosed with PTSD. I received London Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts funding for this project. After my partner left I know I needed more so I booked an exhibit that opens on July 21, same as the province. It's either luck or my efforts to lobby the Premier. This project also saw national advertising with Border Crossings, Canadian Art, XTRA and IN Magazine as well as local marketing. Invitations were sent toe very gallery in Ontario and commercial galleries across Canada - a big risk in Covid but I wanted to reach Canada's vulnerable gay population given the rising numbers of hate crimes. Because Pride is cancelled or online this year I also wanted to give the community some sense of Pride, through this event and these works of reclamation.

This exhibit is personal as well as public. It's impactful because as an independent artist, I did this on my own, in the face of much adversity, and for a community where many do not know me nor my activist efforts. It's art with a message of hope and change. It's about perseverance, and tying my career to the London Regionalist Movement. It is innovative in its materials, found and manipulated, and its message. I hope to tour this post-pandemic and share this message of hope and reclamation. I am also using it to raise funds and awareness of the Rainbow Youth Leadership Bursary at the London Community Foundation.

The A Cappella Plus Choir created a video to celebrate their 40th anniversary during COVID.

Artistes aux 4 coins (A4C), c’est notre programme d’atelier dans les écoles secondaires à travers l’Ontario. Avec la pandémie de la covid-19 qui sévit depuis 2020, l’équipe a créé des capsules vidéo pour aider les enseignant.e.s et les adolescent.e.s à avoir accès à de la formation artistique, même en virtuel! Au programme: des capsules sur le conte, le cirque et la poésie/slam.

L’équipe a su garder une curiosité et s’est lancée dans la création vidéo qui n’est pas vraiment leur zone de confort côté technique. Les profs et les ados de la province entière aiment beaucoup avoir accès à ce contenu, alors qu’il ne semblait pas possible d’inviter des artistes à l’école. L’équipe a vraiment trouvé une façon d’aller à leur rencontre ! Et par le fait même, à offrir des contrats aux interprètes de théâtre de la région.

The choir moved their rehearsals on-line, created a series of music videos and welcomed many guest artists for workshops from around the continent.

This collection of philosophical and creative works reflecting on digital aesthetics was produced during the pandemic.

The rapid development and globalization of humanity has left pieces of our history forgotten. The purpose of the REFLECT Festival is to present us with a chance to pause and garner a new perspective of the evolving relationship between nature and humanity through the form of a multi-disciplinary arts festival. The Indigenous histories of Vancouver and Taiwan are the background contexts for the REFLECT Festival to eventually lead these conversations beyond the boundaries of any specific country or society to speak about humanity as a whole. The setting of a cultural arts event allows for the exploration of a multitude of topics via music, exhibitions, forums, and more, with its location rotating annually between Vancouver and Taiwan as the anchors of North America and Asia.

A manuscript/book (poems, illustrations, sayings, wit, humor, musings, reflections and contemplations) dedicated to all frontline and healthcare workers.

The book advocated for the declaration (as Covid-19 Pandemic Heroes) recognition and appreciation of frontline and healthcare workers (held on Dec 20, 2020 in Calgary)

Festival in 4 parts: Our Favourite Sounds, Let's Read, Intro to Lighting Desgin Workshop and Step-in-time.

Mixture of online and in-person.

The challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic were met head on by the staff, volunteers, and visitors of Watson’s Mill. Everyone remained committed to the Mill being accessible. We were able to safely open, providing a much needed escape for the community. We provided alternative ways to enjoy old past times through our 5525 Music Series, our Drive Through Trick or Treat and online Christmas Craft Market. When our community could not come to the site, we were able to bring the site to them through our 3D virtual tour. We broadened horizons through our #FarmFriday vlogs, provided new go-to bakes on #MakeitMondays, fun and education through our Kid’s Activity Kits and brought holiday cheer through a virtual Advent Calendar. 2020 will certainly be a part of Watson’s Mill continuing story.

Collaborating with the spoken word band “All Imaginary”, they worked with film students to create an original music video.

Lors de la pandémie, Charles a décidé de ne pas mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier Zoom, pour ne pas dénaturer son art. Il a diversifié ses créations: danse, toiles, développement d'un projet de court-métrage. Son projet le plus révélateur pendant la pandémie fut la transformation d'un bar (qui était un lieu fermé par les mesures sanitaires) en un lieu de création, pour y développer une mini résidence artistique. Il en a fait un court métrage.

Diversité des pratiques, mise en commun d'espace complètement fermé par la pandémie pour en faire émerger des créations.

"Slowly the creatures emerged from the pressure cracks jutting out of frozen Lake Nipissing. They danced about as Nipissing First Nation’s Penny Couchie recited Pressure Cracks. Blue light shone on the creatures as they moved to the amplified composition by Jacob Dayfox. Hundreds walked the ice path lit up with whimsical light installations to witness the performance of Mkomiiwi.

Aanmitaagzi produced the performance Mkomiiwi showcased at Ice Follies 2020 on Lake Nipissing at Marathon Beach in North Bay."

Online culture-specific workshops, which might be relevant to many other organizations and communities.

Cutting-edge organization, blurring the edge of artistic creation, new business models. They may or may not have been able to generate revenues through their recent efforts.

The Pinhey’s Point Foundation began 2020 with great expectations for marking the 200th anniversary of Hamnett Pinhey’s arrival in Canada and the 40th anniversary of the Foundation. We were helping Pinhey descendants organize a family reunion and were hard at work on special bicentenary exhibits. While the reunion was postponed, we continued to work on the exhibits. One is a joint project with our friends at City of Ottawa Archives highlighting the earliest books in our respective collections, both with a Pinhey provenance, and the lives of the ancestors who signed the flyleaves and through whose hands they passed. Lockdown time encouraged people to embark on housecleaning and sorting, resulting in an increased number of inquiries and artifact donations. Some very special heirlooms were donated by a descendant to mark the 200th, and we look forward to sharing them.

A portal-frame sculpture carved from sustainably salvaged log wood using chainsaw and power tools. Two eagles fly together – one adult, one juvenile. This is the Portal of Healing.

The artwork was created with inspiration observed in nature and the firsthand account of an empowered storyteller.

Enza and I connected with the purpose of interpreting human experience into art. She chose to share her story of intergenerational trauma through Indigenous lineage and the effects it has on personal, family, educational, financial, socio-economic, and career dynamics.

My artistic intent is to serve as a channel to deliver interpretation, healing, and connection to others through the artwork. I opened myself to receive inspiration from nature to create a meaningful artwork that is relevant and honoring to the topic.

The eagles presented themselves as inspiration and the “Portal of Healing” emerged.

The future lies ahead framed through a passageway. It honours those flying forward together in the direction of intergenerational hope and healing. It is a transition from one side of history to the other, leading the way for others to follow.

Healing starts here by telling your story.

Healing starts here by listening to others’ stories.

The “Portal of Healing” is intended to be a publicly accessible monument that honours those with stories to tell and invites other to listen. A place where healing can take a step forward into the future, together.

The artwork is currently available and seeking a suitable location for permanent installation.

The group started successful online art classes in September attracting participants from across Canada, the USA, Costa Rica and Australia!

YouthLEADarts created a two week on-line program on racism that took place for 1.5 hours a day.

This project is inspired by the folk tale called Doya, the Romani Fairy. This story is about historical disconnection, relocation and searching for belonging. This is a tribute for all people who are challenged by removal from home or have to relocate due to catastrophes, war or any other reasons. Also, many movements are rising, such as environmental and human rights issues. Studies are more widely published, and through stories of individuals there is a newly found awareness. Also, there is more representation to minorities, women and non-mainstream communities. One way is spreading true, reliable information and challenging current policies, especially when they disregard or hurt certain populations or areas. It takes courage and strength. Matriarchal elements of governing would offer solutions to a lot of social problems.

The intended impact of this story is the encouragement itself. Life is full of unexpected changes, and models that worked before become useless. Relationships are shifting, some people move farther, others develop closer bonds. Therefore, if ties are getting loose or one faces isolation, there is still a meaning of not giving up practices, in this case, creating art. "Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt." - says Mark Twain.
My images represent the question of how to honour traditions in a modern, cosmopolitan setting. The world is fast, and requires fast reaction from all of us in order to maintain survival. However, there is another side of our existence where we are closer to ourselves, such as creative work. Art can and can create a more peaceful dialog and through constructive depiction, awareness of human rights issues of many ethnic group might be better achieved. Women in a general sense need recognition, respect and equal opportunities.

1. AIP--A new socially conscious dance program--created to disrupt discrimination, intolerance, hate, & racism as a method for increasing awareness about:
-Canada's cultural diversity
-Issues affecting underrepresented populations in fully participating in society

DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE
-10 minute opening video performance
—Warm-Up
—Group Physical Engagement with e-book about the LANGUAGE OF CHOREOLOGY (see below) to raise awareness about how FUNCTIONAL HUMAN MOVEMENT can disrupt or promote negative BEHAVIOURS, ROUTINES, & BELIEFS
—SQx PHRASES & CREATIVE CLASS where participants devise & embodying short phrases
—Discussions
—Final Day: 10 minute closing STOP-ACTION VIDEO PERFORMANCE

Year 3 will culminate in a FINAL PUBLIC POLICY PAPER, which we'll use to lobby for Arts Education curricular augmentation. This will CREATE RESEARCH & EVIDENCE TO BUILD UNDERSTANDING OF THE DISPARITIES & CHALLENGES FACED BY RACIALIZED & RELIGIOUS MINORITY COMMUNITIES, & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.

[We are currently in the midst of Year 2. This project was intended to be delivered in-person, but COVID derailed all of our plans. It has only ever been delivered virtually).

INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS/PARTICIPANT: 3-5 days x 75 minutes/day

SEE ATTACHED FOR VISION IMPACT SNAPSHOTS OF AIP & STAFF.

2. 3 Online Performances (below are excerpts): we're waiting for Canada Council funds to finish the works...funding pending. Each work will be about 45 min.

Canadian Identity Dance
https://vimeo.com/542825999
Password = identity

Light Dance
https://vimeo.com/542916401
Password = light

The Good Heart
https://vimeo.com/534673758
Password = goodheart1

https://vimeo.com/534683592
Password = goodheart2

-Productions of contemporary dance works that was originally intended to be a live-performances.
-Dissemination of the works will be entirely by virtual means ensuring the art is finished in a timely and safe manner, and we can provide work for artists in this especially precarious time.

We’re TAKING THE GENRE IN A NEW DIRECTION by working as we would in the studio in the development of choreography, but we're doing it safely at home. LEARNING TO ADAPT OUR ARTISTIC PRACTICE FOR REMOTE CREATION BECAUSE OF COVID ensures we can SUSTAINABLY create new work for as long as there are health restrictions.

STRATEGIC DISSEMINATION PLAN is a KEY UNDERLYING OBJECTIVE because how we intend to share the works is influenced by how we're making it—because of COVID. We intend to continue to meet our target audiences in NEW DIGITAL WAYS:
-PAY-PER-VIEW: With existing VIMEOPro on our website (ecommerce is already integrated for others uses on site).
-STREAMED from presenters (when theatres open). We're working with our local presenters to reach audiences safely.

SEE ATTACHED STAFF IMPACT SNAPSHOT.

TARGET POPULATIONS OF ALL OF OUR WORKS
-minoritized language groups (we deliver in French & English)
-minoritized ethnic groups & religions
-Indigenous communities
-remote & rural communities
-inner-cities (particularly those with high occurrences of gangs)
-newcomers
-LGBTQIA2S+
-people of diverse abilities
-multi-barriered populations

REMOTE PRODUCTION STRATEGY: Some of the artists have met in person in previous work, because of COVID, we've never all met as a group. For the past year, we have worked completely remotely and created some of the best work the organization has ever created.
-COVID restrictions were an opportunity to deepen the aesthetics of our work.
-We used the distance between us as inspiration to showcase the diversity in Canadian communities & landscapes.

CAPACITY: We more than doubled the artists that work for the organization. We've also doubled our organization budget. Whilst other organizations are making cuts, we are increasing spending, and increasing renumeration to artists. We're creating more work, and better serving vulnerable populations.

BLENDED VALUE: How we balance the social and cultural value of our work in performances, programming, and policy initiatives. OUR MISSION: Use contemporary dance to promote kinship, collaboration, teamwork.OUR MANDATE
-Further the development of dance & public engagement through performance & outreach programming.
-Provide flexible touring series for arts venues, schools, conservatories to bring performances & interactive programming to both large & small communities.
-Use dance to make the world a better place.

REACHING OUR AUDIENCE IN NEW WAYS: Our dissemination plans will allow us to meet our audience in NEW DIGITAL WAYS by using multiple strategies (pay-per-view, streaming, & interactive programming).

GREEN MOBILITY: We’re using travel restrictions as a method to explore new sustainable benefits for touring that rely less on mileage on more on greener practices. Pre-COVID multiple vehicles would travel more than 50,000 KM / year to distribute our work. We're fundamentally adjusting what and how we are making art, so WHEN THE PANDEMIC IS OVER, WE ARE NOT MEERLY UNFREEZING, WE'VE DEVELOPED A NEW PLAN TO CREATE & DISSEMINATE OUR ART THAT WILL BALANCE IN-PERSON INTERACTION WITH ONLINE. WE WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING UNTIL 2023 AT THE EARLIEST AS WE HAVE HAD SO MUCH SUCCESS VIRTUALLY, AND WE CONTINUE TO GROW THESE STRATEGIES. WE WILL NOT RETURN IN-PERSON UNTIL IT IS PERFECTLY SAFE TO DO SO.

Process innovation, different kind of pivot. Storyteller (largely in schools) took letters, emails, etc. that they received and created a book of stories. They also created a studio for high-quality filmed productions.

Organizers made the decision to move the market online this year, said Larsson, who is also a well-known Gwich'in artist herself. And the result was a craft sale with more reach than previous years, she said. The online market had about 300 items for sale online when it launched last Saturday, including parkas, jewelry, ulus and more — and the majority of that sold within the first hour, Larsson said.

Larsson said this year's market showed how highly valued northern Indigenous art is around the world. "We sold products all across Canada, all across the United States, and we even sent products … all the way to the U.K." "It really blew our mind to know this was the impact," she added. Last year, about 1,000 shoppers came through the typically in-person market, she said.

Already did a presentation of this by having artists record their parts and send them in to produce the piece, but ran into some minor technical issues. They are attempting again this fall with their learnings applied.

Adapating theatre to digital, learning and sharing learnings

"Throughout this year, you’ll discover a seasonal collection of carefully curated packages that inspires your family to create and play. Tote bags are transformed into treasure chests of culturally-inspired projects and child-friendly art practice, giving space for open-ended play, storytelling and object making. In addition to supplies and printed instruction for 4 activities, each tote includes make-along virtual demonstrations with special guests."

They created a concert series where you could purchase individual tickets, but you could also purchase 3 tickets and get one free. In total, he sold 3500 tickets where the ratio of bundle to single tickets was 7 to 1! They reached out to fans before to ask how many songs they wanted, how long they wanted concerts ideally, and what songs they wanted to hear. They teased concerts in Facebook videos and had a PR campaign.

What made this project special was the audience engagement. They placed their audience at the centre of their offerings by asking what they wanted to create a more enjoyable experience for everyone. Post-pandemic, they will continue having digital content, however as a complement to live performances.

These two programs were developed by SpanicArts as an effort to innovate and adapt during the pandemic. The two events were adapted to be streamed online and keep the community engaged and connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DESAYUNARTE:
DesayunArte begun in November 2019 with the purpose of bringing people closer to the visual arts. Each month, we invite members of the community to listen to an artist talk about a specific theme. The artists giving the talk are artists whose practices are related to the theme of each month. In the beginning, these artist talks were in person meetings, where people were able to meet each other, enjoy a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast while learning about art and engaging in meaningful conversations. The topics for the first three in- person sessions were:
Death through the Hispanic and LatinAmerican Vision. October 2019.
Music as a social expression in the Hispanic Culture. November 2019.
LainAmercian Women & Art March 2020.
With the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, SpanicArts had to find a way to keep the programming going and engage with the public. We decided to stream the programs online using Facebook Live. This meant of course that we could no longer meet in person and enjoy sharing a warm cup of coffee and croissants and thet we were unable to host the events in spaces dedicated to cultural activities. Nonetheless, bringing the programs to an online platform allowed us to reach a much wider audience, beyond the Calgary Community. We were able to expand our audience not only in Canada, but also internationally. We were able to invite artists from other places around the world to connect and participate with our local artists. We decided to host our events with one artist from our community and one artist from a different place, to create more opportunities for networking and discussion. By doing so, we realized that a new door had opened before our eyes: that of a fruitful exchange of realities from different communities all over the world. We now have SpanicArts members residing in many different parts of Canada.
DesyunArte has grown its audience and the possibilities have expanded since the beginning of the pandemic. As an organization, this challenge has also helped us to expand and grow our vision.
The themes for all the DesayunArte events we have held until now are:
1. Hispanic Theatre. April 25th, 2020
2. Art in the time of Covid. May 30th, 2020
3. Interculturality and Solidarity among communities. June 25th, 2020
4.Confined performance. July 27th, 2020
5. Artist Nature September 19th, 2020
6. Music in support of non violence. October 3rd, 2020
7. LatinAmercian Religious Art. November 2020
8. The gift of Art December 12th, 2020
9. Blue Monday Theatre. January 30th, 2021
10. Loving Art. February 20th, 2021
11. Feminist Art. March 20th, 2021
12. A world without art. April 17th, 2021
13. Behind the scene of creativity. May 29th, 2021
14. LGTBQ Art. June 26th 2021
15. Art in the field July 24th 2021

DRAMATIZARTE:
DramatizArte was scheduled to launch in March 2020. The project’s objective was to promote the reading of Theatre plays written by Hispanic authors, through dramatized readings in English or in Spanish to engage and nurture Hispanic reading amongst the new generations, to share the work and the plays of Hispanic theatre writers; and to promote and encourage the work of our local theatre performers and artists. This proposal was also developed as a way to minimize the cost of scene montage and rehearsals. Initially, the project was meant to be carried out in public libraries, where the public could join, with an entrance by donation, to help support the cast.
Once again, since the pandemic did not allow for those initial plans to take place, the event was moved to our online platforms, to be streamed via Facebook Live. To promote and support our members, half of the cast of each reading must be SpanicArts members. The event is held every two months and at the end of each reading there is a short interview to get to know the artists and ask them what they learned and experienced through the process of preparing for the event.
For the first event, we presented one scene from the play “Rosa de dos aromas” by Mexican writer Emilio Carballido.
In the March edition of DramatizArte we presented the short story “Unete Pueblo”, again from Mexican writer and playwright Emilio Carballido.
Performed by the theatre company “Latin Scenario”, the first organization to join SpanicArts as members. LatinScenario operates and is located primarily in Vancouver, BC.
The last edition of Desyunarte presented the play “Hamlet Mats”, performed by a theatre company based in Querétaro México. Thanks to the use of technology and online platforms, we were able to invite them to share their work, as well as helped them promote their work to the Canadian public.
So far, all the plays have been performed in Spanish, but we are considering the opportunity to present plays in English as well. We will continue to present plays from Hispanic writers and a cast with a minimum of 50% SpanicArts members.
We intend to be able to make these events in person as soon as possible to do so in a safe manner, hopefully by the Fall of 2021. We will also continue to stream the plays online to reach more public in the future.

The future goals for DesayunArte is to continue attracting new public from different parts of the world and to obtain funding to be able to pay our artists a fee for their participation.
DramatizArte is an event that does not require as big a time commitment from the participants (actors and director) as an in-person theatrical performance (rehearsing, several functions). The budget is also smaller given that the play is presented online and the scenography can be digital as well.
DramatizArte is a project that allows us to create a platform for our theatre artists, many of whom do not speak English, giving them an opportunity to learn and engage with a new audience.
The future goals for DramatizArte are to present the plays in person once it is safe to do so, and to pay the cast of performing artists participating with the donations received during the functions.
This event opens the opportunity to collaborate with other theatre groups from other communities across Canada and other countries, like we did with the theatre company Los Focos, from Queretaro, Mexico.
Lastly, DramatizArte is an attractive opportunity to Hispanic playwrights to submit their work for consideration and possibly become featured in our event. SpanicArts wants to help these artists by promoting and making their work known to a wider audience worldwide.

Elektra Women's Choir worked with 16 singers from 10 BC high schools to create a digital performance of O Sister, Keep Us Steady Through the Storm.

Eid is usually a time of getting together, sharing big meals, and praying. But this year, it was celebrated in Yellowknife in a physically distant way, with organizers passing out boxes of chocolates and goodie bags for the children with sweets and toys inside. They wore protective gloves, along with masks. Hand sanitizer was also available.

"Eid is a day of happiness so we wanted to celebrate, we wanted to meet with people, and we wanted people to get out of their homes," said Ullah.

TIP cancelled their regular season in 2020. Note, the 2021 season will go forward with both live and virtual ticket types. They've remained flexible with public health guidelines and have already pushed their first show to the end of the season. They've turned their parking lot into an outdoor lobby for this summer's season.
During 2020, though, their focus was heavy on community engagement. TIP is located in a small town at the west end of the Thousand Islands, Gananoque. The two theatres are located in heritage buildings, and the Playhouse's summer season is a huge economic driver for the town. When they couldn't conduct a season, they turned to community initiatives including a Reverse Halloween (collecting donated candy, building goodie bags, and delivering them to registered households around the area), a winter coat drive, and more. They also organized a holiday themed Makers Studio series, hiring local artisans and crafters to lead socially-distanced holiday craft workshops.

I think the main take away from TIP's innovation is using their employees' skills to refocus from creating theatre to serving their town and community. They do this every year in a more inadvertent way by being a key player in local tourism and economic growth, but this year, they applied their community service in a more direct way. They weren't making theatre or revenue (apart from a community-led fundraiser for some facility renovations), but their commitment to their community (and to keeping their staff employed and busy) will reinforce their value in their small town's eyes. It is vital for their survival and ability to recover to have reinforced this local support.

Our year-long children’s group music programs continued with pre-recorded classes which were sent to the parents. With the entire province in lockdown mode, we understood how important it was to provide our students with an outlet for self-expression. Supporting our self-employed teachers and artists through teaching and exhibiting opportunities continued to be a priority for us.

pre-recorded, virtual classes, free video content, perofmrances, online exhibitions, ceramics at home

Reaching a broad age range with smart programming.

Goal: to continue to engage patrons and the public by providing music, theatre and other online events to the local community, region and beyond. To showcase diverse local/regional emerging and professional artists who usually would not be on the Capitol Theatre stage.

The pandemic opened up the opportunity to explore online dissemination of theatre, dance and music.We will most likely continue with HOMEGROWN and hybrid presentations to reach audiences that cannot attend the theatre and thus increase access to events on stage.

To create arts based initiatives to provide outreach to the community of Cape Breton Island - Unama'ki. The initiative provided full time employment for artists to create and offer workshops and programs during the pandemic restrictions. For Michelle's outreach she was involved in creating dance programs for children, parents, teachers, and adults. With no facilities available for most of the year of the program she expanded her outreach in a global initiative partnering with other groups and providing online outreach. She is one of many artists brought into the program for either Arts Education or for a Legacy Project.

This program was the first opportunity Michelle had in over three decades of teaching dance and offering programs that she was paid to create. The opportunity to do targeted studying for the project, engage in workshops with others to develop skills and then to build programming was something that has not been possible in a dance studio setting where the delivery of a specific program is always striving to meet the needs of the community, parents or dancers. With this program Michelle was able to focus her attention to where her passion for dance could take her and the kinds of programs she could develop without teaching being at the forefront. Michelle offered recorded videos on selected topics which could be found on Youtube - Michelle Greenwell - under the Dance Yintegration playlist titled "ExtravDansa". She also recorded the story of one ethnochoreoartist who contracted Covid and almost died. His experiences and reflections are archived for a future project. She created a podcast "Be Well with Michelle Greenwell" and began conversations in wellness and community including wellness tips and dance ideas. Further she expanded her outreach of dance and wellness curriculum through a few in-person pilot projects while it was possible to gather. This was a restricted program because of Covid restrictions. Michelle then found a voice with the Choose Love Movement which offers FREE Social and Emotional Learning for children, families, communities, sports and more. There was no dance instruction happening, and none that could combine the wellness tools through dance and Tai Chi, the skills that Michelle excels in. These programs are in development and are currently being premiered with the Choose Love Movement's Month of Fun outreach.
Throughout the year, Michelle has strived endlessly to create a voice for wellness opportunities and how to use movement to support the self-care wellbeing practice needed to thrive during the pandemic and what will be needed beyond the pandemic. She has produced countless videos and wellness sessions online and through zoom and has archived as much as possible on her Youtube channel as well as through the Canadian Association of BioEnergetic Wellness which is another platform that she works with to do community outreach - her focus is always on movement for wellness and keeps this in focus for her postings.

From May to December 2020, artists engaged in conversations over the phone with seniors or Elders. The artists created new pieces of art using that conversation as their muse. Arts Council Wood Buffalo then purchased those art pieces from the artists and gifted them to the seniors or Elders with whom they were made. Arts Council also offered seniors and Elders with an art supply kit for those who wanted to create art in addition to conversing with a local artist.

The goal of Art of Conversation was to connect isolated seniors and Elders with local artists to have conversations, and then create art based on those conversations. Planned months before the pandemic became a reality, Art of Conversation was meant to be a face-to-face workshop between artists, seniors and Elders. COVID-19 prevented those in-person meetings from happening, but the pandemic has made the program more important than ever.

Arts are critical to connecting people and filling them with mental, emotional and physical well-being. Art of Conversation is intended to support good health, while also providing paid opportunities for artists to create their work. This project also served a a reminder of the important role of seniors and Elders in the community.

The program’s inaugural run created 29 art pieces that included songs, paintings, poems and even a balloon sculpture. Some of the stories told through the artistic pieces were new even to volunteers at St. Aidan’s Society, many of whom had known the seniors for years.

To celebrate this project, Arts Council created an online virtual gallery which features the artwork created through the Art of Conversation. The project was so successful that we secured funding from Suncor Energy and the federal government’s New Horizons program to run Art of Conversation again in 2021.

Excellent virtual offerings: innovative, thought provoking, diverse.

Formed "Performing Arts Assembly" to bring artists and creates of genre-defying performing arts with Dr. Daniela Rosu (computer scientist) to begin creating data models ("information representation standards") that can offer an alternative to the "engineer worldview" in the world of technology creation. Tech innovation with a developing business model.

Successful implementation of a monthly subscription series for virtual concerts, reaching their targets for sales.

This is most definitely a modelling and success story, despite obstacles. This model may be ongoing, as it seems to better sustain the symphony.

Art teacher Michelle Massaro at St. Joseph Catholic High School led students to individually contribute to grand-scale collaborative art pieces.

“Saskatoon has a really vibrant theatre scene and we didn’t want to not be able to showcase that because of COVID,” said Megan McDonald, executive assistant of 25th Street Theatre.

This is NOT That Festival is taking its place this year and offers a variety of live digital theatre performances and collaborative workshops.

They are being streamed on 25th Street Theatre’s website and Facebook page and are available for viewing after they’ve aired.

“We really wanted to make sure that we could still feature great local artists as well as artists across North America. Just because we can’t do it in person doesn’t mean we can’t all come together around this shared experience of theatre,” McDonald said.

She added that it was very important to the theatre company to still be able to showcase local artists and give them a platform to share their stories.

Some physical distanced events are also taking place on Broadway throughout the festival, including an interactive art installation that shows videos of people’s experiences during quarantine, McDonald said.

Also including: "Live From Your Lawn" shows.

Finding alternate ways to host a Fringe Festival and celebrate theatre.

We hired three remote interns through Young Canada Works to advance program innovation support, collection digitization and digital strategy at member museums. Social media was utilized as a resource to lend even greater support to our members. In particular, we used our annual advertising campaign and social media platforms to support Vanier Museopark after the loss of their sugar shack in August 2020.

The Calgary Philharmonic created an online series taking kids through the four sections that make up a symphony orchestra: woodwinds, strings, brass, and percussion.

Zuppa Theatre created a collection of innovative shows during the lockdown with community and school partnerships.

A fully free and virtual version of the Summerside Lobster Carnival. A 90 minute video to be streamed at home.

A Seafood Taste of PEI Kitchen Party will be streamed into people’s homes, where they can gather their own health approved party numbers to join in the celebration. Lobster Carnival event chef, Robert Pendergast will be demonstrating to home chefs how to prepare affordable lobster dishes for that at home lobster supper. Ingredient lists will be made known beforehand so home cooks can have everything on hand. A number of special guests such as Island fishers will join Chef Pendergast to talk about what makes Island lobster such a delicious, healthy, and affordable food. The Richard Wood Trio will bring their kitchen party to the stage. Anyone who has seen a Richard Wood show knows the energy level is at the high end of the voltage meter. A few other guests may also appear, and harness racing will be represented at the party. Contests will run throughout the evening. People are asked to stay tune to learn more about A Seafood Taste of PEI Kitchen Party. As plans are finalized more will be revealed. The plan is to make it a night of fun that will bring the Island way of celebrating to the world. And to our supporters and attendees of the Carnival, please make your plans to attend in person the 2021 Summerside Lobster Carnival. As the world overcomes Covid 19, the carnival will be a wonderful way to celebrate.

Ce projet se penche sur l'étonnante amitié qui s'est tissée entre une jeune fille de dix ans d'une petite ville du Michigan, nommée Sarah York, et l'homme qui était alors considéré l'ennemi no.1 des États-Unis, le dictateur du Panama, Manuel Noriega. Les créateurs ont pu adapter et poursuivre leur travail pendant la pandémie.

C’était initialement un projet destiné à la scène. Il se base sur plusieurs années d’enquête et a dû se transformer, être reporté et se transformer encore, pour finalement prendre la forme d’une expérience numérique web audacieuse. Malgré qu’il n’y ait plus de présence sur scène, ce projet fait appel à plusieurs artistes de tous âges issus des communautés latino-américaines. L’équipe a pris la décision consciente d’y investir l’énergie et le temps nécessaire pour faire honneur à cette histoire et a réussi à trouver une façon de la raconter.

Database for Indigenous, Black, and racialized artists to connect and be considered for opportunties with a strong focus on digital connection and promoting artists during COVID.

Focus on IBPOC Communities and supporting them through the COVID lull of work in the arts and how to ask artists to expand and think creatively

Practices went online, emails and calls were sent out, and retirement homes became our stages. We went to so many and played outside for the residents – even if they just looked out their window and waved at the end, it was so meaningful for us and them, and kept our hearts full. The pipe band has always provided music and entertainment to many, and with the year that was, proved that after 125 years, our love for it and commitment to keeping it alive has not changed, and it never will.

Creative Morning Practice began as a 6-week virtual guided arts program to support health and wellness, and mitigate the effects of stress, loneliness and physical isolation during the pandemic. Open to the general public, the virtual studio was particularly attuned to multilingual new immigrants ('ESL speakers') and professionals (from non-artistic backgrounds). The positive feedback on that initial offering inspired us to research tools to measurably track and understand the impact of what this simple hour of creative practice was doing for participants. Since March 2020, over several editions of the program, in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association and universities in Canada and the USA, we have developed a wellness scale to measure the impact of creative practice on individual health and wellness. The results have been very positive.

We are building credible evidence that describes and broadens what people understand to be the 'benefits' of the arts. When the pandemic lockdown began, it was clear that mental health would be an intersecting issue. Given the constraints and exigencies of the mounting situation, we pivoted our work from using artistic methods to change how we approach immigration, to combining artistic and scientific thinking to measuring health and learning how creative practice impacts wellness. Currently we are seeking additional research partners to work with us to implement the wellness scale for their programs, so that we may continue to expand and refine this tool for the arts. Each Wellness report features a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. We are working with health humanities and implementation science researchers at U of T to look at next steps for the scale's development. As recently as 15 to 20 years ago, yoga was a weird thing that only a niche group did. Today, yoga is mainstream (albeit noticeably whitewashed and diluted from its origins). We know that creative practice improves moods, and helps people attain wellness. A wellness scale is not 'proof' in our minds (as artists) as much as it is a way of translating 'artistic' knowing into 'scientific' knowing so that those who understand the language of science better might be encouraged to begin to learn the language of art.

Barbara shifted her weekly classes to Zoom and developed online learning modules resulting in new learners from across the country.

With the ongoing pandemic, the Cultural Centre closed, and staff worked from home until mid-August. Despite these challenges, staff managed to enter collections into the database, photograph archaeological artifacts, catch up on administrative work and keep the gift shop going through email, e-transfer and curbside pickup. Despite not having access to internet at home, one of our employees still managed to attend Zoom meetings. If the meeting was lengthy, they would sit in their vehicle, outside the Centre using its Wifi. Our dedicated staff continued to persevere despite new challenges posed by not being able to gather in-person. The Language Department entered Anishinabemowin into CAN8, an online language learning website specializing in oral production. Photographs and sounds of nature were recorded to create our own royalty free material. They also maintained translation services and created language clips posted to Facebook and Instagram.

Technical innovation; allows (mostly jazz) musicians to perform with very low latency

Upcoming - goal is to have the festival

Since 1973, Tyne Valley has been the home of the Canadian Oyster Shucking Championship. From its humble beginnings, it has grown into an event that is unforgettable to most in attendance. Oyster shuckers from across the country travel far and wide to perform like rock stars on the main stage. With all eyes on them, it’s a mixture of excitement and nervousness as the whistle blows and they begin opening the finest PEI oysters.

The gallery led live virtual school art projects, made artmaking videos for families and created 360-degree virtual tours.

Online pivot; created virtual resources; guiding teachers and students through the process of creating their own plays

COVID Chronicles was digital exhibit and showcase aimed at engaging and promoting our local community artists. Presented in June 2020, Chronicles presented writing and photography of Salt Spring Island artists and citizens, sharing their experience and observations of social distancing. Later, we presented an extension of Chronicles - COVID Musical Chronicles as a way of bringing attention to local musicians. Through accessible digital presentation, the project allowed us to bring attention to creatives within our community, focus audiences on home-grown talent, and encourage connection through explicit discussion of the impacts of isolation and the power of art.

Pre-pandemic, our organization and our mode of presentation were very traditional. The restrictions imposed by COVID-19 meant that we had to find an entirely new way to engage our community and to present and support an artistic dialogue

Pre-recorded virtual performances and music instruction for kids
- Workshops/concerts can have virtual mediation tacked on to deepen the discovery of music in children age 4-12

We are reaching out digitally to our community across Canada to learn, educate and take action on shifting public opinion towards meaningful action on climate change issues. As stated above it is a cross Canada event so the designations below are not strictly accurate.

The Arts Council is offering Art Therapy sessions for Seniors as a great way to deal with the stresses and challenges of the pandemic.

With public events on hold over the summer, we designed, fabricated, and installed 5 selfie stations throughout Pickering that feature a background view of Public Art and Cultural Spaces that will allow and encourage residents and visitors to still go and visit their favorite locations in Pickering and create their own experience while social distancing. These 5 locations will be moved throughout the summer, and can be rebranded to suit our needs going forward.

We are showcasing Public Art, and the multitude of Cultural Spaces available to encourage our community leaders to come back to hosting events of all sizes again in 2022, and to show Artist around the province that we appreciate the work of all artists, and will continue to showcase installations as key elements of our community.

Welcome ’Social-Distancing’ Walking Tours! A new online registration and payment tool capped the numbers to meet regulations and public health standards were strictly adhered to. Everyone donned masks and kept their distance and guides willingly added face shields. The tours sold out! To make up for cancelled and postponed events that bring members and friends of heritage together, we added a new ’Explore’ website section. Social media and other tools were used to promote the dozens of virtual tours, lectures and films on offer. Hello armchair learning!

The Orpheus Choir produced several virtual performances including the new commission “Lost in Translation” about digital connections.

"Physical Distancing Officers" adapted INCIRQUE's roaming Stilt walking characters to support Business Improvement Area's, Malls, Farmers Markets, and open air events.

For BIA's, Malls, and communities where small businesses were severely impacted by closures during COVID, these "Physical Distancing Officers" used Clowning to promote distancing, alleviate anxiety for visitors returning to public space, educate visitors on protocols, and encourage safe ways to connect.

These Stilt characters were highly visible, supported crowd management, and used principles similar to therapeutic clowning to help rebuild communities and support small business.

This service won a 2021 Service Excellence Award from Festivals & Events Ontario!

The project Terakoya is an intergenerational learning and collaboration that is a unique approach to bridging the generational gap. Students (high school to university) and older adults to get a chance to form connections through shared experiences and projects. Older adults will play a vital role by sharing their wisdom and life stories, while students will learn valuable practical and emotional skills from working with older adults, such as group co-leadership, self-confidence, and emotional maturity. The older adults may also learn social networking skills and etiquette from the students.

After harvesting the goodness and challenges of 2020 and this year, I would like to keep coming back to Goethe’s participatory method that allows us to see a thing that is perhaps hiding in plain sight all along. And go out to nature more. Our true legacy for further generations is to leave nature accessible to the next generations so that they can actively participate to come into being. And in that, I see what is art for.

As an independent visual artist, a coal work who has a lot of experience developing art-based therapeutic rec programming I wanted to reach out to the community and to encourage artists to use creativity as a catalyst for healing during isolation cause by Covid. I developed a series of approached to increase social connections and encourage creative outlet as a tool for exploring and explaining emotions to self and others.

Because it continues to grow and evolve and it shows the different won't person can make in inspiring others to see art and art therapy through unique lenses. It elevated art and crwativuty to an essential need
At first the social isolation efforts imposed by the movement and self where meant to keep.individuals physically safe but shortly afterwards it became apparent that there was a high cost to mental health. Due to the need for socializing and emotional outlets for this complex feelings people.turned to art and creatives. There was a remarkable growth of art interventions during this last year and last few months.

Was working on a VR project before COVID happened. Idea of online viewing rooms and grappling with that through COVID, when demand for virtual content skyrocketed.

Fibrefest 2020 continued with success online, recruiting artists from across the province. And as the community grappled with COVID-19, The MVTM collaborated with Ryan Gordon Photography to capture the historic shift through the eyes of everyday people in Mississippi Mills in the exhibition, ’Faces & Fabric of a Small Town During Pandemic’. In a historic win for the community, the inaugural Pride Mississippi Mills Committee and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum championed and fought for the inclusivity of 2SLGBTQIA+ people and June was declared Pride Month by the Municipality of Mississippi Mills Council.

The Symphony created a series of videos for region schools highlighting the basic elements of music.

Visual arts and photography teacher at Sandwich Secondary led her students to win many local competitions.

Jamii’s mobile theatre, the Kisanii Hub, travels the residential streets of The Esplanade neighbourhood in the early evening, while delivering musical performances.

The goal from the very outset was to keep the art group at Barclay Manor connected during the lock-down.

The COVID19 ART CHALLENGE, may not be that innovated but it is important for the small group of senior artist to keep in touch even if they do not submit a work of art for that weeks newsletter as of now July 13, I am getting the Week 40 underway, yes that is 40 weeks we have been sending this art challenge to our members. But that is not totally true we have attracted some poets and haiku writers to participate. Over the last 40 weeks I have seen a different side of the artist, and poets submissions. For some they have become more expressive allowing their inner ideas to come to the surface, and come out of their comfort circle and for a few this also means going across their cultural boarders. Having the distance helps. And for many seniors the acknowledgement that they have something to contribute.
For other artist they could learn what is most important the why they create, and do they have the courage to expose themselves.
At times you only hear me screaming yes when I see what a member has done, that brakes their comfort level. Let the bells ring out, for they have made this all worthwhile.

VNM adapted almost seamlessly to find exciting ways to engage new music artists without the live concert environment. Instead of recreating live alternatives, they instead explored entirely new concepts to engage artists. The response and works were interesting enough to stand on their own as excellent curation with deliverables doable during pandemic reality, without seeming like just getting half of an in-person experience.

Interesting curation and operations solutions during COVID

Created podcasts with students from kindergarten through to grade 6.

Développement des cannaux de communication, de la performance sur les médias sociaux lors de la pandémie

For-profit company connecting artists with corporations looking to do arts-based team-building exercises. Went to an entirely online model in the pandemic and will stay there.

Created viable paid virtual opportunities for artists, pivoted to online and they will likely be fully online from now on

The umbrella organization moved their annual festival online, including a virtual red carpet gala. Fourteen choirs were represented in this project called “Keep Calm and Singing On”.

Pivoted to an online event, building a new structure that supports connecting artists with collectors and an audience that can continue when in-person festivals return

Example of continuing to support artists and take on a huge challenge to switch from a solely in-person event to a successful online event, leading to a blend of both, where artist sales and careers continue to be supported

My Goal is exhibit this collection, Alive, Upside Down, Is part of a series of experimental Digital poetry storytelling with mother nature as a protagonist. It's about the power of finding calmness in the chaos who surround us now globally.

This year my series obtained the RBC Space Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation, and thanks to this recognition I will be able to exhibit my photographic exhibition. Creating and persisting for our projects despite all the uncertainty that surrounds us and chaos, is in an act of resilience as an artist , mother and human being.

Teacher and composer Lynette Sawatsky put together a virtual project of 27 students and teachers performing her composition “Hope Springs”.

VIBE launched four new programs in the pandemic including VIBE Bloom, a series of virtual art-making lessons for artists of all ages and experience levels.

On July 8, 2020, the Diefenbunker successfully reopened its blast doors after a four-month closure. Since then, we welcomed 10,000 visitors and have received astounding accolades on our health and safety measures, protocols, and new visitor experience. Despite the challenging year, the Diefenbunker developed an eight-language audio guide, created new wayfinding and interpretative panels, and launched Artist-in-Residence exhibit by Greta Grip entitled Containment: Knit Your [p]art. We also continued crucial infrastructure upgrades to the building including a complete retrofit of our 200 level public washrooms.

MASC Artist Kathryn Patricia Cobbler switched from in-person to presenting online interactive concerts.

Like many other heritage institutions, our museum underwent unprecedented changes in 2020. We adapted early on to a new reality and thrived, creating new ways to engage with our community through social media, virtual programs, virtual content for classrooms/homeschoolers and virtual events. We even rebranded! Take-home kits have been huge in helping us still meet our fundraising goals, while bringing experiences to our community safely at home. We also somehow managed to build a new permanent exhibit in 2020 that we can’t wait to share with our community!

The Cultch pivoted to digital in a number of ways, and did some great work with Transform Cabaret as well as their general digital pivot.

Sustainability, Digital Pivoting

Cartoonist Mike Cope created a special online instructional video series called "Drawn to Life: Animation in Nature.”

The goal of my pivot from live music performances to online music and movement program for children on Patreon.com/singsongpartytime was to continue to boost confidence in young musicians and create a space for joy and laughter as I had done in my pre-Covid performances at schools, daycares, festivals, and local events.

Before Covid and the numerous lockdowns that followed I made a switch to performing for children as a means of spreading my love of life through music and movement. This pivot was in response to having my entire schedule of performances wiped clean and my strong desire to continue on this career path. My wife and I have four children and thus the pressure was very tough to deal with as far as making ends meet and supporting ourselves. I was able to grow my online presence and have now begun creating my very own Music and Comedy Show for Kids on Youtube (www.youtube.com/c/singsongpartytime).This is a large undertaking and has involved converting my home office into a soundstage for live-streaming and zoom workshops for songwriters. The past year and a half has been challenging to say the least but I am now energized to continue working as a musician and content creator for children online.

With limited resources, we produced an IGTV series, Bytown Bit by Bit’, an at-home version of Let Us Entertain You, installed new exhibitions, launched virtual tours, and made available online a plethora of free content.

Teachers at Maggie Music have been teaching online for the past 15 months and the students have participated in multiple virtual concerts. '

The AVIVA Young Arts Program's international family of violinists nearly tripled in size through distance education on web-based platforms.

When the pandemic forced the closure of post-secondary campuses across North America, faculty in Sheridan's Illustration and Music Theatre degree programs needed to quickly find ways to still deliver quality learning experiences online. The Illustration program found a way to teach drawing — a skill that had always been taught through in-person observation — remotely via a multiple-camera setup that provided multiple views of form. Meanwhile, the Music Theatre program quickly pivoted from in-person rehearsals to Zoom in order to continue workshopping of a musical and ultimately produced a recording of the musical's opening number that featured every student in the cast.

Both the Illustration and Music Theatre degree programs thought quickly, creatively and innovatively to provide valuable and meaningful learning experiences in a remote environment. In Illustration's case, students were given a unique experience that prepared them for remote work in the future, and faculty learned ways that technology could complement their studio settings even after program delivery returns to an in-person format. Music Theatre's ability to pivot to remote rehearsals within 10 days of the suspension of in-person learning enabled the advancement of a new Canadian musical while providing students and staff with artistic satisfaction, unique experience and new perspective on how online rehearsal could be a valuable tool in the future shaping of theatre.

Le festival a su se renouveller et trouver de nombreuses façons de "contourner' (tout en restant dans les règles de santé publique!) les restrictions de la pandémie.

The Seven Oaks School Division community has provided support in dance, music and visual art throughout the pandemic.

Online pivot, detailed COVID-19 protocols for short filmmakers in 2021.

Our 25th Season of theatre by & for the Children of the Waterloo Region of Ontario was interrupted by the pandemic. When actOUT! shut down operations on March 13, 2020 we had just finished our run of 'She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition' at the Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre. Disney's 101 Dalmatians KIDS was set to load in the the same space (will young performers ages 6-10 having been in rehearsal since September 2019) and High School Musical JR. was in rehearsal along with our collective creation based on the theme of 'Empathy' known as "The Empathy Project"

As with most of theatre around the world we shut down.

We resurrected our theatre company with a pivot in the fall of 202 to continue our 25th season. High School Musical became a Zoom production, The Empathy Project became BOX: The Empathy Project a production created and performed in Zoom. Other virtual productions including an 'Advanced Actors' (older members of the company) production of an hour long radio play: Sherlock Holmes.

Pivoting younger performers to the online world presents its own unique challenges. Consider the difficulties of actors becoming their own grips, gaffers, and cinematographers and then consider the age of the performer as pre-teen.

A 30-minute performance by leading talent, presented on a travelling stage that comes to you. Suitable for the whole family, and available for residences in the City of Toronto. You can book a private performance for your street, or sponsor a performance for care facilities, retirement homes, and neighbourhood associations.

Artist-curated livestream series involving dance, music storytelling, etc. Program designed to introduce artists-in-residence to the community. Meant to challenge arts community over a discussion about the mythology of Canadian culture, ideally contributing to a regional discussion surrounding issues related to this topic.

At first, we delayed the annual Health and Wellness Seminar that we organize with other members of the African Caribbean Canadian Coalition (ACCC). We came close to cancelling the event but like other organizations, we pivoted to online events and looked for creative ways to continue educating the public. We ended up hosting two online health seminars, one in July and one in September. We also applied ourselves at learning to better use social media to create awareness about our work.

We continue to connect with the public by doing more presentations to organizations across the country who more than ever are eager to deepen their knowledge of Canadian Black History and lived experiences.

The group assembled and distributed thousands of art kits to youth and community members through schools, community organizations, and door-to-door delivery.

Juggling Mental Health offers free online juggling tutorials that also support mental health.

Through COVID lockdowns, 4 out of 5 people experienced a decline in their mental health - including anxiety and depression. Before COVID, that number was 1 in 5 people.

Kyle Sipkens is a professional street performer who realized each time he was juggling, it was helping his anxiety and depression. Juggling is more than an artistic skill, it increases brain matter and is a great anxiety coping strategy!

When the province put out a call for ideas to support mental health support, Kyle decided to create a video series of juggling lessons that also teach coping skills for anxiety or low mood.

While the project didn't receive any grant support, the need for mental health support was urgently needed. So Kyle and his partner Jake produced a free-to-use video series on youtube, facebook, and instagram to use Circus Arts to both entertain and support health of anyone (particularly in remote areas) with internet access to connect through juggling, and add a "tool" to their "tool box" for personal resilience.

Art Teacher Shauna Carpinelli led the department to create a series of virtual shows including four promotional trailers.

New virtual programming during the pandemic

Project's reach and long term impact "are invaluable"

Going digital turned this festival from local/regional to international, creating new opportunities for the festival.

Introduced Fringe TV

Exciting response to the pandemic. Broad impacts.

In March of 2020, the world shut down under the weight of COVID-19, taking with it the entire performing arts industry. Knowing immediately that it would be one of the last industries to reopen and just how many artists here in our province would be impacted, Perchance Theatre responded by reimagining a way of working; restructuring to make that possible. We rebuilt a season that spoke to the reality of where we, as a community of artists and audiences across the province, found ourselves.

The Power of One was born. An initiative that spoke to the heart of the mission and mandate of Perchance – the power of words and ideas explored through classical text and performed in the outdoors. We channeled our passion for our province’s history and geography and the power of technology to reach far beyond our stage in Cupids to feature 41 of our province’s artists doing one monologues from each one of Shakespeare’s plays from Nain to the Southern Shore, in barrens and bays, forests and frozen land.

While we learned new skills as a company, we were also able to employ over 50 artists from all stages of career in all walks of life across our entire province. Employment that has not just helped financially in this terrible economic time, but holistically. The arts are a calling. Artists without work are pining because their work is what nourishes them; not just financially but spiritually.

Overall this initiative created 61 unique employment opportunities for cultural workers, showcasing both the Province’s talent, language and its unique spaces. Each monologue was tied to a specific location in the province that echoed the message of the monologue. From The Book of Sir Thomas More asking for compassion for refugees (The Bulgarian refugee immigration of 1990 in Gander) to The Twelfth Night (Translated into Inuktitut and featured the tradition of the Nalijuk) right down to the beginning and conclusion of our journey - leaving from our theatre in sadness in 2020 (All the World's a Stage) to a joyful return(Perchance to Dream) to throw open our doors on our summer season.

Thanks to the success of the Power of One, marketing the theatre will become much easier as Perchance now has a heightened brand awareness throughout the province, nationally and internationally. Even if the borders remain closed in 2021, we have forged new connections in many areas of the province from which to draw provincial ‘staycation’ audiences.

Incredibly, this initiative was more successful that we dreamed and while the company sees about 2700 people through its doors over the course of a season, each monologue is now being viewed by on average by 25k (and for some up to 50K on facebook alone) people all over the globe. As we head into the 2021 season, we are going in with an audience primed and ready for live and virtual performance in our unique style and an audience that has grown exponentially.

CAMMAC created six short films, a documentary and held virtual music workshops, lectures, concerts, a virtual choir and much more.

Four-day festival featuring music performances, visual art, & workshops. Partnerships with local restaurants, providing safe dinner pick-up for evening
entertainment.

Digidance is a collaboration between the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), and Danse Danse (Montreal) to respond to the challenges dance and performing arts venues are facing in continuing to deliver programming to their audiences since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than that, they wanted to deliver quality programming to audiences all over the country.

Beyond the collaboration between 4 presenters across the country, this series is particularly interesting in that they tried out a new pricing strategy. They invited buyers to choose between a “solo” ticket (a single link giving access to streaming for 1 person) or a “family” ticket (a single link giving access to streaming for 2 people or more on the same device).

The goal of the project was to make original, contemporary performances with local artists. Undercurrents budgeted conservatively, but were blown away by the amount of support. They received just shy of 15, 000$ in revenue, and an additional 850$ in donations.

Undercurrents presented 6 shows which were a mix of live-streamed and pre-recorded performances, as well as an audio drama and a performance that took place entirely through an app. Undercurrents used a pay what you can format for ticketing where patrons could choose tickets at 5$, 20$, 50$, 75$ and 100$. They expected ticket sale numbers to be mostly 5$ tickets, however, 5$ tickets only made up 36% of the sales (compared to 50% in 2020). This pay structure allowed Undercurrents to be much more accessible to the public.

The band, Dwayne Gretzky, was growing and expanding their tour reach leading up to COVID. For NYE 2021, they performed a virtual concert and I believe the payment structure was PWYC for the ticket. For May 24, they live streamed a 99-Song Telethon for hours on YouTube. Payment was by donation with a link to an online payment portal beside the live stream video. 50% of proceeds went to charity. They played from 4pm-midnight, keeping the audience engaged through a cheesy telethon-style host/emcee and through calls to digitally vote for the song that would close each set. Merchandise was sold and audience members could interact on the live stream chat.

The band took a model very close to their pre-COVID shows and turned it up to 11. What was usually a long show of classic rock covers became a gigantic show. The coordination of public health measures that were required to accommodate a ~20-person music group was in itself a feat. Add on what it took to keep an audience from across the world (see comment section for examples of where people tuned in from) engaged and energized for 8.5 HOURS was incredibly impressive. The Youtube video currently has 25K views.

As have our sister organizations, the HSO discovered the wonder of virtual presentations — now drawing enthusiastic audiences even larger than we had accommodated in the OPL auditorium. Walking tours have been socially distanced, and publications have been shared electronically.

The city archives have engaged key audiences in emerging community-relevant projects throughout the pandemic. Projects included: The Covid-19 Collection project – also captured content from Ottawa’s Black Lives Matter content, the 9th annual Letters to Santa virtual holiday program, and ongoing support in Reference Services including reproduction services.

“Becoming Public Art: Working Models and Case Studies for Art in Public” is a nine-week virtual summit co-curated by Markham’s Public Art Curator Yan Wu and Principle of ART+PUBLIC UnLtd Rebecca Carbin. Conceived in the context of the City’s recently approved “Public Art Master Plan 2020-2024,” the summit aims to develop resources for those interested in the practice of contemporary public art, from the maker to the producer, from professionals of the field to general public. Initially planned as a three-day in-person event—including indoor presentations and discussions, outdoor guided public art tours, temporary installation, performance, and screening—in June 2020, due to the impact of COVID, the summit had to reconfigure itself swiftly and creatively into an online format with comparably dynamic content. After a few experiments of similar but smaller programs over the summer and a follow-up audience survey, the curators came up with the current model of presentation: weekly live webinars combined with bi-weekly publishing of written interviews and a constantly updated archival website.

In a series of online lectures, panel discussions, and interviews, an esteemed international group of 46 participants (artists, architects, curators, fabricators, planners, and administrators) present the broad range of perspectives that shape public art making today. Framed by current discussions happening at the intersection of contemporary art, public realm issues and urbanism, the summit features working models and case studies that address the challenges and opportunities faced by those working in this constantly evolving field. The entire program was free to the public.

Over the course of nine weeks, close to 1500 people attended the live webinars and the program has developed 800 followers who has subscribed to the summit newsletters. The audience includes artists and designers, curators and art consultants, administrators from other municipalities both local and international, government agencies, and cultural institutes, university researchers and educators, art students, and general public who is interested in the topic.

Unfolding over the course of nine weeks, from October 13 through December 8, 2020, the core of “Becoming Public Art” is a series of nine webinars, taking place weekly on Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. through 3 p.m. Each session was broadcast live through Zoom webinar. All programs are free and open to the public. Registration was required. Focusing on in-depth presentations and discussions on specific case studies and working models, the webinars were developed under nine themes in response to the present state of public art production, starting from Ken Lum’s keynote lecture on public artist as a working model itself, followed by Collaborative Process, A Civic Role for Artists, Art and Urban Planning, Accessibility, Placemaking and Public Art, Site-Specificity and Public Art, Temporary Programming, and The Digital Turn in Public Art. Recordings of all the sessions are made available on the project website, with subtitles.

In parallel with the live broadcast, four online interview series—"What is a Public Art Master Plan?”, “Public Art and City Planning”, “Public Art on Campus”, and “Public Art on Transit”—were launched through five summit newsletters, delivered to the subscribers on a bi-weekly basis. The newsletters also serve as the platform for the presenters to answer the questions that were not able to be covered during live sessions.

The project website is intentionally designed as a living archive—not only to document the entire summit, but an on-going online database for anyone who is interested in the production of art in public. We were told by some colleagues that they had used the summit as learning materials for internal discussion and team building activities. At least eight universities around the world have used the summit as teaching materials in related courses and programs.

The group produced a video thanking supporters and celebrating visual art making at home.

Created a digital choose-your-own-adventure with non-urban youth.

The liquore Store est un groupe de musique Jazz Hip Hop qui a su rester complètement actif lors de la pandémie. En participant à plusieurs initiatives et en développant de multiples projets, ils ont gardé leur poste de musiciens.

Teacher Sarah Almeida at Monsignor Leo Cleary Catholic Elementary led an arts project with grade 5 & 6 classes on Google Slide, resulting in a virtual art gallery.

Nominating the IBCPA: I know the competition was scheduled for early May 2020, in person. The Isabel was able to adjust their website to host virtual content, purchase and send competitors high-end tech to set up for live streaming, and coordinate the jury, tiers of competition and awards all virtually. I believe competitors participated from around the world.

I think the purchasing and mailing out of tech (mics etc) combined with the coordination it would take to train all competitors to set up and stream their performances would be a huge undertaking, which The Isabel did quickly and efficiently. This is an organization that is particularly good at quick turnaround and responsiveness in general. They also made quick decision when it came to setting up the infrastructure to bring their 2020 Fall Season online.

Heather Martens Rempel led socially-distanced painting classes for grade 3 & 4 students to make mono-print monsters.

À peine trois mois après le début de la pandémie, le Centre des arts à initié une consultation publique de la communauté artistique pour assurer la relance du secteur culturel (arts, patrimoine, événements).

Suite aux consultations publiques, une feuille de route a été développée, permettant ainsi d'identifier des axes stratégiques et des initiatives prioritaires pour la communauté culturelle. Le plan a aussi permit de rassembler de nombreux partenaires non-culturels pour appuyer la relance. Sans cette approche de concertation, il aurait été impossible de mettre en oeuvre tant de nouvelles initiatives. Notre secteur culturel est maintenant plus vivant que jamais.

Over 6 weeks in April-May 2020, Vancouver Mural Festival teamed up with local artists, Business Associations, Vancity Credit Union, City of Vancouver and Goodbye Graffiti to create temporary murals on storefronts boarded up (to avoid break-ins and looting) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The result was 60 incredible murals to inspire hope, brighten streets, celebrate resilience and connect communities. With stores reopened, most murals have been removed and re-purposed.

VMF and local artists transformed our downtown core from apocalyptic-feeling to inspirational with a coat of paint -- demonstrating the true power of public art and collaboration. When local businesses and local governments understand to the power of colour and creativity in public, we can move quickly and wear our shared cultures, values and pride on the outside. While importantly -- ensuring artists are well compensated for their skills and contributions.

Le projet visait à propulser le développement de projets de création et à soutenir les artistes francophones locaux.

À défaut de pouvoir embaucher les artistes dans les productions habituelles de la saison, la compagnie a misé dans son programme de développement dramaturgique. Un cachet a été offert aux artistes qui ont participé aux résidences. En les payant, la compagnie les incite à rester et freine l’exode des talents francophones dans la région.

"The Fall of Troy" is the debut album from singer/songwriter ReeVay. This project tells the story of 2020 through the eyes of its writer; everything from the WWIII scare in January to spending Christmas in quarantine. The main goal of this album is to highlight the common factors of our pandemic experiences with a central message of unity during troubled times. The album began production in June 2021 and is expecting a late 2021 release.

This story is impactful due to its theme of unity during troubled times. 2020 has been an incredibly strange year and many people have felt isolated and alone. Despite everyone feeling this way, it is rarely talked about due to attached social stigmas. By writing this record, I hope to start a dialogue about these issues and remind listeners that we truly are "all in this together" even in post-pandemic times.

Rassemble et représente les compagnies, les diffuseurs et les artistes œuvrant en arts interdisciplinaires au Québec. Lors de la pandémie, le RAIQ a entâmé une restructuration organisationnelle.

An extended re-imagining of the annual Jack Frost Winterfest.

Even though COVID-19 hasn't managed to keep winter away, it has forced Charlottetown's annual winter festival to stay in hibernation this year. The Jack Frost Winter Festival is normally attended by up to 15,000 people and has a provincial economic impact of about $2.5 million. Organizers have instead planned an alternative called Ice City, a month-long festival of activities which they say is a "distant cousin" to Jack Frost. "We want people to have fun, respect others, wear their mask, socially distance and just hopefully everyone feels as fortunate as we do that we live in a place where we can still do a lot of this great stuff," said Heidi Zinn, executive director of Discover Charlottetown. Events range from free snowshoe rentals, themed skating nights, snoga (yoga in the snow), horse and wagon rides and a park-it-market taking place in one of Charlottetown's parking garages. Typically the festival is held at one central location. In years past, it's been at the Charlottetown Event Grounds and outside of Founders' Hall. This year, events will be held all over the city. Organizers recommend checking the full list of events online, as some require pre-registration and have varying COVID-19 protocols.

La librairie a développé sa boutique en ligne. Librairie féministe, elle est une coopérative de solidarité à but non-lucratif. La librairie se spécialise dans la littérature des femmes* (roman, poésie, bande-dessinée, essai, jeunesse) et les ouvrages féministes, queer, lesbiens, gais, bisexuels, trans, intersexe, asexuel et agenre, two-spirited, anti-racistes, anti-coloniaux, etc.

C'est une toute petite librairie, avec peu de moyens, qui a survécu à la crise et aux nombreuses fermetures et limitations liées aux mesures sanitaires. Elle a su trouver les subventions nécessaires, développer sa librairie en ligne et suciter assez d'engouement pour garder sa clientèle active.

By the end of March, close to 100 Haunted Walks tour guides had been laid off as we struggled to find a path forward in uncertain times. In June, we relaunched our outdoor in-person experiences as ’Bubble Tours’, which focused on much smaller group sizes from a limited number of households. These tours were warmly embraced by locals eager to get out of the house to do something safe and fun, while also supporting local businesses. With COVID cases dropping throughout the summer, we were eventually able to conduct Bubble Tours at some indoor locations including the old Ottawa Jail, Fort Henry and Black Creek Pioneer Village. We were simultaneously developing digital experiences, particularly for the Halloween Season when we knew we could not meet local demand, and those who would normally travel to take part in a Haunted Walk event would be interested but stuck at home. In mid-September we launched ’The Haunting at Home’ an online guided audio experience that shares the interesting history of parapsychology, while giving the listeners a night of eerie fun by challenging them to perform a series of spooky experiments using household objects. In October, we held a series of ’Virtual Haunted Campfires’ which were ticketed live streamed events featuring some of the best ghost storytellers from around the world. By Leveraging Federal and Provincial support, both initiatives were great successes with participants joining from all across Canada, and far-flung locations such as Hawaii, the UK, and Australia.

Every day, the studio features a new video of a student performing a song online.

Creating a digital tool for artists and non-profits to do legal self assessments and gain free or affordable support through the legal clinic for artists and arts non-profits. Launching September 2021.

CLN is an initiative to create a physical building to house a variety of innovation tech, tackling some of the biggest challenges in the region, such as internet access, limited training and talent, and others.

Each year, the choirs have hosted Christmas concerts that reach an audience of over 1,000 people each year. The choir also perform at a variety of public functions including the opening ceremonies of the Western Canada Summer Games, the Festival of Trees, the Chamber of Commerce Trade Fair and schools, churches and the Alberta Legislature.

The mission of the Elk Island Regional Honour Choirs Association is to promote excellence in musical education by establishing and maintaining choirs composed of gifted, interested children selected through an audition process. The choir promotes, preserves and enhances a lifelong appreciation for choral music in their singers and audience.

The choir who have operated with a consistent, successful format for many years made many adaptions during the pandemic. In 2020 they were not able to produce their Christmas concert and chose to develop a Christmas sharing project which shared their passion with those outside their choirs community. They created, recorded and released a video compilation of songs that the choristers had rehearsed in the months leading to Christmas as well as video footage from previous performances. This was shared with numerous seniors care facilities in the local area for the enjoyment of their residents who were largely unable to leave their residences. The project arose out of a desire to spread joy and positivity together with an opportunity to remaining connected during such an isolated time. This is now considered to be an initiative that had such great benefit, it will become a staple activity of the choir.

Exposure Toronto — a studio dedicated to helping amplify and fund Black photographers and videographers in the city of Toronto. "Exposure" project based on Justice for Regis protest. Successful GoFundMe campaign. Photographer is a Black non-binary person. Affordable studio space and access to equipment are the main barriers to access in photography.

tracking economic loss, Canadian Writer's Emergency Relief Fund, Mentorship Microgrants, TWUC Webinars, Regional Meetings (Zoom), Genre and Discipline Meetings (Zoom), TWUC Write Now Meetings (virtual), BIPOC Writers Connect, #ConnectWithABook #IReadCanadian, Adovcacy for Writers and CERB, AGM (Zoom), Readings Programs, subsidized and waived membership dues

Member retention went up. More members in the Union that ever!

Our building’s stunning Dialogue Centre, featuring white oak panelling carved in a trefoil pattern, became the backdrop for over 20 virtual and hybrid events, meetings and roundtable discussions with participants from all over the world. We converted it into a production studio, with state-of-the-art A/V and lighting, from which we filmed video messages and keynote addresses. A virtual book launch with speakers from Kenya, Canada and the US attracted considerable interest, as well as other digital initiatives, including our Pluralism and the Pandemic Portal, a curated platform of commentary from leading thinkers on the inequalities surfaced by the pandemic and our Talking About Racism in the Classroom webinar, a professional development opportunity for Canadian teachers.

We decided to take the time and work on redesigning our website to make it better and to digitize all of the products and projects that were not on the website. We were able to do further work on our video about Women at the bargaining table. We continued work on the documentary, Never Forgotten, about the On-to-Ottawa Trek of 1935 with subtitles and a resource guide for teachers prepared by a graduate student at Western University in London, Ontario. Over the summer we hired two students, Candide Uyanze and Jenna Emslie through Young Canada Works to work on two new projects. Candide took the raw footage and created the full-length documentary, ‘What is A Family?’ about the struggle for equal benefits. Jenna begin the research for an online exhibit titled Pandemics, People and Public Health: Stories from the Frontline covering pandemics that affected people in the National Capital Region over the last 130 years. This exhibit will go live later in 2021 and the video -that launched virtually in late November 2020 on YouTube has over 1,000 views to date.

Audience development (international); diverse nation-wide cast

It was a Y2K restart of a mid 18th century ballad archiving project with a original intent to preserve the culture and social artistic fabric of the people and land of Houghton Twp,Norfolk County.Its morphed over two decades to provide a accessible technology artform for viually impaired Canadian seniors living in long term care homes.

After much revisions and experimentation the Matter of Houghton Township surfaced as a tactile graphics metaphorical Holocaust fairytale for 200 residents of Milton's Allendale Long Term Care.The life enrichment video technology is called Excaliber/Caliburn 5959 and is art for long term care residents to experience.The first of its kind with a aging blind woman in Allendale acting as Producer.In simple stark terms,it keeps old people alive.

Successful pivot to online provision of educational programming. Reached new clientele. WIll continue post-pandemic.

The gallery transitioned classroom programming to virtual, offering arts-based projects from kindergarten to grade 12.

This is less the story of a project, per se, but of the way our overall work evolved over the pandemic period. We expanded our org and our impact - arguably in ways that would have taken us many years to do, if we did it at all.

SWM is dedicated to connecting and working with and for artists, audiences, organizations, and professionals from equity-deserving communities. That happens through live events (annual festival, concerts across the Toronto area), as well as through our subsidized venue/studio (SWCentre), our artist development program for newcomer/refugee/emerging artists (eMERGEnce), our international showcase/conference (Global Toronto) and related outbound efforts to international events (Going Global), and being a resource to the various communities we serve.

With the pandemic, we had a bleak first several weeks, like many organizations - to say nothing of the artist communities we were designed to serve. But through partnerships - with presenters such as Music Together, the National Arts Centre, Humber College, and many others - we were able to take advantage of both our growing network of artists/orgs and our Small World Centre, which continued to be enhanced with upgraded tech and gear to find performance opportunities beyond having folks set up their phone cams in their living rooms (though we also helped with that).
Until Ontario locked us out of the venue for most of the first half of 2021, we'd recorded/broadcast over 100 performances from the SW Centre for a range of artists from inside and outside the SW 'family', offering high-quality production and recording for a hugely subsidized rate.
Our artist development program for newcomer/refugee/emerging artists benefited from the re-think of the program already underway when things shut down. The online pivot of the program proved essential to the mental/emotional health and wellbeing of the cohort of 23 musicians; we continued, too, to offer professional development activities that will help their career. We were able to host some jam sessions - an essential part of the program - in the Centre, and 6 new bands developed; they, and other bands the cohort led, were the focus of our 2020 SW Festival, giving them an opportunity we never planned but will continue to affect the future of our work. All along, we sought the program participants' guidance to ensure we were on the right path together. Our next Cohort will benefit from this work.
Our conference, Global Toronto, also benefited from the re-think. Rather than doing it as usual (fly in a couple dozen delegates, put together meetings, the occasional panel), we leaned hard into the guidance we received from the global community of contacts, colleagues, friends, and counterparts, hosting consult sessions that told us we had an opportunity with Global Toronto to make an impact not just for the showcasing artists but for the sector. Participants of the event, which went online in late July, before most other conferences on the calendar, gave us incredible feedback. From feeling safe to share hard talk and experiences - unprecedented in the conference context - to a sense of a real international community, we were dubbed an 'activist conference' with the goal of making change in the industry, building an accessible, sustainable, and equitable sector.

There is more but I'll stop there, except to say we pride ourselves on our energy and desire to serve the community of artists, organizations, and professionals from equity-deserving communities and continue to find ways of making a difference despite (because of) the challenges faced as a result of the pandemic.

Online pivot; provincial scope in 2021; many new ways of sharing heritage properties.

Overcoming the challenges of converting the institute's work to resonate better with COVID reality by moving to digital from a highly training/institute focused art centre.

The studio created virtual ensemble videos dedicated to front line workers and to put some good vibes into their community.

Process innovation; continuing to reach people with disabilities through the pandemic.

unsure - article was from pre-festival

Online program with IRCC with refugees to assist with settlement. Online end of Eid celebration.

This past year, the Ottawa Jewish Archives has made it a priority to focus on our presences online. With the pandemic pushing everything online it was important that we adapted and found ways to still connect with our community regardless of location. The easiest way to achieve this goal was to increase our social media engagement. In March, the archives began posting daily stories and photos of events, places and people that the community would remember and have the ability to interact with. It wasn’t just the archives contributing, though. The archives encouraged people to submit their own photos and stories, some of which the archives did not have, to share with the public. We also regularly posted photos that were lacking identification in our database for people to help fill in the blanks. Both were really engaging ways for the public to connect with the archives while directly contributing to our collection and its history.

With the COVID-19 restrictions and the cancellation of events with over 50 people, we decided to re-imagine our great outdoor parks and recreation spaces within the BC Province’s public health guidelines and provide a safe but small scaled experience for residents, families and seniors during the summer 2020 and this year. It cannot replace the full experience of large festivals but provide some options for people over the summer as a weekly program series.

One of the main reasons we implemented this program was to provide some entertainment and enjoyment for citizens within the health guidelines as there were limited or no options available. Also, it helped to bring some vibrancy to the Town Centre and local businesses which were impacted during the pandemic. We shared our learning and the infrastructure needed to operate safely in this new environment with our community partners and helped them to create their own with support from us.

We are always looking for ways to support our community partners who, under normal circumstances, would have been presenting their festivals to the community – many identified artists for our lineup. These artists had gigs to make up for events previously cancelled. For the artists, Happenings and our modified signature events were the only live performances they had for the year. In addition, it also encourages positive activities and use of our popular parks and provides in-direct support for businesses in the downtown.

The program was popular and fully subscribed as it allowed people to get out safely and experience something live but small scale and controlled. Attendees were very appreciative and it contributed to more positive mental health and raised community spirit. A number of municipalities across Metro Vancouver and Canada have indicated that Maple Ridge is one of the few to offer some live outdoor performances and opportunities in 2020 and into 2021. These learning helped us to produce some of the larger (maximum) outdoor festivals in the fall/winter. There was no playbook on how to do this. We were all, truly in this together. We learned and adapted on the fly and grateful that BC's situation was better than other provinces and our corporate management team and Council supported us to continue our work to deliver programs safely in person mainly and some online.

This experience helped us to look at programming and plans for fall, winter and 2021. We transitioned to larger outdoor drive thrus that allowed families, grandparents and pets in the same bubble to attend in their vehicles. Some of these experiments/pilots will continue as audiences really liked the new formats. Although there are large blow up screens for movies pre-Covid, we repurposed the wall of the Curling Club as a screen, 34'x18'! The Curling Club will also use this screen in future to project their big games.

Students performed in a video in 14 different languages ​​expressing love and gratitude to all of their supporters.

The goal was to have a chance to safely create and provide entertainment to the community. It included breaking the cast into cohorts, masked rehearsals, socially-distanced stage design and blocking and other Covid protocol like sanitizing and closed rehearsals. It was a fully staged production which we will be shooting with multiple cameras (courtesy of Bamboo Shoots) and it was live broadcasted live from Rawlco Radio Hall at the Remai Arts Centre. We ended up getting viewers from Canada, the USA, Australia, UK, Mexico, Norway, Austria, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Netherland, Turkey, and Ireland!

There was also a tiered payment system. Since people were only granted one screening code, they were offered the option to pay a little more and get some snacks or merch, or just give a little extra because they were screening for a lot of people and wanted to be honest about it!

General Admission – $30 + BO Fees ($34)
One screen access

Loyal Patron – $46 + BO Fees ($50)
One screen access (for the loyal patrons who intend to have more than one person watching and want to offer their support to SSP by paying a higher price point)

Sending Some Love – $56 + BO Fees ($60)
One screen access and a flower arrangement sent to the performance venue for the cast and crew (option to provide a congratulatory note or direct it to a specific cast members)

Surprise Swag Bag – $66 + BO Fees ($70)
One screen access and a bag of swag from SSP delivered to your home (available within Saskatoon only)

Spooktacular Snack Pack for 2 – $76 + BO Fees ($80)
One screen access and themed appetizers for two prepared by D’reen’s Catering delivered to your home the day of the show. (available within Saskatoon only) Vegetarian option available.

For me, the innovation came in the form of the thoughtful protocol put into place for the rehearsal process, the high quality of the live-stream, and the tiered payment options. (And to boot, no one contracted Covid during the rehearsal process or run of the show.) While I cannot speak on behalf of the organization, I could see this experience influencing how shows are ticketed in the future, as well as potential avenues of bringing theatre to many audiences.

During the pandemic, Patricia Coulter's practice switched to creating wearable art tote bags.

The “Société franco-ontarienne du patrimoine et de l’histoire d’Orléans“ (SFOPHO) continued several of its activities by going digital via Zoom. We had over 40 virtual participants at our last Annual General Meeting and over 77 participants at our virtual book launch, “If our stained-glass windows could talk…”. We continue to reach our members through our historical capsules published almost every Monday on our Facebook page, as well as through our newsletters published on our website a few times a year, which reports on our activities and updates on the progress of our future projects. We also regularly publish a historical chronicle in L’Orléanais, a French-speaking community newspaper. We have participated virtually in the setting up of the “Club international francophone des Orléanais et des Orléanaises.” We have begun the conservation of our archives and we are currently planning virtual activities to celebrate our 10th anniversary. The pandemic will not stop us!

In the first round of quarantine or lock-down the focus changed from in-house to on-line research and then laneway drop-offs between Collection Committee members sourcing information from old Carp Reviews, actual and on-line, to facilitate the next step of transcription into our database of Deaths/Marriages in Huntley Township. Our Society has continued to assist the general public with their requests about family history research and historical information on their property or business location using information from our own files and the membership. This exchange of information has been accomplished through either e-mail or porch drop-offs. We have transitioned to Zoom meetings…for General Meetings as well as Directors’ Meetings… thanks to the skills of Roger Thomas who has also continued updating our website. As this pandemic continues, our Planning Committee has had to shift from speakers at General Meetings in the Carp Memorial Hall to online presentations via Zoom, so speakers who are comfortable with this method are being sought, and therefore our plan for 2021 has been changed.

"The festival will be entirely based online and stretched out over a 24-day period through to Aug. 2. Typically the event draws a few thousand people over the three-day weekend and takes place in Yellowknife’s historic Old Town."

“There will also be a larger reach this year as well because it will be not just people in Yellowknife coming here, but families who might be living elsewhere. The (virtual festival) will provide a little window into what Old Town and the community is about, and Old Town specifically.” The event will also provide “a time capsule” for future years where people can look back at performers in 2020.

This was an equity-in-theatre themed research project completed between February 2020 and February 2021. It was designed by April M. Killins and done in partnership with 36 high profile performing arts organizations in Edmonton that make up the YEG Performing Arts Accessibility Ad Hoc Group. The goals of the project were to examine access and equity in the pathways artists take to gain credibility in a professional theatre practice. It was originally planned to use theatre-based research methods but had to adjust to virtual mediums due to the pandemic. In the end, recommendations were provided and adopted by organizations to help them come out of the pandemic with more inclusive practices to stimulate diversity onstage and backstage, and to improve access for artists from all backgrounds,
abilities, and/or other forms of social difference that are poorly represented in the industry.

This project was innovative because it was community-based in its approach and completion. It pulled together the voices of 135 artists, 36 arts organizations and 17 theatre-training pathways to facilitate safe and productive lines of communication. It offered some financial supports to artists in a pandemic-paused field in the form of reimbursement for their participation, and its findings were presented as a visual report and public (virtual) presentation. Presentations of findings from this research have been programmed into local festivals such as Chinook 2021 and Found Festival 2021 as well as by the Citadel Theatre at their series of exchange panels, marking an innovative approach: programming arts content that focuses on the building and renovating of community networks.

This project impacted many organizations that set the context for theatre practice in Edmonton, Alberta. It resulted in tangible commitments from theatres and institutions such as the Citadel Theatre, Theatre Alberta, Catalyst Theatre, MacEwan University's Drama Department, The University of Alberta's BFA program, and others.

The short-term impacts have been the creation of new mentorship programs for racialized and otherwise marginalised artists, and the adoption of a more collaborative approach to community building and inclusion. Expected medium-term impacts include a higher level of accountability from institutions to establish positive working conditions for the artists they train and/or employ. Expected long-term impacts include an increase in diversity onstage and on creative teams, and policy changes that support artist wellbeing embedded in local theatre practice across the community.

The collaborative, community-based approach of this project and its framework could be adopted in other centres and other artistic disciplines to foster a more inclusive return to post-pandemic art-making, as we all address the racial reckoning that expanded in 2020 with the BLM movement and apply those learnings to our field and sector.

This project also adapted from planned arts-based, in-person research methodologies and was forced to replace those methods with virtual data collection and dissemination. The result is still creative, effective and accessible to the community it meant to communicate with. It also took advantage of the downtime experienced by creatives to engage them in these conversations and financially compensate them for their time while they were unemployed. Reframing the project within the limits of pandemic-ready engagement strategies also allowed the researcher to successfully leverage circumstances that initially appeared to be a barrier.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed inequalities that leave out marginalized peoples and voices, particularly within public spaces. While STEPS has been dedicated to providing opportunities for these voices in regular programming, we saw an opportunity to further these efforts. Over the last 10 years in the field and through our participation on many public art selection committees, we have witnessed the disproportionate disadvantage that Black, Indigenous and other artists of colour have had in accessing large-scale public art opportunities. These opportunities begin with access to small to midsize portfolio building commissions. Our CreateSpace BIPOC Public Art Residency offers its participants real world opportunities and experiences in creating public art works from conception through to realization. Through this unique program, STEPS celebrates creativity, diversity and inclusion through public art. CreateSpace builds the capacity of emerging BIPOC artists through a combination of technical skills training, targeted mentorships and networking.

In 2020 STEPS launched CreateSpace, a national public art residency program providing emerging Black, Indigenous and racialized artists with the skills, relationships and practical experience needed to foster and develop skills in lasting public art practices. CreateSpace was open to early to mid-career Canadian-based visual and media artists working in public space. In total, ten artists were chosen from across Canada by a review panel composed of BIPOC members of the Canadian arts community. This first of kind program offered participants skill building, relationship fostering and networking opportunities, practical public art making experiences, introductions to new audiences and financial support.

As this is the pilot year of a multi-year program, the 2022 CreateSpace BIPOC Public Art Residency will build off the successes of its first year. The program strives to not only support individual artists, but to foster connections and cultivate conversation around social equity in city-building and design. It will foster solidarity amongst artists working in diverse contexts; between artists and their own communities, while also inspiring broader dialogue on representation in city-building processes.

C’est sous ce thème que le Festival de Théâtre Action en Milieu Scolaire a permis aux jeunes francophones de l'Ontario, durant deux jours d’une intensité inoubliable, de recevoir de la formation dispensée virtuellement par des artistes professionnels et de participer à des créations interactives en ligne. L’événement est très attendu chaque année !
Il réunit des centaines de jeunes élèves passionnés du théâtre, une quarantaine d’enseignants, une vingtaine d’artistes, des étudiants de l’Université d’Ottawa et de l’Université Laurentienne.

Après l’annulation de l’édition précédente, c’est avec émotion et acharnement que l’équipe de Théâtre Action s’est attelée à la concrétisation de cette édition en mode virtuel. Malgré l’appréhension, légitime pour une première en format virtuel, tout s’est bien déroulé ! Ce n’était pas le festival attendu, mais les jeunes ont dit que c’était celui dont ils avaient besoin. L’équipe s’est même surprise à avoir du fun, même si elle ne s’attendait pas à la même énergie que sur le terrain. Ça l’a été pour cette équipe une expérience humaine riche en émotions. L’équipe a pu rire, danser, chanter et applaudir le talent et de la passion de la jeune relève théâtrale, malgré la distance.

The Vancouver Cantata Singers created the moving stories project to gather covid stories and pair them with performances of choral music.

Pre-recorded series featuring 22 local artists, mostly musicians. "Through this project we were able to capture an online audience and train them to go to our box office and watch the FOCUS Online Series every two weeks." "We also gave our technical team a training ground to work with the new gear and software and hone their film making skills."

Instruments of Change shifted to online for community and school programming, including a collaboration with Carnegie Hall.

The Festival switched from in-person concerts to digital content, all free of charge and accessible online.

Yellowhouse Art Center facilitated a Pottery workshop via Zoom, with one on one glazing appointments, and more.

Innovation in costume production: designers would not have to be in the same space to fit people for costumes for theatre, dance etc.

Benefits beyond the pandemic could inlcude lower costs, less waste of materials/resources, and more. While the concept came to life during and because of COVID, it is a lasting solution.

Online summit to amplify and celebrate Indigenous voices and artistic excellence around the world

New building. Some in-person arts education classes.

The Lumsden Community Band is a small concert band (12ish members) that practices weekly. We are an amateur group of unprofessional musicians who simply love to play music. Before the pandemic began we performed about every six weeks for a variety of events in Lumsden and performed regularly at long term care homes in the Lumsden/Regina area. When the pandemic hit our practices were cancelled and all the places we regularly performed concerts were closed to the public. Once the lockdown was lifted in May 2020 we decided to figure out a way to start practicing and possibly start performing concerts.
Lumsden is a small town (pop. 1200) and we decided the safest way to practice was to practice outside in the band members back yards. We enjoyed playing together outside so much that we decided to continue practicing through the summer - generally we would break for the summer but we were starved for a musical outlet and the restrictions in Saskatchewan were open enough to allow us to get together to practice in a safe way. But it is no fun practicing music without a place to perform so we planned the CoVid Summer Concert Series. Long term care homes, personal care homes and senior independent living facilities were contacted to see if they were interested in having us perform outdoor concerts in a socially distant manner. Some places said no and others were happy to have us come play outside. The residents sat quite a ways away. We are a small but mighty band so everyone could easily hear us. One long term care home had us play outside in front of a large window while the residents sat inside. We would perform in whatever way the care home felt most comfortable with. We added another concert to our series which was a flash-mob type concert. We setup in the downtown of area of Lumsden and played a concert for whomever passed by and filled out little town with music.
We were fortunate in Saskatchewan in the summer of 2020 to have an extremely low number of CoVid cases and fortunate that most care homes were open to us playing concerts for their residents. Once the fall hit our CoVid numbers skyrocketed and restrictions were much tighter. We stopped playing for August and September. Our director contacted us in October with an idea to use Zoom. She found YouTube recordings of arrangements of songs that we were learning and we practiced once a week on Zoom. Miranda, our director would play the recording, everyone else would mute themselves to avoid feedback and we would play along with the song, with Miranda directing. This was not the best to way to practice together but it kept us playing regularly until we could gather again. Concerts were off but at least we were playing. Once everyone was double vaccinated we started our outdoor practices again (June 2021). We are now planning a another CoVid Summer Concert Series for August 2021, playing at a different care home each week in August and of course the flash-mob concert will also be included in our schedule.

Another project that we are working on is a video pf us playing our signature song in a socially distant manner. Our signature song is Georgia. Miranda has recorded the baseline of the song and put this video on YouTube. Using headphones to hear the baseline we each have recorded ourselves playing our part to Georgia. Our recordings were sent to Miranda using Google Drop. Miranda is now in the process of putting the video together. The end product, a compilation video, will look much like a Zoom meeting and we will be playing the song together. We are planning to add this video to our website and Facebook page and we are also planning to use it as a promotional piece when recruiting new members.

The pandemic has forced us to look at practicing in a different manner. We still wanted to play music together and we found a way to do that through Zoom. Although we could not hear each other we could ask questions and try to figure out how our parts fit in with the rest of the band. Now that we are back to our outdoor practices the songs are coming together very quickly. Practicing on our own to a recording of the arrangement of the songs we are playing may become a way that we practice individually to prepare for band practice. It is something simple but it is making us better musicians.
We have already had discussions about using Zoom once our practices return to normal. Our band has a few members who leave to warmer climates for the winter and they talk about how they miss playing. If we hook up to Zoom at our regular practices, all the snowbirds have to do is enter the Zoom meeting, mute themselves and play along. The pandemic has also made us more aware of being in public when we are not feeling well. Using Zoom at our practices will allow those who are feeling under the weather or are unable to attend due to road conditions to still attend practice. Also, using this technology may encourage people who may be reluctant to join our community band to see how a practice goes or they could try it out without actually coming to an in-person practice. The possibilities of using Zoom at regular practices are endless.

On a different note we found that flex band arrangements became readily available once the pandemic hit. Our band is very small so using arrangements for larger concert bands don't always work because we do not have the instrumentation. Using flex band arrangements works for us because we can cover all the parts with no worries. We are hoping that flex band arrangements become even more available in the future.

The collective pivoted to provide enriching visiting artist experiences to classrooms using digital platforms.