INNOVATION & RESILIENCE
IN CANADA’S CULTURAL SECTOR

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Arts Council Wood Buffalo

Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, AlbertaFort McMurray Wood Buffalo (Alberta) Project: Buffys 2020: Arts Awards
Discipline(s): dance, media arts, museums and galleries, music, reading, writing, publishing, theatre, visual arts, multidisciplinary, arts education

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.

Special impacts:

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."

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples, Racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, D/deaf, disabled, or live with difference, Members of official language minority groups
Source: Survey

Link to website

Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra

St John's, Newfoundland and LabradorSt John's (Newfoundland and Labrador) Project: Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra: Pay-It-Forward Subscriptions and Seniors Outreach Program
Discipline(s): music
Read the story

Reached 46 senior homes across NL and Labrador, including areas they could never serve before. "The NSO provides long term care facilities both public and private and community organizations across the province free access to our digital concert series. This program, which began in fall 2020, was developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It serves to connect NL communities with the NSO and its virtual musical offerings thus providing much needed enjoyment and comfort during this period of isolation and uncertainty and will continue as part of our regular community outreach programming."

Special impacts:

Geographical reach, new audiences, new revenues, community outreach

Source: Research

Link to website

Windsor Symphony Orchestra

Windsor, OntarioWindsor (Ontario) Project: Windsor Symphony Digital Concert Series
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Vancouver Island Symphony

Nanaimo, British ColumbiaNanaimo (British Columbia) Project: Pop-Up Concerts
Discipline(s): music

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

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

OrKidstra

Ottawa, OntarioOttawa (Ontario) Project: A Heartfelt Note from OrKidstra! | 2021
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance

Toronto (base); national scope, OntarioToronto (base); national scope (Ontario) Project: IPAA Tech Bundles: Enhancing cultural sovereignty through technical infrastructure
Discipline(s): theatre, dance, music
Read the story

Created a technical infrastructure to encourage cultural sovereignty, create training and mentorship opportunities, and develop wider engagement in the arts sector for emerging and mid-career Indigenous artists. Also produced a very successful digital festival that livestreamed artists on YouTube. They had a thoughtful approach in term of their process; they had a dedicated tech person coaching each of the artists ahead of the livestream.

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples
Source: Research

Link to website

The liquor Store

Montréal, QuebecMontréal (Quebec) Project: Concert live en virtuel, production d’un album
Discipline(s): music

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.

Source: Research

Link to website

Fredericton Playhouse

Fredericton, New BrunswickFredericton (New Brunswick) Project: InterMISSION Residency Program: Respond first, finetune later
Discipline(s): dance, media arts, music, theatre, multidisciplinary
Read the story

During COVID, we took the extended closure of the Fredericton Playhouse as an opportunity to collaborate with artists to develop and celebrate our local arts community. We adapted to the restrictions in mass gatherings by designing and executing InterMISSION (https://www.theplayhouse.ca/intermission/), a highly successful program of artistic residencies that allowed local performing artists to work and hone their craft, without audiences, in the Playhouse. Sixty-five artists, mentors, and videographers were paid to use our stage, equipment, and expertise in a series of twelve theatre, music, dance, and other creative residencies between September 2020 and March 2021.

Thanks to funding from the City of Fredericton, the Province of New Brunswick, the Fredericton Community Foundation, the government of Canada, and more than 75 private donors, InterMISSION provided much-needed financial assistance and a creative outlet for local performing artists and experts while their careers were on hold.

Special impacts:

InterMISSION was a resounding success. Our resident artists have been incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with our superbly experienced sound and lighting technical team, in our professional facility, with expert training from mentors with whom many of them have long sought to work. By supporting the artistic community in Fredericton and across New Brunswick during a time when most artists were out of work, this program created a positive social impact in our community by improving the mental health and quality of human life for not only the program participants but also the people who will share in the magic of their inspirational performances in the months and years to come. We aim to continue this program in future years and expand the engagement the Playhouse has with the artistic community in our region.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Maggie Music

Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria (British Columbia) Project: Online Classes and Virtual Concerts
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Jeunesses Musicales

Montréal, QuebecMontréal (Quebec) Project: Digital Ballads
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Research

Link to website

Echo Women's Choir

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Online Rehearsals
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Vancouver Cantata Singers

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: Moving Stories Project
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

ALAVIVA

Québec, QuebecQuébec (Quebec) Project: ALAVIVA and Maelström créatif: Mixing business with pleasure
Discipline(s): museums and galleries, music, reading, writing, publishing, theatre, visual arts
Read the story

Stimuler et briser l'isolement des aînés en les connectant à des acteurs culturels grâce à des robots de téléprésence et à une plateforme d'intermédiation sociale et culturelle.

Special impacts:

Connecter les aînés aux artistes et professionnels de la culture permettra d'améliorer la qualité de vie des premiers tout en ouvrant de nouvelles possibilités de travail pour les second. Les bienfaits de la culture sur la santé sont maintenant reconnus. Rencontres sympathiques, médiation culturelle, création artistique, art-thérapie... La solution permet le rapprochement des gens malgré la grandeur du territoire.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Daniel Boucher and Patrick Lacroix

Montréal, QuebecMontréal (Quebec) Project: Boucane en Direct
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts

Kingston, OntarioKingston (Ontario) Project: Bader Overton Canadian Cello Competition
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Centre des arts d'Edmundston

Edmundston, New BrunswickEdmundston (New Brunswick) Project: Plan de relance du secteur culturel
Discipline(s): dance, festivals, libraries, media arts, museums and galleries, music, reading, writing, publishing, theatre, visual arts

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).

Special impacts:

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.

Equity seeking: Members of official language minority groups
Source: Survey

Link to website

Nicole Bauberger

Whitehorse, YukonWhitehorse (Yukon) Project: Dalton Trail Trail Gallery
Discipline(s): dance, museums and galleries, music, reading, writing, publishing, theatre, visual arts, multidisciplinary

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).

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Arts Council Wood Buffalo & St. Aidan's Society

Fort McMurray, AlbertaFort McMurray (Alberta) Project: Art of Conversation
Discipline(s): media arts, music, reading, writing, publishing, visual arts

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples, Racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, D/deaf, disabled, or live with difference, Members of official language minority groups
Source: Survey

Link to website

Nanaimo Sings

Nanaimo, British ColumbiaNanaimo (British Columbia) Project: Keep Calm and Signing On: Annual Virtual Festival
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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”.

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: Online monthly subscriptions with virtual concerts
Discipline(s): music

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

Special impacts:

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

Source: Research

Link to website

ReeVay (Marc Rivest)

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: The Fall of Troy
Discipline(s): music

"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.

Special impacts:

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.

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples, Racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+
Source: Survey

Link to website

Dwayne Gretzky

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: 99-Song Telethon virtual show
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Old Town Yellowknife

Yellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesYellowknife (Northwest Territories) Project: Old Town Ramble & Ride Festival
Discipline(s): music, festivals

"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."

Special impacts:

“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.

Source: Research

Link to website

Capitol Theatre Restoration Society

Nelson, British ColumbiaNelson (British Columbia) Project: HOMEGROWN
Discipline(s): dance, music, theatre

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Suzuki Music

Ottawa, OntarioOttawa (Ontario) Project: Virtual Year-End Celebration
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

A Cappella Plus Choir

Nanaimo, British ColumbiaNanaimo (British Columbia) Project: 40th Anniversary Video
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre

Vernon, British ColumbiaVernon (British Columbia) Project: FOCUS Online Series
Discipline(s): 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."

Source: Research

Link to website

Burlington Student Theatre

Burlington, OntarioBurlington (Ontario) Project: The Virtual Millie Project
Discipline(s): dance, music, theatre

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Kathryn Patricia Cobbler

Ottawa, OntarioOttawa (Ontario) Project: Online Interactive Concerts
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Le Festif! de Baie-St-Paul

Baie St Paul, QuebecBaie St Paul (Quebec) Project: Le Festif! de Baie-St-Paul
Discipline(s): music

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Oakville Symphony

Oakville, OntarioOakville (Ontario) Project: The Elements of Music: Video Series for Schools
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Lynette Sawatsky

Saskatoon, SaskatchewanSaskatoon (Saskatchewan) Project: Hope Springs: A Collaborative Piano Project
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

SpanicArts: Hispanic Association of Professional Artists Ltd.

Calgary, AlbertaCalgary (Alberta) Project: DesayunArte & DramatizArte
Discipline(s): dance, libraries, media arts, museums and galleries, music, reading, writing, publishing, theatre, visual arts, multidisciplinary

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Equity seeking: Racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+
Source: Survey

Link to website

Okanagan Children's Choir

Okanagan, British ColumbiaOkanagan (British Columbia) Project: Okanagan Children’s Choir: Digital composition project
Discipline(s): music, arts education
Read the story

For the Okanagan Youth Choir (British Columbia), the project was to develop an awareness of the components of basic choral composition including lyric writing, rhythmic and melodic composition and other musical concepts. Working with composer, Gerda Blok-Wilson, the project was developed over 4 weeks with hour long Zoom lessons. The composer wrote two melodies (words and phrases from key quotations on the theme of "Choir Team"). These melodies were partner songs. The singers were introduced to graphic, rhythmic and melodic scores and created their own compositions using “Choir Team” theme during the Zoom lessons. Some of their compositions were woven into the final piece.

Special impacts:

The project was digital using Zoom, Sibelius Composition program, Audacity and digital recording methods. The project offers lots of flexibility for themes. Its basic approach offers young singers insights into the choral composition world and gives them a different choral music experience. The video has been shared to a few choirs. This method of "workshopping" has the capability of reaching many more young singers and is economically more viable than having the composer come (travel) to the choir rehearsal.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Tupiq A.C.T. (Arctic Circus Troupe)

Kuujjuaq & Montréal, QuebecKuujjuaq & Montréal (Quebec) Project: Tupiq Arctic Circus Troupe: Circus for social change
Discipline(s): music, theatre, circus
Read the story

Tupiq A.C.T. (Arctic Circus Troupe) is a non-profit circus company that aims to preserve and promote Inuit culture and traditions. Tupituqaq Creative Process: "The creative process of this Tupituqaq (the old tent) show started with our collective passion for Inuit legends. We met with all of the artists who came to Montreal, decided on a few legends that would fit nicely together, and created a sequence that might give a good story.

Once we settled on a story, we decided on characters, figured out how many artists we needed, thought of the atmosphere and circus disciplines we wanted to showcase. We pieced together how each character would move, how they would talk, what attitude they had. We created each character to have their own personalities inspired by the legends we read.

We assigned everyone a character who would be the most suitable to bring that character to life, and then we started practicing. We had some good friends, and a few new people to help us with our creation, to help us move in different ways, show us how we could tell a different story, to emphasize a movement, work new skills like shadow theatre and give us insight on how the characters would look like in a show setting.

The finalization of the creation was in Inukjuak in March 2020, we spent a week making our characters more complete and working on ways to express our message to promote a healthy lifestyle. On March 13th, the day of the presentation to the community of our creation, the pandemic was declared by the Québec government.

In the midst of a pandemic, we found ways to keep being creative and turned a planned show into the filming of Tupituqaq, thanks to our sturdy partners. This movie was done in a very unique context over about four weeks. Filming took place on the weekends so the artists could continue to attend work and school. Performing while respecting public health policies with procedural masks made things hard for the circus artists to breath properly, made the audio a little harder to hear, and made filming longer because of limited sequential movements. Despite all of the hardships, everyone in the production had an amazing time.

Special impacts:

Tupiq A.C.T in now in the process of finalizing a Pedagogical Package that will accompany, facilitate the screening of the 37 minute digital show. With the support of partner organisations, the tool gives more background cultural and historical information on the characters and storyline of the show and also suggests activities to do in class or in a community organisation set up to encourage storytelling and capacity building on subjects and skills that are addressed in the show. Through this collaborative process, Tupiq ACT is building its network of supporters within Nunavik and its credibility being associated with recognized institutes like Avataq, Makivik and KI in the editing of this tool. This action will allow Tupituqaq to travel not only in the North but hopefully in the whole world!

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples
Source: Survey

Link to website

Bailiwick Booking and Management

Georgina, OntarioGeorgina (Ontario) Project: Change in practice
Discipline(s): dance, music, theatre, multidisciplinary

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Queer Songbook Orchestra

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: The Queer Songbook Orchestra’s QSO Kids project: A renewed focus in an uncertain landscape
Discipline(s): music, arts education
Read the story

Livestreamed concerts for kids, emphasis on a topic (queerness) enhanced by art

Equity seeking: 2SLGBTQIA+
Source: Research

Place des Arts

Coquitlam, British ColumbiaCoquitlam (British Columbia) Project: Online Transition: year-long children’s group music programs
Discipline(s): music, theatre, visual arts, arts education

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.

Special impacts:

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

Source: Research

Link to website

Elk Island Regional Honour Choirs Association

Sherwood Park, AlbertaSherwood Park (Alberta) Project: Christmas sharing project
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Digital Cutters

National (AB base), AlbertaNational (AB base) (Alberta) Project: Digital Cutting Research Project
Discipline(s): design, theatre, dance, music

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

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Research

Link to website

Orpheus Choir

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Lost in Translation
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Stage Page / Performing Arts Assembly

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: “Artemis” Recommender System for performing arts event
Discipline(s): theatre, dance, music

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.

Source: Research

Link to website

Queer Songbook Orchestra

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: The Queer Songbook Orchestra�s QSO Kids project: A renewed focus in an uncertain landscape
Discipline(s): music, arts education

Livestreamed concerts for kids, emphasis on a topic (queerness) enhanced by art

Equity seeking: 2SLGBTQIA+
Source: Research

Lumsden Community Band

Lumsden, SaskatchewanLumsden (Saskatchewan) Project: CoVid 2020 Concert Series
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

International Indigenous Music Summit

Ottawa (base); national and international scope, OntarioOttawa (base); national and international scope (Ontario) Project: Online pivot and expanded reach
Discipline(s): festivals, music

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

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples
Source: Research

Link to website

Intruments of Change

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: Virtual Programming
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Calgary Philharmonic

Calgary, AlbertaCalgary (Alberta) Project: An Orchestra Adventure (with Maestro Karl and friends)
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Salt Spring Arts

Salt Spring Island, British ColumbiaSalt Spring Island (British Columbia) Project: COVID Musical Chronicles
Discipline(s): music, reading, writing, publishing, visual arts

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.

Special impacts:

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

Source: Survey

Link to website

Brockton School World Music

North Vancouver, British ColumbiaNorth Vancouver (British Columbia) Project: Music Hall Sessions
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Tapestry Opera

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Box Concerts
Discipline(s): music

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.

Source: Research

Prince Edward Island Department of Education and Lifelong Learning

Charlottetown, Prince Edward IslandCharlottetown (Prince Edward Island) Project: Prince Edward Island’s Department of Education and Lifelong Learning: Teaching and modelling resilience through the arts
Discipline(s): arts education, music, theatre, dance
Read the story

The P.E.I. Student Drama Festival took to the stage virtually in 2021, with class performances professionally filmed and edited and then posted online. Usually students from across the Island would rehearse their play or skit at school, and then finish up with a public performance on a professional stage with sets and lights, such as at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Last year's school drama festival was cancelled because of COVID-19. This year, 203 students from grades 3 to 11, from eight schools across the Island put together 24 productions that are now available online.

Special impacts:

This is a story about two champions in arts education, their journey during the first 18-months of the pandemic, and the importance of fostering creativity in students. The story focuses on two arts-based programs: the PEI Student Drama Festival and the ArtsSmarts PEI Learning Experience.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Derek McKinley

Wakefield, QuebecWakefield (Quebec) Project: Sing Song Party Time!
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Aviddiva

Calgary, AlbertaCalgary (Alberta) Project: Broad-MAY: Aviddiva Music
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Caitlyn Belanger

Oakville, OntarioOakville (Ontario) Project: Individually Recorded Collaborative Music
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Small World Music

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Small World Music 2020-2021
Discipline(s): festivals, music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples, Racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, D/deaf, disabled, or live with difference
Source: Survey

Link to website

Syncspace.live

Ottawa, OntarioOttawa (Ontario) Project: Virtual performances, new technology
Discipline(s): music

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

Source: Research

Link to website

Toronto Adventures

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Paddle Concerts
Discipline(s): theatre, dance, music

Concerts, comedy and more from a dock for paddlers.

Source: Research

Link to website

Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Soulpepper Theatre and Artists for Real Climate Action

Toronto, OntarioToronto (Ontario) Project: Green Sessions
Discipline(s): dance, music, theatre, multidisciplinary

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.

Equity seeking: Indigenous Peoples, Racialized, D/deaf, disabled, or live with difference
Source: Survey

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra

Winnipeg, ManitobaWinnipeg (Manitoba) Project: Free concert with local bands
Discipline(s): music

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

Source: Research

Vancouver New Music

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: One Score Project, Outdoor Concerts
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

Interesting curation and operations solutions during COVID

Source: Research

Link to website

Music & Beyond

Ottawa, OntarioOttawa (Ontario) Project: Free Digital Content
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

City of Maple Ridge

Maple Ridge, British ColumbiaMaple Ridge (British Columbia) Project: Happenings Outdoor Performances and Movies in Parks
Discipline(s): dance, festivals, music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Elektra Women's Choir

Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver (British Columbia) Project: Collaborative Virtual Choir
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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.

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

Montréal, QuebecMontréal (Quebec) Project: The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal: It takes a village� to be resilient
Discipline(s): music

Maintien de son activité, offre de spectacles, défis liés à la programmation et à l'absence du chef d'orchestre.

Special impacts:

Concrétisation de la vision artistique de l’orchestre et son élaboration à travers la programmation.

Source: Research

Link to website

AVIVA Young Arts Program

Montreal, QuebecMontreal (Quebec) Project: Distance Education – Tripled in size
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

actOUT! Kitchener Waterloo Children's Drama Workshop

Waterloo, OntarioWaterloo (Ontario) Project: actOUT!’s 25th Season
Discipline(s): dance, music, theatre, arts education

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website

Classic Studios

Sherwood Park, AlbertaSherwood Park (Alberta) Project: Classic Studios’ Virtual Ensemble – Count On Me
Discipline(s): music, arts education

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

Source: Canadian Network for Arts and Learning

Link to website

Care/Of

National, OntarioNational (Ontario) Project: Virtual Team Building – Arts & Culture Experiences
Discipline(s): visual arts, music

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.

Special impacts:

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

Source: Research

Link to website

Tuckamore Chamber Festival

St. John's, Newfoundland and LabradorSt. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador) Project: Ecology of Being
Discipline(s): music

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.

Special impacts:

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.

Source: Survey

Link to website