The City Hall Members Lounge was full-to-overflowing Monday night (March 28) as more than 100 citizens came out to share their thoughts on where Toronto’s culture policy should be going over the next four years. Councillor Michael Thompson, Chair of the City’s Economic Development Committee (below) kicked things off by noting that in spite of the culture sector’s many statistical successes, “we have to examine our progress and fine-tune our approach in order to maximize our cultural assets, which is really what this is all about.”
“Both artists and entrepreneurs work hard,” he added. “They take risks and they know the value of a dollar spent and a dollar earned. As you know, the dollar is a significant concern within this environment and Mayor Ford has expressed a great desire to protect taxpayer’s dollars. We need to get as much mileage as possible out of every dollar spent.”
Joining Michael Thompson for the session were fellow City Councillors Gary Crawford (Ward 36), Sarah Doucette (Ward 13), Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29), Shelley Carroll (Ward 33) and Krystin Wong-Tam (Ward 27). Members of the Creative Capital Initiative Advisory Committee also helped swell the crowd including Co-Chair Robert Foster (CEO Capital Canada), the Mayor’s Special Advisor on Arts and Culture, Jeff Melanson (Co-CEO of Canada’s National Ballet School), Claire Hopkinson (Executive Director, Toronto Arts Council), Cameron Bailey (Co-Director, Toronto International Film Festival Group), Che Kothari (Executive Director, Manifesto Community Projects) and Kevin Stolarick (Research Director, Martin Prosperity Institute).
Robert Foster, Devon Ostrom (Beautiful City) and Che Kothari
Councillor Thompson thanked everyone in attendance “for stepping forward and participating in this evening’s consultation; by participating you’re helping to reshape Toronto’s cultural and economic future.”
Opinions and suggestions came thick and fast over the next two hours confirming many of the things the Advisors have heard throughout the process (documented here on LiveWithCulture.ca). In fact, participants were so enthusiastic they continued to mix and mingle after the event.
Rita Davies, Executive Director of City of Toronto Cultural Services, left, had the final word, thanking those present and adding an important caveat: “I know that people don’t go to the theatre because it’s good for the economy,” she said, “but politicians vote for things that are good for the economy. So this report will have a lot of numbers in it. You need to remember that numbers are just symbols, they’re a way to help tell the story of this fabulous community and to give the members of Council a sound economic reason to vote ‘Yes’ to cultural budgets.”
A final public consultation focused on youth engagement is planned for April 7 in the City Hall Members Lounge from 6 – 8: 30 pm.
Photos by Christopher Jones
Social bookmarks
Scroll to the Form to leave a comment.
Great job tracking the Creative Capital Initiative as it happens.
I went to the public consultation on March 28 – was great to see the numbers in the room. Interesting that you say similar themes have been heard throughout all the consultations with different groups.
As Chris suggested, I am posting a few thoughts here…
1. Quality of life for the aging and stay-at-home population: I agree wholeheartedly with the movement to engage and empower youth. Simultaneously, I worry and wonder about the more mature members of our population – particularly those who rely on social networks (official and unofficial) to support and enhance their quality of life.
I’ve been surveying some small to mid-sized arts organizations for a research project that my colleague is leading. While many organizations try to target youth in their programming or marketing initiatives, only 1 organization could say the same about engaging senior citizens. Finding ways to target seniors with programming or marketing initiatives is not top of mind for most cultural organizations.
Once, I saw two old Chinese men at the AGO. They looked like my grandfather, so my first thought was “what on earth are they doing here?” My grandfather would never think to go to the AGO, purchase a $16 ticket to look at pictures he doesn’t understand and where there is no literature in Chinese (he loves to read). So I followed the two men around, finally engaged one of them in conversation – ostensibly the leader of the two – and found out that he goes to the AGO regularly because of the free Sun Life Financial pass that is handed out at Toronto public libraries. “Every day I go to the coffee shop to see my friends. We sit around for a few hours, then they go to gamble in the afternoon. I don’t like to gamble. So I go to the library. The library is a very good place. I can go there and read newspapers. On Saturdays, if I get there early enough, I can get a pass and come here. I’m old. There isn’t much else I can do.”
He also mentioned that, “with the pass, you can go to the Ontario Science Centre too.” But he said that he’s never been because it’s “too far.” I think that was code for “I don’t know how to get there.”
I wonder if the City’s Parks and Recreation departments could organize monthly bus tours to different cultural sites? This seems like it would be a comparatively simple, low-cost means of increasing attendance at museums, galleries and other cultural sites. I think the Art Gallery of Mississauga’s ARTBus has been around for quite some time and proven successful.
Over time, if there is a guide who leads the bus tour, this role could evolve into a cultural concierge or community animator for the local residents, offering suggestions on performing arts shows, ticketed events, artist talks, workshops, things to do closer to home etc. Because at the end of the day, people often times don’t end up going to a show that they want to see because:
a) they are unlikely to go alone, by themselves;
b) they don’t know how to choose out of the plethora of offerings.
It seems to me that a pilot test run of say 3 bus routes x 3 tours could be initiated for $10K or less. I would recommend following the digital media design process: iterate often and quickly – tweak as you go instead of waiting to get it perfect before you get out there.
2. On a related note, in a recent conversation with some City staff members, we wondered whether the more mature culturally diverse artists and cultural organizations in the city are being under-served. Again I applaud the stirring youth engagement that is happening. These are not observations to take any resources or support for them, just suggested enhancements to the City’s services in other areas. As one City staff member noted, “often times, diversity in these City documents seem to refer to engaging urban youth.” But there are many artists and cultural organizations of diverse ethnic backgrounds who have been cultural producers in the Toronto scene for a long time. What City initiatives are there to target the promotion and support of their work? How can they be enhanced?
One theme that came up often in the Creative Capital Initiative talks was affordable cultural spaces. Most arts organizations don’t want to become a facility manager, but having your own space, owning something is admittedly connected to notions of legitimacy, maturity, importance, and impact.
I’ve heard people talk about a pan-Asian Arts Centre or a Black Theatre, or a general arts hub for culture-specific arts organizations that want to have a more open, inclusive space that understands and caters to different audience social norms and behaviours. It isn’t about ghettoizing anyone; the curiosity about and desire for a home of one’s own is, I imagine, akin to the motivations within the feminist movement to have a women’s theatre facility.
And yet, we come back to the question, who really wants to manage such a space? Our peers in the cultural community who have venues can attest to the hindrances and challenges that come with operating a permanent space.
It’s a conundrum. How can we get truly affordable cultural spaces in accessible locations with as little red tape, and as few additional things to manage as possible? Frankly, as the former employee of an Artscape tenant (and as the person who dealt with the lease agreements, property taxes and rent cheques) even the Artscape facilities are not as affordable as cultural spaces need to be to give the grassroots a home. As someone else put it, “don’t fix it up, don’t renovate, don’t make it look nice, don’t put money into it, just give it to the artists and let them do what they want with it.” Sounds like a formula for authenticity and organic uniqueness.
Kudos again on engaging in such an extensive consultation process. Thank you for seeking our input. We are all looking forward to updates as you progress.
Full disclosure: I work with culturally diverse arts organizations in a consultant and volunteer capacities. The thoughts I’ve shared above are informed by my work with them but should not be interpreted as the collective views of the culturally diverse arts community. I have been sharing my personal perspective only.