Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date:
July 18, 2003
Author:
Lorenz von Fersen
Phone No.:
604.871.6005
RTS No.:
03508
CC File No.:
4201
Meeting Date:
July 29,2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:
Planning funds for celebrations arising from Vancouver's Cultural Capital of Canada designation.
THAT Council APPROVE the planning and development of two celebrations arising from Vancouver's designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada, at a cost of $55,000.
Source of funds to be the "Opportunities" provision within the 2003 Operating budget, conditionally approved for this purpose by Council in October of 2002.The City Manager RECOMMENDS the foregoing, noting that Vancouver's successful submission to the Cultural Capitals competition brings with it up to $500,000 in Federal matching funding.
COUNCIL POLICY
In October of 2002 Council conditionally approved two celebrations as part of the Cultural Capitals of Canada application, and up to $250,000 in matching funding for the events should the application be successful.
Following Vancouver's designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada and the awarding of Federal matching monies, release of $55,000 from the City's matching funds is requested for program planning and development of two celebrations previously approved by Council: the Vancouver arts awards, and the waterfront festival. The events will be the subject of a report back in the fall prior to implementation.
On July 2002 Council approved preparation of an application to the Cultural Capitals of Canada program, a national competition which recognizes excellence in municipal cultural development and offers matching funds of up to $500,000 to help support new initiatives. In October 2002 Council approved the application details and a budget of up to $250,000 in matching funds, conditional on Vancouver's request being successful. The source of funds was identified as the "Opportunities" budget for development of major new festivals and celebrations and reserved in the 2003 Civic Budget. On May 8th, 2003, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that the Vancouver entry had been successful. Development of the celebrations could therefore proceed, based on the following sources of funding:
Source:
Cultural Capitals
$500,000
Department of Canadian Heritage
City of Vancouver
250,000
Opportunities budget
Earned revenue
150,000
Ticket sales, concessions
Sponsorships
100,000
Cash and in-kind support
$1,000,000
The Vancouver arts awards and the waterfront festival were proposed in the application as means to advance previously articulated civic policies; specifically the 1988 Blueways report encouraging water-based celebrations to recognize our maritime heritage, and the 1993 Vancouver Arts Initiative, recommending annual arts awards and commissions as way of publicly recognizing the many contributions the arts and creativity make in our community. These policy objectives will be addressed by launching the two celebrations in 2004, with a view to their becoming ongoing annual events. To ensure this legacy, the City will act as catalyst and supporter, assisting qualified independent not-for-profit societies to develop the community involvement and range of support to sustain both the celebrations.Vancouver arts awards
The awards will honour a wide range of achievements by individuals from the creative community who are vital to the success of arts and culture in Vancouver. The public will be directly involved in nominating individuals for awards from a broad field of endeavours. For example, awards will include categories such as architecture and design; performing arts (music, theatre and dance); media arts; writing and publishing; visual arts; lifetime achievement, and the contribution of outstanding arts patrons. As a new departure, the range might expand to include culinary arts. With the help of the media partners, one People's Choice award from any of these broad categories would also be presented.
In addition to being honoured at the awards evening, the winners will be asked to designate an emerging artist to receive a financial commission to create new work. Both the award winner and the commission recipient will be presented before a live audience in the Orpheum and to CBC television viewers throughout the region. The Alliance for Arts and Culture has agreed to act as the not-for-profit producer for the awards, which are now scheduled for late March of 2004, subject to confirmation of dates by CBC.The waterfront festival
The festival is intended to highlight Vancouver's connection with the sea, expressed in a celebration based on collaboration between artists and community residents. Centred on False Creek, the celebration will include a broad array of activities including a community-created parade in which illuminated sculptures, kinetic floats, temporary fountains and decorated boats will bring this body of water to life. The event will draw on the diversity of cultural traditions about the sea, provide an occasion to honour First Nations culture, recall our maritime heritage and draw attention to the ecosystem of False Creek. Discussions with potential not-for-profit societies to produce the event are underway. The proposed dates are June 12 to 20, 2004.The celebrations emphasize the common theme of creativity as a link between the arts community and all Vancouver residents. The awards highlight the creative contributions of the arts, and the festival highlights the creative expression of community members.
The proposed arts awards and waterfront festivals have engendered considerable interest and positive comment among community and cultural organizations, however both events now need planning resources to fully develop the celebration programs and budgets. Under the authority of the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs, approved funds would be expended on consulting services, and expenses in a variety of areas of expertise.
The Vancouver arts awards are at the stage where the following planning tasks need to be completed by the end of September:
Program development: including award categories, nominating and jury processes, consultation with community partners, draft program for on-stage music and performance component of ceremony, potential MC and award presenters. Criteria and process for awarding commissions, and development of an "Open studio tours" component.
Communications plan: including creation of a media strategy, identifying and approaching potential print media partners, preliminary design and layout for print materials.
Sponsorship development: including an overall sponsorship strategy, identification of commissions for matching sponsors, research and contact strategy.
Total for plan development, Vancouver arts awards program:
$32,000
The waterfront festival will require similar planning work, with an added emphasis on resolving the needs of multiple jurisdictional interests associated with False Creek.
Program development: including research of waterfront events, consultation and planning with partners in facilitating community participation, exploring joint programming with festivals also taking place in June 2004 (Festival d'ete, Dragon Boats, Jazz, Aboriginal Cultural Festival) and with museums, marine, and other cultural organizations.
Site and technical review: including identification of support facilities, water and power,
approaching other jurisdictions, area residents, and working with Fire Safety, Coast Guard, Engineering and Police.Communications plan: including creation of a media strategy, identifying and approaching potential print media partners, preliminary design and layout for print materials.
Sponsorship development: including an overall sponsorship strategy, identification of potential sponsors, research and contact strategy
Total for plan development of waterfront festival:
$23,000
The resources identified above will enable both celebrations to progress through the first phase of their development. Releasing funds from the civic portion of the matching fund pool will permit development work to proceed in a timely fashion. The results of this phase will be the subject of a report back in the fall prior to beginning the implementation phase.
In October of 2002 Council approved a budget of up to $250,000 in matching funds, conditional on Vancouver's application to the Cultural Capitals of Canada program being successful. The cost of planning the two celebrations described in this report is $55,000 and is available from within the unallocated "Opportunities" budget.
The Director, Office of Cultural Affairs notes that as a result of having won the Cultural Capitals of Canada designation and matching Federal funding of $500,000, the conditional terms set by City Council in October 2002 have been met, and work on delivering the two celebrations is ready to proceed. Release of $55,000, to be disbursed at the discretion of the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs for planning of the Vancouver arts awards and waterfront festival is therefore recommended, with a report back on progress in the fall.
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