SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 2
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
NOVEMBER 9, 1995
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: October 24, 1995
TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT: 1995 Cross-Cultural Initiatives Grants
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve grants totalling $40,500 to 11
organizations, as listed in Table 1; source of funds to be the
Cross-Cultural Initiatives category of the 1995 Cultural Grants
budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager submits the foregoing for CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
On January 31, 1995, Council approved an allocation of $50,000 in the
1995 Cultural Grants budget for the Cross-Cultural Initiatives Fund.
The purpose of the fund is to encourage and assist cultural
organizations to respond to Vancouver's cultural diversity by
undertaking appropriate organizational change, intercultural research
and training, community outreach, and cross-cultural artistic
activities.
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.
PURPOSE
The Office of Cultural Affairs has received 22 applications for 1995
Cross-Cultural grants, one of which has since been withdrawn. A total
of $108,010 has been requested. This report provides an overview of
these applications, describes the evaluation criteria applied, and
recommends grants to 11 of the applicants.
SUMMARY
Table 1, which follows, indicates the 11 Cross-Cultural grants
recommended by the Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs
Planning. Appendix A provides a more detailed description of the
projects recommended for funding. Appendix B lists the 11 projects
not recommended for funding. Appendix C provides a detailed
description of the guidelines and criteria for the Cross-Cultural
Initiatives program.
Table 1 - Recommendations
Amount Amount
Organization Requested Recommended
Acoustic Connection
(Community Dance Project) 4,100 0
Arts Club of Vancouver 4,000 0
B.C. Boys Choir 4,000 3,000
B.C. Touring Council 2,500 0
Children's Arts Umbrella 6,000 0
Community Radio Education Society 3,750 0
Fend Players Association 5,000 0
Firehall Theatre 3,500 2,500
Headlines Theatre 12,550 5,000
India Music Society 8,700 4,000
Japanese-Canadian Studies Society 7,000 5,000
Karen Jamieson Dance Company 5,000 5,000
New Performance Works Society * 7,500 5,000
Powell Street Festival 2,300 1,500
Satellite Video Exchange Society 8,760 0
Sepia Players 2,500 0
Vancouver Art Gallery 5,000 0
Vancouver Holocaust Society 3,100 2,500
Vancouver Society of Storytelling 3,000 2,000
Women in View 7,500 5,000
Women in Music 2,250 0
TOTAL $108,010 $40,500
* Subject to receipt of more detailed budget.
Approval of the recommendations in Table 1 will leave an unallocated
balance of $9,500 in the Cross-Cultural component of the 1995 Cultural
Grants budget.
BACKGROUND
The City of Vancouver set up the Cross-Cultural Initiatives Fund in
1990 as an incentive program to encourage initiatives in the arts
promoting dialogue and collaboration between distinct communities in
Vancouver. The program is designed to support new or recent
initiatives that are not part of an applicant's normal programming or
services (which can be funded through civic operating or project
grants). Project and Operating grants are available to a wide range
of culturally diverse arts organizations.
During its five years of operation the Cross-Cultural program has
supported a total of 71 projects by cultural organizations working in
a range of disciplines. The projects have helped to expand the
information and resources available to artists and organizations
interested in working with distinct communities, to encourage outreach
and dialogue between communities, to facilitate new employment
opportunities through training, and to foster new artistic
partnerships and creation.
DISCUSSION
As in previous years, the applications received for 1995 have been
reviewed by a committee of three Office of Cultural Affairs staff and
two advisors knowledgeable about the multicultural community. Grants
are recommended for 11 of the 21 applications from performing, visual
and other arts organizations. In addition, one applicant, High Risk
Society, has withdrawn.
In making these recommendations, the focus has been on projects that:
- have a clear and well-developed plan of action and budget;
- have a clearly defined cross-cultural component eligible for
funding through the Cross-Cultural program;
- represent a new or recent step in cross-cultural development for
the applicant, additional to the organization's ongoing
activities and operating costs; and
- demonstrate appropriate community relevance and involvement, and
a potential for long-term benefits to the community, as well as
to the organization(s) involved.
A detailed description of the guidelines and criteria for the program
is presented in Appendix C.
* * * * * APPENDIX A
1 of 4
DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDED PROJECTS
British Columbia Boys Choir
- Chinese-Canadian cultural exchange
In February 1996 the B.C. Boys Choir is hosting a week-long exchange
with Vancouver's sister city children's choir, the Guangzhou
Children's Palace Choir. In July 1996, BCBC will be hosted in
Guangzhou for the second part of this project. Each choir is preparing
to present music from both cultures, and a new work by a Chinese-
Canadian composer will be commissioned and presented as part of school
and public concerts during the February event in Vancouver.
Requested: $ 4,000
Recommended: $ 3,000
Firehall Theatre Society
- audience forums, study guides, and information exhibit
The Firehall Theatre Society will be presenting two plays focusing on
family life and intercultural relations. "Someday" deals with a Native
mother whose daughter, raised by non-Natives, is returning to visit
her. "Mom, Dad, I'm Living with a White Girl," deals with inter-racial
relationships in a comedic yet meaningful manner. The project
provides for two post-performance forums allowing the audience to
discuss issues with the cast, a set of school study guides offering
background on the issues, and a lobby exhibit underlining the
intercultural nature of both works.
Requested: $3,500
Recommended: $2,500
Headlines Theatre Company
- Latino Theatre Group development
Headlines is sponsoring and supporting the development of the Latino
Theatre Group, whose members are from Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Argentina and Chile. The group, which
performs in English and Spanish, is seeking assistance with the
development and presentation of three half-hour plays on the topics of
machismo, violence against women and racism among Latinos. The plays
will be longer and more complex than any work the group has done to
date, and represent a significant step forward.
Requested: $12,550
Recommended: $ 5,000
Appendix A
2 of 4
India Music Society
- cross-cultural dance workshop and performance
The India Music Society is undertaking a cross-cultural project that
will explore the similarities and differences between Kathak, tap and
Flamenco dance. The program will include verbal presentations,
demonstrations and workshops with opportunities for participants to
interact and exchange their skills. The project will culminate in a
performance at Robson Square.
Requested: $ 8,700
Recommended: $ 4,000
Japanese-Canadian Studies Society
- "Hong Kong 1997"
As part of a recent undertaking to be more pan-Asian, the society is
sponsoring "Hong Kong 1997", which will gather writers, artists and
critics from Hong Kong and elsewhere to share insights and work
pertinent to the transfer of Hong Kong to China. The project will
includes a group exhibition, forums, video screenings and readings,
and should contribute to the Vancouver public's ongoing efforts to
come to terms with its relationship the Pacific Rim.
Requested: $ 7,000
Recommended: $ 5,000
Karen Jamieson Dance Company
- collaborative dance and music project
with Native community
Karen Jamieson continues to explore appropriate ways to work with
Native people and culture. "Stone Soup," her current collaboration
with urban and non-urban Native people, will focus on the development
of contemporary songs and dances related to traditional forms. The
project will involve significant additional costs related to the
number of participants and extended development time.
Requested: $ 5,000
Recommended: $ 5,000
Appendix A
3 of 4
New Performance Works Society
- workshop and media arts project for
culturally diverse teenage girls
"Turning Point" is a two-phase project consisting of a look at the
situation of teenage girls, media representations about them, and the
creation of an arts-related media event to respond to the media
images. The first phase will include a workshop for 30 culturally
diverse teenage girls who will become the core youth leadership for
the project. Artists will be involved in presenting information at
the workshop, and as partners in the creation of the media event. In
the second phase, youth and artists will collaborate in a large-scale
theatrical performance intended to reframe perceptions about the
creativity, needs and abilities of teenage girls in Vancouver.
This project, which has both social and cultural implications, has
evolved in consultation with community services agencies, the Women in
View Festival, New Performance Works Society, the Vancouver Art
Gallery, as well as individual artists, with support from the Park
Board and Social Planning Department. Funds are recommended for phase
one of the project, subject to the provision of a more detailed
budget, to the satisfaction of the Director of The Office of Cultural
Affairs.
Requested: $ 7,500
Recommended: $ 5,000
Powell Street Festival
- steps to include other Asian-Canadian artist in the Festival
The Powell Street Festival is Vancouver's major Japanese-Canadian
cultural event. The society wishes to include representation from
Asian-Canadian women artists, performers and writers in future
Festivals, and will facilitate this through an "open call" process and
workshop/planning sessions where past experiences and ideas for future
collaboration can be explored. A grant to ensure that this
opportunity is widely advertised and well facilitated is recommended.
Requested: $ 2,300
Recommended: $ 1,500
Appendix A
4 of 4
Vancouver Holocaust Society
- "Visas for Life" exhibition and concert
The Vancouver Holocaust Society and the Human Rights Committee of the
Japanese Canadian Citizens Association of Greater Vancouver are co-
sponsoring an exhibition, "Visas for Life," about the life and times
of Japan's consul general to Lithuania during WWII, who saved the
lives of thousands of European Jews. The project includes docent
training to assist in presenting and responding to issues of racism
and discrimination, as well as a gala concert of Japanese and Canadian
music using traditional instruments and art forms to explore the
Jewish/ Japanese connection.
Requested: $ 3,100
Recommended: $ 2,500
Vancouver Society of Storytelling
- oral history symposium
The society intends to hold a symposium on the critical issues and
practical techniques associated with community oral history projects.
The need for documentation and preservation of life stories is shared
in mainstream and culturally distinct communities, and is a key
ingredient to cross-cultural under-standing. Individuals and
organizations working with interview subjects will receive advice and
access to further information through the symposium, which is being
developed by a culturally diverse planning committee in collaboration
the Museum of Anthropology and the Japanese Canadian National Museum
Archive.
Requested: $ 3,000
Recommended: $ 2,000
Women in View Society
- non-traditional production of "Lear"
The Society will assist in the development and presentation of "Lear,"
which will use non-traditional casting, crossing outside of the norm
in gender, age and ethnicity. The play will also incorporate
traditional taiko music and movement as an integral theatrical element
of the production. "Lear" will open the 1996 Women in View Festival,
and will follow with an extended run at the Vancouver East Cultural
Centre, that includes a series of special student performances.
Requested: $ 7,500
Recommended: $ 5,000
APPENDIX B
1 of 2
REQUESTS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING
Acoustic Connection Music & Cultural Soc. Request: $4,100
Community dance project featuring a series of family dances in the
Grandview-Woodlands area and Kensington Community Centre.
Arts Club Theatre Request: $4,000
Subsidized tickets for Arts Club's student and community outreach
program.
B.C. Touring Council Request: $2,500
Showcase and provincial tour of young Vancouver writers from diverse
cultural backgrounds.
Children's Arts Umbrella Request: $6,000
Recruitment and bursary program for students from different ethnic and
cultural backgrounds.
Community Radio Education Society Request: $3,750
Sponsorship of an Edmonton-based radio artist to create programming
that pairs youth and seniors for broadcast on Co-op Radio.
Fend Players Request: $5,000
Open forums related to a theatre production of Mark Leiren-Young's
"Dim Sum Diaries," previously produced as a radio play.
Satellite Video Exchange (Video in Studios) Request: $8,760
Further training and inclusion of individuals from culturally distinct
communities, who having received intermediate level training, are now
ready to apprentice in digital editing systems, media arts, and
technician functions.
Appendix B
2 of 2
Sepia Players Request: $2,500
Expansion of this small company's annual Youth Workshop Production to
other communities.
Vancouver Art Gallery Request: $5,000
Provision of an interpretive program element, "The Open Studio,"
offering interaction opportunities and staff informed about the
Gallery's current contemporary Japanese photography exhibition.
Women in Music Request: $2,250
Research and development of an ethno-musicology resource library with
an emphasis on women in music.
* * * * *