Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets

FROM:

Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs

SUBJECT:

1998 Cultural Grants: Project, Organizational Development, and Diversity Initiatives

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

On Feb. 5, 1998 Council approved the Cultural Grants budget, including the Project, Organizational Development and Cross-Cultural Initiatives categories discussed in this report. On July 28, 1998, following a program review, Council approved changes in the Cross-Cultural Initiatives grant program, including a new name, Diversity Initiatives.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

This report makes recommendations for one Project grant, one Organizational Development grant, and 11 grants for Diversity Initiatives.

BACKGROUND

Project and Organizational Development Grants

The unallocated balance in the Project Grants category is $9,240, including $6,000 returned from View, The Performing Arts Society, which temporarily suspended operations in the summer and is reviewing its future.

The unallocated balance in Organizational Development is $14,600. As described in Appendix B, Organizational Development grants assist non-profit arts organizations with organizational renewal, staff training, and audience development initiatives.

Diversity Initiative Grants

When Council approved the guidelines for the Diversity Initiatives program on July 28, 1998, it confirmed the $50,000 budget originally approved for CCI. At that time, staff noted that changes in the budget level for Diversity Initiatives might be necessary, depending on the level and quality of applications. Having reviewed the requests currently under consideration, staff are recommending that, following the approval of Recommendations A and B of this report, the $17,800 balance in the Project and Organizational Development categories be transferred to the Diversity Initiatives budget, bringing its total budget to $67,800.

As detailed in Appendix B, the Diversity Initiatives program is designed to support cross-cultural artistic partnerships and artistic development in distinct communities (as defined by race, ethnicity or disability). It provides grants for three types of activities:

(1) Professional Development Training: towards the costs of internships and mentorships for artists from distinct communities in the following areas: curation, artistic direction, and artistic production.

(2) Artistic Development Projects: for projects designed to contribute to the artistic development of a professionally led arts groups from one or more distinct communities.

(3) Cross-Cultural Artistic Partnerships: to assist with collaborative artistic projects, or artistic residencies by groups from distinct communities.

DISCUSSION

Vancouver Multicultural Society

The Society is requesting a $1,550 Project grant towards the $7,125 costs of a World Music Day public concert at Britannia Secondary School on February 11, 1999. This community performance will feature the Southern Cross Quintet (Sal Ferreras, Qui Xia He, Celso Mechado, John Reishman and Rick Kilburn), with two student groups. Staff recommend a grant of $1,540 towards artist costs, leaving an unallocated balance of $7,700 in the Projects budget.

Vancouver East Cultural Centre (VECC)

Recognizing its role as a neighbourhood arts centre, the VECC has developed a youth strategy to involve young people in its activities. The Youth Initiative is a two-year project that includes a "grad pass" making $2 tickets available to students, a target marketing campaign, and the development of special programming. To implement the strategy the VECC is hiring a youth outreach co-ordinator and setting up a youth advisory panel.

The Centre has applied for a $4,500 grant towards the marketing component of the project, which has a total budget of $78,610. Staff recommend approval of $4,500 grant noting that the initiative will contribute to audience development for not just for the VECC , but for performing groups that present their work at the Centre. Approval of this recommendation will leave an unallocated balance of $10,100 in the Organizational Development budget.

Diversity Initiatives Recommendations

A total of 16 applications for Diversity Initiatives grants were received. Two of these (from Kokoro and Vancouver Pro Musica) have since been combined into one request.
As detailed in Appendix A, and listed in Table 1, following, grants are recommended for 11 initiatives.

Table 1
Recommendations

Organization Activity $ Request $ Recom.
Arts Club internship 7,500 7,500
Carousel Theatre mentorship 8,000 4,000
Chinese Cultural Ctr cross-cultural residencies 5,800 4,500
Chinese Cultural Ctr internship 27,144 0
Chutney Productions (Pacific Theatre) developmental project 7,500 7,500
Dance Arts Vancouver mentorship 13,950 7,500
Full Circle internship 6,000 0
Kokoro Dance/Van. Pro Musica* cross-cultural project 10,000 5,000
Latino Theatre Group (Firehall Centre) developmental project 7,500 7,500
Neworld Players (Rumble Theatre) developmental project 10,000 7,500
Rosario Ancer Flamenco cross-cultural project 10,000 3,000
Rumble Theatre mentorship 6,600 0
Van. Adapted Music Society developmental project 20,000 0
Video In internships 12,000 10,000
Western Front cross-cultural residencies 9,500 3,800

TOTAL $161,494 $67,800

* Having submitted separate applications for related projects, these organizations have agreed to apply together for one grant, as described in Appendix A.

CONCLUSION

Changes in the program now known as Diversity Initiatives were introduced last July to provide for more developmental assistance to artists and arts groups from distinct communities. Staff note that the initiatives supported in this first round of the revised program reflect this new focus, providing assistance to groups or individuals from the Chinese, Filipino, Latin American, First Nations, hearing impaired, and other communities. As detailed in Appendix A, the 11 initiatives recommended for grants include four artistic internships, three developmental projects, and four cross-cultural partnerships in theatre, dance, music, video and the visual arts.

Approval of the recommendations will leave no unallocated funds in the 1998 Cultural Grants budget.

* * *

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APPENDIX A
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Diversity Initiatives Grants

RECOMMENDED:

Arts Club of Vancouver Theatre Society Requested: $ 7,500

A $7,500 grant towards a 10-month artistic director internship for John James Hong. Mr. Hong has extensive experience as an actor, stage manager and director, and is now desiring to work with a major theatre company to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become an artistic director of a smaller theatre organization. The Arts Club will benefit from Mr. Hong's experience in broadening its reach to the diversity of Vancouver's theatre artists and audiences.

Carousel Theatre Requested: $ 8,000

A grant of $4,000 is recommended toward the costs of an artistic mentorship for First Nations theatre artist Stefany Mathias. The mentorship will be additional to an internship program Carousel Theatre started last year for native artists. It will involve experiential training in such areas as auditions, team building, rehearsals, artistic planning, budgeting and financial development.

Chinese Cultural Centre Requested: $ 5,800

The CCC is requesting support for a cross-cultural residency to host artists from diverse, non-Chinese cultures at their gallery during an exhibition of New Year's wood-block prints. These festive prints take a variety of symbolic forms to express the theme of happiness and good fortune. The artists will provide workshops to visiting schools interpreting the theme and symbols from the perspective of their cultures. Students and visitors will be engaged in demonstrations, discussions, and art making. A grant for artists' and the co-ordinator's fees is recommended.

APPENDIX A
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Chutney Productions Requested: $ 7,500

Under the auspices of Pacific Theatre, Chutney Productions has requested a $7,500 artistic development project grant for a cross-racially cast production of the classic Canadian play "Filthy Rich". This intercultural theatre group's focus is to produce innovative and challenging work, and to provide professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds with currently scarce opportunities to work as producers, writers, directors, actors, technicians, administrators, and publicists. Staff recommend approval of the request.

Dance Arts Vancouver Requested: $13,950

A grant of $7,500 is recommended for Phase I of an artistic mentorship program for Imelda Villalon, a performance artist with considerable experience both here and in the Philippines. Ms. Villalon's objective is to become an artistic producer of a new style of physical theatre that blends Western and Philippine influences. Her two-year mentorship with Dance Arts, which produces the Kiss Project, will give her an opportunity to work with some of Vancouver's senior artists and administrators in many facets of artistic production.

Kokoro Dance/ Vancouver Pro Musica Requested: $ 10,000

The applicants propose a cross-cultural collaboration in which taiko drummers and butoh dancers
will work with bagpipers and contemporary improvisational musicians. The concept arises from a successful experiment in which Katari Taiko drummers combined with highland pipers to create a hybrid musical composition. A large-scale performance at the Vancouver Folk Music, involving butoh dance, and a smaller-scale concert performance at the Playhouse Theatre are planned as the end results of the collaboration. A large number of performers are involved in this work ( up to 30 bagpipers, 10 jazz horn players, 20 taiko drummers and 12 dancers) and originally two separate applications were submitted. The organizations have since agreed to combine their efforts under the Kokoro application to cover both initiatives and staff recommend support of the resulting request.

Latino Theatre Group Requested: $ 7,500

The group, which has been working together for four years under the direction of professional theatre artist Carmen Aguirre, has applied for a grant towards the development costs of its first full-length play, ?QUE PASA WITH LA RAZA, eh?" The group develops its own work, exploring

APPENDIX A
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issues in the Latin American community for presentation to the public at large. A grant of $7,500 toward writing and workshopping costs is recommended.

Neworld Players Theatre Requested: $10,000

Staff recommend a grant of $7,500 to Neworld Players Theatre under the auspices of Rumble Productions Society, towards the development costs of a production of "Devil Box", the adaption of a Persian play within a Western cabaret setting. This is a new collaborative group of professional artists from distinct communities who have individually worked on a number of successful projects and are now developing a company of resident artists.

Rosario Ancer Flamenco Arts Society Requested: $10,000

Flamenco Rosario, in conjunction with the School of Kathak Dance and the Norman Rothstein Theatre, has applied for a $10,000 grant toward Raices II, a cross-cultural collaboration that will develop a program exploring the relationship between Flamenco, Kathak dance and Sephardic Chant, for presentation at Norman Rothstein Theatre. In this, their second collaboration, the artists involved will build on the experiences of Raices I. Staff recommend a grant of $3,000, noting that Raices I was also funded by the City.

Video In Requested: $ 12,000

Video In Studios will provide professional development training for up to six artists from the deaf community. Participants will become fluent in all aspects of video production, including the creation of their own short videotape. In collaboration with the B.C. Deaf Cultural Society, Video In will consult the deaf community to ensure equitable selection of artists and a feasible mentoring environment. A festival of work by hearing-impaired media artists will be held in the fall of 1999. If successful, this training program would be a model for further development.

Western Front Requested: $ 9,500

A grant of $3,800 is recommended to support a five-week residency bringing together eight musicians from distinct communities (Haitian, Vietnamese, Brazilian, Japanese, Chinese) and five musicians from the New Orchestra Workshop, to explore and develop a musical language within the framework of contemporary improvised music that embodies the range and diversity of the cultural perspectives at home in Vancouver.

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NOT RECOMMENDED:

Chinese Cultural Centre Requested: $27,144

A grant for the proposed gallery internship is not currently recommended. However, the Centre may wish to reapply for the June 1999 Diversity Initiatives program deadline, if more details can be provided, including a resumé of the likely candidate, a training plan, and a budget that includes revenues from other funding sources in addition to the City.

Full Circle: First Nations Performance Society Requested: $ 6,000

No grant is recommended to support Full Circle's proposed internship, which would provide experiential training for an outreach co-ordinator and facilitator of a forum on First Nations artists and the aboriginal community in March 1999. The internship as described in the Society's application does not meet the eligibility criteria for Diversity Initiatives' professional artist development component, which is for artists from distinct communities training as curators, artistic directors or artistic producers with a non-profit cultural organizations that received a City cultural grant in the past year.

Rumble Productions Society Requested: $ 6,600

No grant is recommended at this time. While noting that the proposed trainee, Ms. Wong, has garnered impressive credentials, staff recommend that, in the context of available funds, the City's professional development training assistance be directed towards opportunities for artists who have completed their formal education and have had several years' experience in the community.

Vancouver Adapted Music Society Requested: $20,000

No grant is recommended at this time; however, staff will work with society members as they develop their program and identify other funding sources as well as long-term relationships with music industry professionals.

APPENDIX B
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Grant Program Guidelines

DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

A program to support artistic development in distinct communities and cross-cultural artistic partnerships between culturally diverse groups. Grants for three types of activity in the visual and performing arts are available:

Professional Development Training Toward the costs of internships or mentorships for artists from distinct communities in the following areas: curation, artistic direction, and artistic production. The training should be sponsored by a non-profit organization currently receiving a civic cultural grant.

Artistic Development Projects To assist a professionally led arts group from one or more distinct communities in developing, producing, and/or presenting artwork that involves new creation or interpretation. The project should clearly contribute to the group's artistic development as defined in a plan.

Cross-Cultural Artistic Partnerships For two types of partnerships: (a) collaborative artistic projects, involving creation and/or presentation, between an arts group from a distinct community and one or more arts groups from another community, and (2) an artist-in-residence project by an artist from a distinct community, hosted by non-profit cultural organization from another community, and providing opportunities for creation and/or presentation of the artist's work.

Applications to any component of Diversity Initiatives can be made by a Vancouver-based cultural organization registered as a non-profit society in British Columbia, or by an unincorporated Vancouver-based arts group applying under the auspices of such a society. Please see the Diversity Initiatives information sheet for more detailed program guidelines.
APPLICATION DEADLINE is October 20, 1998.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

A grant program designed to help strengthen Vancouver's non-profit arts and cultural organizations by assisting with organization renewal, staff training, and collaborative audience development initiatives. Grants for four types of activity are available:

Arts Administration Training Vancouver-based arts groups can apply for assistance with the tuition costs of sending staff to arts administration courses and workshops offered by training institutions or organized by professional non-profit arts organizations. Please contact OCA staff for application details. NO DEADLINE, but requests should be made six weeks in advance.

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Equity Training Arts organizations funded by the City are eligible for grants toward the costs of equity training for their staff and board members. The training should be provided by an experienced professional, and address such topics as hiring equity, cultural bias, access for persons with disabilities, and strategies for inclusion. NO DEADLINE, but requests should be submitted six weeks in advance.

Audience Development Two kinds of initiatives are eligible: (1) new and innovative audience development initiatives involving at least two non-profit arts organizations and designed to directly improve marketing, ticket sales and distribution, and/or attendance at cultural events; and (2) cross-cultural audience development initiatives by two or more non-profit arts organizations from distinct communities as defined by race, ethnicity, or disability. Neither cultural events themselves nor educational programs (lectures, workshops, etc.) are eligible. Please contact OCA staff for application details. Deadline: October 20, 1998

How to apply

Application forms for most grant programs are available two months before the deadline. Before applying for funding, please confirm your eligibility by reading the program guidelines, and discuss your proposal with the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA). Staff welcome your questions or comments, and can be reached at:

Office of Cultural Affairs
Suite 100-515 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4A8

New phone: 873-7487 New fax: 871-6048

Updates at: www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/oca

*Distinct Community is a group defined by race, ethnicity or disability, for the purposes of these grant programs.

*****

cs981203.htm

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