  Culture and Community
| |
 Arts Council of the Central Okanagan 140-1735 Dolphin Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 8A6 Email: Click Here. Elke Lange, Executive Director Telephone: 250.861-4123 Produced in association with the Okanagan Institute
|
Home | News | Submit News | Contact
Performing | Literary | Visual | Culinary | Healing | Learning | Signposts | Arts Council
|
 LATEST SIGNPOSTS ITEMS |
SIGNPOSTS
Icons and Idioms: Snowsell On Apples
 |  |
Icons and Idioms
SNOWSELL ON APPLES
» Thursday 18 February 2010 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as professor and writer Colin Snowsell explores the nature of political and social power in the Okanagan through the story of his family, and launches his chapbook On Apples.
» $2 at the door. Refreshments are available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Writer Follows in Family Tradition of Outspoken Commentary
Who remembers that Kelowna's mayor from 1930 to 1939 was a furniture dealer named O.L. Jones? And that Kelowna voters sent Jones to Ottawa three times - in 1948, 1949 and 1953 - as the CCF candidate for the riding of Yale? Who remembers that his campaign manager was named Snowsell? The Snowsells once owned and operated over 100 acres of orchard land in the Glenmore Valley. This is not, except in the distance cast by history and forgetfulness, their most significant contribution. The Snowsells' greater influence on the Okanagan was in their socialism, in their activism, and in their support of the CCF and the NDP. If they pioneered anything, it was BC socialism.
The Snowsells would be horrified to know history had remembered them as landowners. Their life was spent in struggle against the propertied classes, and from the 1930s to the 1960s they were known for the courage and pigheaded tenacity with which they fought to keep the valley, the province, and the country out of the clutches of conservatives. It just so happened that their struggle was against the two most powerful politicians the province has known.
On Thursday, February 18th at 5 pm the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café presents Icons and Idioms: Snowsell On Apples. Join us as professor and writer Colin Snowsell explores the nature of political and social power in the Okanagan through the story of his family, and launches his chapbook On Apples.
When you're driving down Snowsell Street - as the old portion of Glenmore Road will be named, as soon as the Glenmore Bypass is operational - you'll be driving down a street named after the one local family that came within a hair of upsetting the conservatives' rise to power. That's the message of On Apples, a chapbook by Colin Snowsell, a writer and professor of Communications at Okanagan College and the great grandson of Edwin and Felicia Snowsell, the pioneer Glenmore orchardists who arrived in the Okanagan in 1925.
"When the city announced it was renaming Glenmore Road, my students started asking me if I was one of THOSE Snowsells," said Snowsell. "What bothered me wasn't that they didn't know who the Snowsells were anymore - Kelowna's a pretty big city now and the name's not that common - but that the city didn't seem to know who the Snowsells were either. Did they own orchards? Yes. But so what? It's what the family did in the community, not so much what they owned, that should be remembered."
Both Felicia Snowsell and her son Frank, former head of the provincial NDP/CCF and one-time MLA for the now-defunct provincial riding of Saanich, opposed W.A.C. Bennett on the ballot in tightly contested races. In the essay - part lament, part revisionist history - Snowsell speculates how Kelowna, and the province, might have looked, had the contests gone a different way.
The novelist Caterina Edwards describes Snowsell, who is also a fiction writer whose novella, entitled The Frollett Homestead, is scheduled for release in March, as "more than a promising writer: he is a full-blown talent."
Colin Snowsell
holds a MA in Communications Studies from the University of Calgary. He
is finishing a PhD through the Department of Art History and
Communication Studies at McGill University.Snowsell's essays have been published in This Magazine, Maisonneuve and PopMatters. Earlier versions of Snowsell have appeared on MuchMusic (in the role of Calgary alt-indie impresario), obtained a journalism diploma from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and worked in corporate communications at Greyhound Canada's head office in Calgary.
Prior to joining the Communications faculty at Okanagan College, Snowsell taught professional communication at the University of Saskatchewan.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Icons and Idioms: Snowsell On Apples takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 126th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007.
Express has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet laureate and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and many others from a wide range of creative fields.
|  |
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
12 Feb 2010
Visual artists across Canada outraged by BC cuts
CARFAC, the national association of visual artists, is outraged by the 85-92% cut to arts investment in British Columbia. Not only will these cuts destroy the arts community just as the world is watching Vancouver but it will also cost the BC government millions in lost tax revenue.
“The rest of Canada has often looked to British Columbia as an example of a vibrant and successful arts community,” said April Britski, Executive Director of CARFAC’s national office in Ottawa. “A loss of investment of this magnitude will undoubtedly mean the loss of one of BC’s greatest assets.”
B.C.’s arts and culture sector employs more than 78,000 people and contribute over $5 billion each year to the provincial economy. The B.C. government’s own research has demonstrated that for every dollar invested in the arts between $1.05 and $1.36 comes back in taxes. The costs of creating jobs in the arts and culture sector are among the lowest compared to other sectors of the economy. Creating a new job in the cultural sector is estimated to cost $20,000-$30,000, compared with light industry ($100,000) or heavy industry ($200,000). Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland have all increased their level of investment understanding that it brings returns in economic growth. BC will now have the lowest arts funding in all of Canada.
“The BC government is shooting themselves in the foot,” said Britski. “I seriously hope they reconsider.”
Even before these cuts, visual artists were under huge financial pressure. The average income of a visual artist in Canada is $13,976 and the median, or typical income is less than $8,000. This despite the fact that 41 per cent of artists have a university degree, a certificate, or a diploma – almost double the rate of the overall labour force.
“The stories we are hearing from visual artists are upsetting,” said Julie McIntyre, President of CARFAC BC. “These are people who are already working with razor-thin budgets on microscopic salaries and their important work is suddenly at risk of being completely wiped out.”
CARFAC (The Canadian Artists’ Representation/le Front des artists canadiens) is the national association of Canada’s professional visual and media artists. CARFAC defends artists’ rights through advocacy and professional development and produces a schedule of artists’ fees that is widely recognized as the national standard. The Status of the Artist Act empowers CARFAC to negotiate with national organizations on behalf of all visual artists in Canada.
Visit CARFAC BC’s cuts event on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119552309106
“The rest of Canada has often looked to British Columbia as an example of a vibrant and successful arts community,” said April Britski, Executive Director of CARFAC’s national office in Ottawa. “A loss of investment of this magnitude will undoubtedly mean the loss of one of BC’s greatest assets.”
B.C.’s arts and culture sector employs more than 78,000 people and contribute over $5 billion each year to the provincial economy. The B.C. government’s own research has demonstrated that for every dollar invested in the arts between $1.05 and $1.36 comes back in taxes. The costs of creating jobs in the arts and culture sector are among the lowest compared to other sectors of the economy. Creating a new job in the cultural sector is estimated to cost $20,000-$30,000, compared with light industry ($100,000) or heavy industry ($200,000). Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland have all increased their level of investment understanding that it brings returns in economic growth. BC will now have the lowest arts funding in all of Canada.
“The BC government is shooting themselves in the foot,” said Britski. “I seriously hope they reconsider.”
Even before these cuts, visual artists were under huge financial pressure. The average income of a visual artist in Canada is $13,976 and the median, or typical income is less than $8,000. This despite the fact that 41 per cent of artists have a university degree, a certificate, or a diploma – almost double the rate of the overall labour force.
“The stories we are hearing from visual artists are upsetting,” said Julie McIntyre, President of CARFAC BC. “These are people who are already working with razor-thin budgets on microscopic salaries and their important work is suddenly at risk of being completely wiped out.”
CARFAC (The Canadian Artists’ Representation/le Front des artists canadiens) is the national association of Canada’s professional visual and media artists. CARFAC defends artists’ rights through advocacy and professional development and produces a schedule of artists’ fees that is widely recognized as the national standard. The Status of the Artist Act empowers CARFAC to negotiate with national organizations on behalf of all visual artists in Canada.
Visit CARFAC BC’s cuts event on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119552309106
16 Sep 2009
Ballet Takes Centre Stage at Thursday Express
|   |
BALLET TAKES CENTRE STAGE
» Thursday 30 October 2008 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as David LeHay of Ballet Kelowna and Lori Larson of the Canadian School of Ballet discuss how the Okanagan has become a centre of dance culture in Canada.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Local Ballet Achieves National Prominence
One of the biggest cultural stories of the last five years has been the transformation of the Okanagan into a national dance powerhouse. The story dates back decades to the late 1950s when the founders of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Canadian School of Ballet retired to the Okanagan. Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally brought the school with them to their new home and continued their devotion to nurturing generations of young dancers.
But it was in the current decade that a remarkable pirouette took place when the school found a new partner in David LaHay and Ballet Kelowna was born. In short order, the performance company jumped from its original touring schedule of seven performances in six communities, to 50 performances before more than 13,000 people in more than 30 communities throughout B.C. and Alberta.
Now
it seems the larger dance community is taking note, and pundits predict
this confluence of events is about to put the region on the nation's
map for cultural excellence.The Okanagan Institute Express series continues its The Past is Prologue cultural history explorations with host Karen Close presenting Let's Dance: Ballet Takes Centre Stage. The event takes place Thursday, October 30 at 5 pm at the Bohemian Café. Speakers at the event are Ballet Kelowna founder and artistic director David LaHay and Lori Larson, the current director of the Canadian School of Ballet.
David LaHay founded Ballet Kelowna in 2002 following a long and successful career as a performer, teacher, ballet master and director. He was the principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (Montreal) and was guest artist with The Royal Swedish Ballet (Stockholm), The Alberta Ballet (Calgary) and The Cuban International Dance Festival (Havana).
Lori Larson first met the founders of CSB while studying dance herself at the Banff Centre of the Arts. By 1986 she, along with Mel Brown, assumed the torch and made a commitment to uphold the founders' legacy. "Dance, music and theatre enriches all our lives," says Larson, who was instrumental in the development of Ballet Kelowna. Larson is also the founding member of the Okanagan Summer Dance Intensive which celebrated a successful inaugural dance training programme with 70 students and 10 professionals from across Canada in residence at UBCO.
Let's Dance: Ballet Takes Centre Stage is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 64th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, broadcaster Mari0n Barschel and others from a wide range of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Where Enquiring Minds Gather. Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
| |
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
24 Oct 2008
Vote for Culture - While We Still Have One!
During the election campaign, candidates are very receptive to messages conveyed through public events or in scheduled meetings with interested voters. We strongly recommend that you communicate your concerns and support of the art to the candidates in your riding: Call your candidates; meet them; approach them at public events; organize or attend an official debate between local candidates. We’ve put together a 2008 Election Toolkit (see below) to help equip you with some pointers and key information to convey in your contact with candidates.
You may also wish to write to your candidates – by all means, please do! Here is a sample message that you may adapt for your own use. But remember that an in-person encounter with you during this key period will carry more weight and go further in persuading candidates of the importance of your views.
To find your electoral candidates, visit www.elections.ca (you will need to enter your postal code).
The Canadian Arts Coalition’s 2008 Election Toolkit. Complete with suggested points to talk about, key messages, and questions to ask your candidates. A summary document for you to leave with the candidates at the end of your meeting will be coming soon.
Some other useful resources:
-Imagine Canada's 2008 Federal Election Readiness Kit and Tip Sheet
-CCA’s election advocacy resources (includes bulletins and doorstep kit)
-Toronto Arts Coalition's national election advocacy site
-Canadian Arts Coalition's brief to the Standing Committee on Finance for their 2008 Pre-Budget Consultations.
And last but not least, don’t forget to…
Vote for Culture! – The Canadian Arts Coalition is working with Quebec’s Culture Pour Tous to give everyone in Canada, regardless of any age, sex or politics, the opportunity to vote for arts and culture. Because now, more than ever, the Canadian arts and cultural sector needs your many passionate and earnest voices.
Culture Pour Tous has set up a website to collect your vote. Help us turn this initiative into a pan-Canadian movement!
Visit www.ivoteforculture.com now to submit your vote and to invite others to do the same!
Interim results of the vote will be announced at the end of les Journées de la culture, on September 29, 2008, but you may continue to submit your vote for culture online until October 14, 2008. Vote now! And encourage others to do the same.
27 Sep 2008
Business for the Arts Responds to Government Arts Cuts
Business for the Arts calls on the Federal Government to reinvest the $60 million recently cut from arts and culture into the cultural sector, as a recognized driver of our creative economy.
There is a tremendous amount of concern in the arts community with the recent news of more than $60 million cut in Federal funding for the arts. Business for the Arts understands the need for a periodic review of programs to ensure efficient spending of tax dollars, however we are discouraged by the way the cuts were announced, as we were given little notice or explanation about the cuts, and still no word on whether or not the $60 million will be reinvested in the cultural sector. The arts community is understandably upset. Business for the Arts feels these cuts, announced as they were, with very little explanation or warning, sends the wrong message to the arts community, the business community and to all of our citizens that Canada doesn’t value or appreciate the social and economic benefits our artists bring to our country. Any business in Canada would agree that the more attractive our cities become through diverse arts and cultural activities, the easier it becomes to attract international talent to their firms. Countless studies show that Canada requires a healthy cultural community in order to attract and retain talent in this increasingly global economy.
Canadian Heritage recently collaborated on a report entitled Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, released by the Conference Board of Canada, which echoes these precise sentiments, which is why we are the more perplexed at their recent wave of announcements. The report states in the foreword that: Clearly, a growing, dynamic culture sector is central to Canada’s success as a creative, knowledge-based economy. The culture sector also serves as a magnet for skilled and creative people, as Canada becomes increasingly dependent on international migration to sustain the size of its national labour force. Canada is competing on the world stage and needs to invest in creating a healthy and exciting cultural community. As Richard Florida notes: Employment is not the central driving force for location decisions; rather, creative people choose to live in places that are centres of creativity and diversity. People are not just choosing jobs, they are choosing places to live, work and play where other creative thinkers collect, and share ideas across sectors. Great ideas are sparked through collaboration with other creative thinkers, and these thinkers cluster in these creative centres.
The Work Foundation published a report entitled Staying Ahead which sites one of the drivers of the new economy as being a new collaborative and creative mode of working in the knowledgebased industries today: Employees are no longer called upon merely to apply information in a mechanical sequence, but are also invited to participate, experiment and offer suggestions about how to improve the production process, and management is expected to build feedback back into that – a powerful driver of learning by doing and incremental innovation. Studies show that exposure to arts and culture helps improve communication capabilities and think creatively. Thinking in the creative workforce has shifted from linear to diagonal thinking, and soft skills are just as important as raw technical ability. As the Conference Board of Canada report suggests: Creative firms distinguish themselves from their competitors by their employees’ expert capacity to solve problems and communicate complex ideas.
If one doubts the public appetite for the arts, one need only consider the hard economic numbers: Hill Strategies reports that Canadian consumers spent $25.1 billion on culture goods and services in 2005, more than consumer spending on household furniture, appliances and tools ($24 billion) and, Hill Strategies notes, over three times larger than the $7.7 billion spent on culture in Canada by all levels of government in 2003/04. The output by the culture sector totalled: $46 billion in 2007, which was 3.8% of Canada’s real GDP. If we were to include the induced and indirect impact, the value-add climbs to $84.6 billion. For comparison, the value-added of Canada’s retail industry was just under 6 per cent in 2007. The Conference Board estimates that 1,000,000 jobs are created by the cultural sector, representing 7.1 per cent of Canada’s total employment in 2007.
The above arguments have been published with the support of twelve external reviewers from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada. It is simply astonishing that with this recent collaborative effort in support of the arts, the government has cut funding to the arts by $60 million and in such a quick and quiet manner. It leaves the cultural community, and all of us wondering, why the government has not absorbed the wisdom of its latest report and collaborated more with the creative drivers of our economy. Some of the program cuts may indeed make sense in terms of efficiencies, and Canadians will understand the reasoning behind some of them. We believe Canadians would like to know how that $60 million taken out of the arts will be reinvested in the cultural community. Business for the Arts is requesting that the Federal government issue a statement on how they plan to reinvest that $60 million. We understand the need to reallocate funds to programs that have more of an impact, but we are not in favour of taking funds out of culture entirely. It is our hope that the government realizes the positive impact of investing in the arts and thereby reassure the business community who rely on creative talent to remain competitive in this knowledge-based economy.
There is a tremendous amount of concern in the arts community with the recent news of more than $60 million cut in Federal funding for the arts. Business for the Arts understands the need for a periodic review of programs to ensure efficient spending of tax dollars, however we are discouraged by the way the cuts were announced, as we were given little notice or explanation about the cuts, and still no word on whether or not the $60 million will be reinvested in the cultural sector. The arts community is understandably upset. Business for the Arts feels these cuts, announced as they were, with very little explanation or warning, sends the wrong message to the arts community, the business community and to all of our citizens that Canada doesn’t value or appreciate the social and economic benefits our artists bring to our country. Any business in Canada would agree that the more attractive our cities become through diverse arts and cultural activities, the easier it becomes to attract international talent to their firms. Countless studies show that Canada requires a healthy cultural community in order to attract and retain talent in this increasingly global economy.
Canadian Heritage recently collaborated on a report entitled Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, released by the Conference Board of Canada, which echoes these precise sentiments, which is why we are the more perplexed at their recent wave of announcements. The report states in the foreword that: Clearly, a growing, dynamic culture sector is central to Canada’s success as a creative, knowledge-based economy. The culture sector also serves as a magnet for skilled and creative people, as Canada becomes increasingly dependent on international migration to sustain the size of its national labour force. Canada is competing on the world stage and needs to invest in creating a healthy and exciting cultural community. As Richard Florida notes: Employment is not the central driving force for location decisions; rather, creative people choose to live in places that are centres of creativity and diversity. People are not just choosing jobs, they are choosing places to live, work and play where other creative thinkers collect, and share ideas across sectors. Great ideas are sparked through collaboration with other creative thinkers, and these thinkers cluster in these creative centres.
The Work Foundation published a report entitled Staying Ahead which sites one of the drivers of the new economy as being a new collaborative and creative mode of working in the knowledgebased industries today: Employees are no longer called upon merely to apply information in a mechanical sequence, but are also invited to participate, experiment and offer suggestions about how to improve the production process, and management is expected to build feedback back into that – a powerful driver of learning by doing and incremental innovation. Studies show that exposure to arts and culture helps improve communication capabilities and think creatively. Thinking in the creative workforce has shifted from linear to diagonal thinking, and soft skills are just as important as raw technical ability. As the Conference Board of Canada report suggests: Creative firms distinguish themselves from their competitors by their employees’ expert capacity to solve problems and communicate complex ideas.
If one doubts the public appetite for the arts, one need only consider the hard economic numbers: Hill Strategies reports that Canadian consumers spent $25.1 billion on culture goods and services in 2005, more than consumer spending on household furniture, appliances and tools ($24 billion) and, Hill Strategies notes, over three times larger than the $7.7 billion spent on culture in Canada by all levels of government in 2003/04. The output by the culture sector totalled: $46 billion in 2007, which was 3.8% of Canada’s real GDP. If we were to include the induced and indirect impact, the value-add climbs to $84.6 billion. For comparison, the value-added of Canada’s retail industry was just under 6 per cent in 2007. The Conference Board estimates that 1,000,000 jobs are created by the cultural sector, representing 7.1 per cent of Canada’s total employment in 2007.
The above arguments have been published with the support of twelve external reviewers from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada. It is simply astonishing that with this recent collaborative effort in support of the arts, the government has cut funding to the arts by $60 million and in such a quick and quiet manner. It leaves the cultural community, and all of us wondering, why the government has not absorbed the wisdom of its latest report and collaborated more with the creative drivers of our economy. Some of the program cuts may indeed make sense in terms of efficiencies, and Canadians will understand the reasoning behind some of them. We believe Canadians would like to know how that $60 million taken out of the arts will be reinvested in the cultural community. Business for the Arts is requesting that the Federal government issue a statement on how they plan to reinvest that $60 million. We understand the need to reallocate funds to programs that have more of an impact, but we are not in favour of taking funds out of culture entirely. It is our hope that the government realizes the positive impact of investing in the arts and thereby reassure the business community who rely on creative talent to remain competitive in this knowledge-based economy.
14 Sep 2008
Social Effects of Culture from Hill Strategies
Two recent reports from Hill Strategies Research investigate the social impacts of cultural activities, including book reading. The data is drawn from Statistics Canada's General Social Survey of 2005. A total of 9,851 respondents answered the survey's cultural questions. The reports define a book reader as anyone who read at least one book, of any type, in 2005. This is clearly a low threshold of cultural participation.
The report subtitled "Exploratory Statistical Evidence" examines the relationship between four cultural activities (reading books, attending live performances, visiting art galleries and attending movie theatres) and social phenomena such as volunteering, donating, neighbourhood connections, sense of belonging and quality of life.
Some statistics in the report show a relationship between book reading and positive social engagement. In particular, the percentage of book readers volunteering for a non-profit organization (42%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (25%). The percentage of book readers donating money or goods to a non-profit organization (82%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (66%). Seventy-one percent of book readers (compared with 65% of non-readers) indicated that they had done a favour for a neighbour in the past month. Forty-nine percent of book readers have a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, compared with 42% of non-readers. Book readers have a lower rate of workaholism than non-readers (22% of book readers compared with 31% of non-readers).
The second report provides detailed statistical models of six social indicators: Feeling trapped in a daily routine; Volunteering; Donating; Doing a favour for a neighbour; Sense of belonging to one's province; and Sense of belonging to Canada. Building on the exploratory report, the statistical models in the second report examine whether cultural activities have an impact on social indicators above and beyond demographic information.
The second report shows that book reading has a positive impact on three of the social indicators: volunteer rates, donation rates and doing a favour for a neighbour. These statistics relate to the models that held all other factors constant, such as other arts activities and demographic factors.
For the other three social indicators examined (feeling trapped in a daily routine, having a very strong sense of belonging to one's province or having a very strong sense of belonging to Canada), book reading did not have a statistically significant influence above and beyond other arts activities and demographic factors.
Overall, the reports show that Canadians who read are more likely to be socially active than Canadians who do not read.
http://www.hillstrategies.com
The report subtitled "Exploratory Statistical Evidence" examines the relationship between four cultural activities (reading books, attending live performances, visiting art galleries and attending movie theatres) and social phenomena such as volunteering, donating, neighbourhood connections, sense of belonging and quality of life.
Some statistics in the report show a relationship between book reading and positive social engagement. In particular, the percentage of book readers volunteering for a non-profit organization (42%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (25%). The percentage of book readers donating money or goods to a non-profit organization (82%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (66%). Seventy-one percent of book readers (compared with 65% of non-readers) indicated that they had done a favour for a neighbour in the past month. Forty-nine percent of book readers have a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, compared with 42% of non-readers. Book readers have a lower rate of workaholism than non-readers (22% of book readers compared with 31% of non-readers).
The second report provides detailed statistical models of six social indicators: Feeling trapped in a daily routine; Volunteering; Donating; Doing a favour for a neighbour; Sense of belonging to one's province; and Sense of belonging to Canada. Building on the exploratory report, the statistical models in the second report examine whether cultural activities have an impact on social indicators above and beyond demographic information.
The second report shows that book reading has a positive impact on three of the social indicators: volunteer rates, donation rates and doing a favour for a neighbour. These statistics relate to the models that held all other factors constant, such as other arts activities and demographic factors.
For the other three social indicators examined (feeling trapped in a daily routine, having a very strong sense of belonging to one's province or having a very strong sense of belonging to Canada), book reading did not have a statistically significant influence above and beyond other arts activities and demographic factors.
Overall, the reports show that Canadians who read are more likely to be socially active than Canadians who do not read.
http://www.hillstrategies.com
11 Sep 2008
BY THE BOOK: THE INSIDE TRACK ON PUBLISHING
|   |
THE INSIDE TRACK ON PUBLISHING
» Thursday 4 September 2008 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as publisher, editor and writer Jim Taylor, professor and writer John Lent and publisher Robert MacDonald offer different perspectives on how to survive and thrive in the ever-changing media world.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Insiders Open the Books on Publishing
Making a living as a writer is no easy task, but lots of people do. The demand for thoughtful, stylish and well-crafted writing continues unabated by the changes is the media environment. Publishers of all types depend on writers to provide the bedrock materials that keep them in business.
Learning how to successfully navigate the publishing world is also no easy task. Book and magazine publishers are struggling to find writers who understand the dynamics of their business and the needs of readers. The Web and new media companies have a seemingly limitless need for researchers, writers and editors who can deliver appropriate texts in a timely and audience-sensitive manner. There are thousands of specialist publishers that require writers and editors who understand the information needs of specialists in a broad range of professional fields, including health and medicine, science and engineering, business and economics, and many others. Many other sectors are rich in creative opportunities: the nonprofit and association sectors, hobbies and avocations, sports and recreation, nature and the environment, religion and lifestyles. In other words, the explosion of information presents a world of opportunities to those who have the skills, the drive and the imagination to find an informed voice, a robust audience, and a practical approach to identifying appropriate opportunities.
This week writers and readers can learn more about how the publishing world works when the Okanagan Institute Express series of public events hosts By the Book: The Inside Track on Publishing on Thursday September 4, 5 pm at the Bohemian Café. Publisher, editor and writer Jim Taylor, professor and writer John Lent and publisher Robert MacDonald offer different perspectives on how to survive and thrive in the ever-changing media world - including making good money for your work.
Jim Taylor
is known in publishing circles as the editor's editor. Author of 17
books, he's the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the publishing house
Wood Lake Books. Recently he was honoured with a lifetime membership to
the Editors' Association of Canada for his achievements and development
of the program Eight-Step Editing, which helps writers and editors
identify and fix the most common obstacles to readership. He has been
the managing editor of the United Church of Canada's national magazine
and the founding editor of a professional clergy journal.
John Lent
has taught creative writing and literature at Okanagan College for
twenty-six years. He has published seven books, read from his work in
many cities in Canada, the USA, France and England, and written
numerous scholarly articles. He is a founding member of Kalamalka Press
and the Kalamalka Institute for Working Writers which serves writers in
the Okanagan by enabling them to acquire professional self-sufficiency,
a high level of knowledge of commercial and literary genres and the
skills required to succeed in those markets. Lent is also a
singer/songwriter in the Lent / Fraser / Wall Trio. 
Robert MacDonald
has had a long and distinguished career in publishing. He was the
Director of the Publishing Workshops at the University of Toronto and
the Banff Centre for fifteen years. He was a founder of the Canadian
Periodical Publishers Association and the Graphic Arts in the Public
Service Foundation. He has consulted for - and started - book, magazine
and multimedia publishing companies in Canada and the US. He is the
publisher, editor and designer of Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home
magazines, and the Director of the Okanagan Institute.By the Book: The Inside Track on Publishing is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 56th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
01 Sep 2008
Grande Dames at Express Thursday 31 July
|  |
HONOURING ARTS PIONEERS
» Thursday 31 July 2008 | 5 pm (please note new time)
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as Ruth Schiller and Sigrid-Ann Thors takes us on a journey of discovery through the lives and achievements of the women who forged the modern Okanagan arts community.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Paying Tribute to the Grande Dames of Culture
As the Olympic fever starts to heat up, there are many who believe it's time for the arts to have their own champions. "The arts needs to be like the Olympic torch - it's a sacred trust that needs to be passed on from generation to generation," says Karen Close, who is launching the Okanagan Institute's four-part series of presentations which investigate the history and development of the arts in this region.
Two of those champions were at the forefront of the arts movement in the 1970s, and that's where this series begins.
Eva Cleland and Olive Woodley played critical roles in the establishment of the arts in the BC Interior with the creation of the Okanagan Mainline Regional Arts Council. This council stretched from Vernon to Penticton, and included Kamloops. Eventually it formed the basis for what is now the BC Arts Council.
On Thursday July 31 at Okanagan Institute Express - now being held at its new time of 5 pm at the Bohemian Café - presents The Past Is Prologue: Honouring Arts Pioneers. Ruth Schiller and Sigrid-Ann Thors will tell their stories, taking us on a journey of discovery through the lives and achievements of the women who forged the beginnings of the modern Okanagan arts community.
Ruth Schiller
was involved in the development of Okanagan University College and
became a governor. She emigrated from Germany in the 1930s and was
appointed to the first-ever BC Arts Board, chairing two of its
committees. She also represented BC as a board member of the Canada
Council for six years, and in 1996 received the Order of British
Columbia for her work as a "tireless advocate for the arts". She lives
in Osoyoos.
Sigrid-Ann Thors
is currently president of the Vernon and District Performing Arts
Centre Society. She grew up in Penticton, where she got to know Eva
Cleland. A senior industrial consultant for culture at Employment and
Immigration Canada in Ottawa, Thors was a member of the last board of
governors of Okanagan University College. With her strong professional
background in music, she managed the Thirteen Strings in Ottawa, and
the Saskatoon and Prince George Symphonies. She lives in Vernon."Their message is that you can't legislate the arts - you have to fight for them like they're your children," Close says. "If you want the arts, you need community buy-in - citizens who are willing to be supporters and patrons of the arts and that's what these two women were. They are great models for future generations of arts patrons."
The Past Is Prologue series runs the last Thursday of every month until the end of the year - a fitting anticipation for 2009, when Kelowna and the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan plays host to the Assembly of BC Arts Councils.
"This seems like the right time to review things - what we're doing is celebrating and tracking the generations of the arts with an eye to what we can build on as we create the future."
The Past Is Prologue: Honouring Arts Pioneers is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 51st event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Where Enquiring Minds Gather. Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
| |
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
25 Jul 2008
Statistical Insights on the Arts
Statistical Insights on the Arts
series from Hill Strategies Research, provides strong evidence of the
social effects of culture through detailed statistical models of six
social indicators:
- Feeling trapped in a daily routine;
- Volunteering;
- Donating;
- Doing a favour for a neighbour;
- Sense of belonging to one's province; and
- Sense of belonging to Canada.
This report builds on a previous report in the Statistical Insights on the Arts
series, which provided some exploratory findings regarding the social
effects of culture. Taking the previous report as a starting point, the
statistical models in this report examine whether cultural activities
have an impact on social indicators above and beyond demographic information.
The current report shows that, in many cases, even adjusting for the effects of key demographic variables, Canadians who participate in cultural activities are more likely to be socially active than Canadians who do not take part in cultural activities.
Among the
cultural activities, visits to public art galleries or historic sites
each have a positive impact on five of the six social behaviours, while
visits to conservation areas or parks and theatre attendance each have
a positive impact on four social behaviours. Book reading, newspaper
reading and attendance at a performance of cultural/heritage music,
theatre or dance (e.g. Aboriginal Peoples, Chinese, Ukrainian) each
have a positive impact on three of the social indicators. (All of these
statistics relate to the models that held all other factors constant.)
Break out of your daily routine! And other key findings...
A potential slogan arising from the research is: Break out of your daily routine! Visit a public art gallery, take in a performance or read a book. Some of the findings that provide strong evidence of a relationship between cultural activities and positive social engagement are:
- Trapped in a daily routine:
For nine of the 11 cultural activities examined in this report, the
percentage of cultural participants feeling trapped in a daily routine
is lower than for non-participants. Four cultural activities are
significant factors in lowering the probability of feeling trapped in a
daily routine, even after adjusting for the impacts of other
demographic and cultural factors in the model. The four cultural
activities are classical music attendance, art gallery visits, theatre attendance and book reading.
- Volunteer rates:
For all 11 cultural activities, the volunteer rate among participants
is higher than for non-participants. Ten of the 11 cultural activities
are statistically significant predictors of volunteering, even taking
key demographic factors into account. The cultural activities with the
strongest impacts on volunteering are historic site visits, classical music attendance, theatre attendance and festival attendance.
- Donation rates:
For all 11 cultural activities, the donation rate is higher for
cultural participants than non-participants. A statistical model
indicates that six cultural activities are significant positive factors
in donating, even after adjusting for the impacts of other demographic
and cultural factors in the model. The cultural activities with the
strongest impacts on donating are historic site visits, newspaper reading, visits to conservation areas or parks and book reading.
- Favour for a neighbour:
For all 11 cultural activities, the percentage of cultural participants
doing a favour for a neighbour in the past month is higher than for
non-participants. Six cultural activities are significant positive
factors in predicting doing a favour for a neighbour, even after
adjusting for the impacts of other demographic and cultural factors in
the model. The cultural activities with the strongest impacts on doing
a favour for a neighbour are newspaper reading, visits to conservation areas or parks, attending performances of cultural/heritage music, theatre or dance, as well as art gallery visits.
- Sense of belonging to one's province:
For five of the 11 cultural activities, the percentage of cultural
participants with a strong sense of belonging to one's province is
higher than for non-participants. A statistical model indicates that art galleryhistoric site
visits are significant positive factors on sense of belonging to their
province, even after adjusting for the impacts of other demographic and
cultural factors in the model; and
- Sense of belonging to Canada: For eight of the 11 cultural activities, the percentage of cultural participants with a strong sense of belonging to Canada is higher than for non-participants. A statistical model indicates that four cultural activities are significant positive factors on one's sense of belonging to Canada, even after adjusting for the impacts of other demographic and cultural factors in the model. The four cultural activities are art gallery visits, theatre attendance, visits to conservation areas or parks and historic site visits.
Methodological notes
The data is
drawn from Statistics Canada's General Social Survey of 2005, an
in-depth telephone survey of about 20,000 Canadians 15 years of age or
older. Because of a split in the survey design, only half of the
respondents were asked questions about their cultural activities in
2005. A total of 9,851 respondents answered the cultural questions. The
other half of the respondents were asked questions about social
networking and trust, including some questions that, in theory, would
be helpful in examining the social effects of culture. However, because
of the survey split, these questions could not be cross-tabulated with
the questions about cultural activities.
The report
defines a cultural participant as anyone who participated at least once
in the relevant cultural activity in 2005. This is a low threshold of
cultural participation. In particular, many cultural activities do not
have explicit social goals. As such, their social impacts may be less
than for those artistic activities that have an explicit social goal.
Unlike the
previous report, the current report does not limit the analysis to four
cultural activities. Rather, 11 cultural activities from the survey
dataset were entered into the statistical models, including attendance
at various types of performances (theatre, pop music, classical music,
cultural/heritage performances), festivals, movies, public art
galleries, historic sites, conservation areas or nature parks as well
as reading newspapers or books.
The full report, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council, is available free of charge on the Hill Strategies Research website (http://www.hillstrategies.com) and the websites of the funding organizations.
23 Jul 2008
The Story So Far Anniversary Celebration
|    |
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION THE VALUE OF IDEAS
» Thursday 3 July 2008 | 4:30 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing the people and ideas featured in Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Join us as we celebrate our first year of critical and creative insight and discussion on topics and issues of import to the community. Hosts: Robert MacDonald & Karin Wilson.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
The Institute Celebrates a Year of Expression
We invite enquiring minds in the Okanagan to come together this week to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Okanagan Institute's Express program.
One year ago, the Okanagan Institute launched its popular Thursday afternoon Express series which feature members of the region's diverse cultural community talking about subjects as far ranging as growth and development, to artistic and creative expression, spirituality and the impact of the green movement on the building industry.
The Story So Far takes place 4:30 pm Thursday, July 3, at the Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard St. in Kelowna.
"We're hoping people will come out for an old-fashioned prairie-style social where they can mingle and remind each other of what we've heard, seen, learned and accomplished in the last year," said Institute founder and director Robert MacDonald. When the Express series started, there was no precedent for a café-style event with a regional flavour. MacDonald decided to pursue his vision regardless, wary it may not survive. But survive it has, now having hosted 47 events over the course of the last year.
More
than 70 presenters from throughout the Okanagan region and beyond have
taken time to share their expertise. We've played host to visual
artists, jewellery designers, musicians, animators, architects and
designers. We've heard from university professors and professional
story tellers. We've examined architecture, home building, interior
décor and green design. Some of the most distinguished writers in our
province - Harold Rhenisch, Sterling Haynes, Don Gayton, Ralph Milton,
Jack Whyte - have read from and discussed their works. We've generated
and invigorated discussion on food security, the future of our water,
and the future of development."What we've learned in the last year is that people in the Okanagan really want to talk about what is happening here without any political agenda. They want to hear new ideas, and they want to meet the people behind those ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. That's what we've done. And that's what we plan to keep doing in bigger and better ways." The Institute invites everyone who has ever attended or participated in the events to join the celebration, and the general public is welcome as well.
As part of the event, the Institute will be releasing a preview edition of our progress report - The Value of Ideas
- outlining our progress to date, the programs and projects we're
currently involved with or developing, and our plans for the coming
year. "We want people to know that we're here to stay and what we're thinking about for the future. Our weekly Express series will continue, and we plan to expand on that with more robust quarterly events designed to continue our goal of stimulating inquiring minds. We also intend to continue publishing literary chapbooks, have an exciting new community arts monograph at the printer right now, and are developing a number of other projects that further our mission," he said. "Our main objective is to reveal and enhance the expression of creativity and critical engagement in this valley. We're pleased with what we've accomplished so far, and wanted to celebrate that with a social occasion."
The Story So Far is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 47th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
|  |
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
28 Jun 2008