Greetings Alberta Showcase 2019 Delegates,
Each year at Alberta Showcase we ask for your feedback on the conference. The valuable information gathered in this survey helps us make improvements every year. If you submit your survey response by November 21st, you will be entered in a draw to receive ONE FREE registration to Alberta Showcase 2020.
Thanks for your participation!
“Integrating AMS into CFAT’s operations has transformed our organization and …reduced the administrative burden of managing equipment and membership”
Sally Wolchyn-Raab
Director of Operations
Centre for Arts Tape (CFAT)
WHAT IS AMS?
AMS is an “Integrated Digital Arts Management System” designed specifically for artist-run centres. Built from the ground up by The Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta AMS is a customizable software platform designed to manage any arts organizations operations.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Any members of your arts organizations who is responsible for managing your organization’s data.
Edmonton Session
- Date: November 26, 2019
- Time: 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM (lunch provided)
- Location: The Orange Hub, FAVA Studio B (Rm 136), 10045 156st N.W.
- Cost: Complementary.
Calgary Session
- Date: November 27, 2019
- Time: 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM (lunch provided)
- Location: TBD
- Cost: Complementary
WHAT DOES FAVA AMS MANAGE?
BY ATTENDING YOU WILL LEARN:
WHO IS FAVA?
FAVA is the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta. We are a non-profit, arts organization that faced the same daily administrative challenges as you. We’ve spent over 10 years developing our AMS software to meet those challenges. Today AMS has become vital to every part of our administration and we have supported dozens of sister societies in digitally transforming their operations. Plan to attend one of these sessions and see how an arts-focused, arts management system can improve your operations. Please go to the top of this invitation and register by November 12, 2019.
Sincerely,
ams@fava.ca,
(780) 429-1671
Applications are invited for the position of
Executive Director
Rotary Centre for the Arts
Kelowna, B. C.
The Rotary Centre for the Arts is a multi-use visual and performing arts facility located in the heart of Kelowna’s Cultural District. Home to eight resident artist studios, the 325 seat Mary Irwin Theatre, Potters Addict, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, New Vintage Theatre, ArtsCo, Theatre Kelowna Society, Ballet Kelowna and the RCA Bistro, the RCA provides a vital community service as the heart of Kelowna’s arts and cultural experience.
The executive director will provide leadership to the Centre while building recognition and support for the RCA in the local community. Reporting to the Board of the Kelowna Visual and Performing Arts Centre Society, the executive director is responsible for achieving the goals and objectives of the Society. Managing an annual budget in excess of one million dollars, leading a passionate, professional staff, and liaising with the tenants and wider community, the executive director has fundamental responsibility for the success of this key community organization.
Qualifications: a degree in Business Administration, Arts Administration, or Fine Arts, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience and skills preferred:
Rate of pay: competitive compensation is offered, including an excellent benefit plan with dental and extended health, dependent on experience.
Start date: this position will be filled as soon as practical following the closing date. This is a full-time position.
Applications: please apply electronically to hiring@RotaryCentrefortheArts.com. Applications must be received by November 30, 2019. Please include a fully detailed, chronological resume. Not all applicants will be contacted due to the anticipated high interest in this position.
Australian circus group brings their acrobatic skills to cam rose stage for a thrilling evening of breath-stopping circus acts.
By Amielle Christopherson
Backbone is all about strength. The show is the third one created and performed by Australian circus company Gravity & Other Myths and explores what it means to be strong.
Company co-founder and director Lachlan Binns explained that “strength is obviously something to be found in a lot of places and it can be shown in a number of different ways. That was our feed word, strength, and how people are strong.”
The group tapped into the obvious: acrobatics requires a lot of physical and mental strength. But they wanted to expand on that, too, and explore what other kinds of strengths people have, and look at how groups can also provide strength.
“We wanted to look at vulnerability and insecurity. The opposite of strength is weakness, so we had to look at weakness as well,” said Binns. “We used a lot of those ideas for the scenes and the movement and the skills within the show. Then we all sat down in a room for a few months and created Backbone.”
Gravity & Other Myths was established in Adelaide, Australia in 2009 by a group of seven high school friends who wanted to explore their passion for acrobatics and circus while also being able to stick together, which is something they’ve managed to do for a decade.
Backbone was created two years ago with funding from the Australian government, the first time the group had received such support. The funding they received allowed the group to hire 10 more acrobats, two musicians, a director and a designer for their show.
“The funding was designed to make a work of scale, for something bigger than we’d ever made before;’ explained Binns. The group hired the extra manpower to “try and increase the scale of the production design and the thematic ideas behind the show:’
“We were incredibly lucky,” said Binns of the funding opportunity they received “The first thing we did was sit down and clocked how privileged we were to receive funding and to be able to do this.” The biggest thing the funding allowed the group was time.
”A lot of the time, if you don’t have enough money, you just don’t have enough time to really sink your teeth into any ideas. It allowed us time to really let these ideas and this show become its full potential,” he said “It was an incredible opportunity. We had plans to expand and grow and we were going to make this show anyways, it just gave us a little bit more security and it just let us be comfortable to explore these ideas and push everything to the limit, without worrying too much about budgets and deadlines and whatnot. It really loosened the reins, which was a really valuable experience.”
As to what Backbone is about, other than just strength, Binns said that the group purposefully leaves that open to interpretation to each audience member. The group has functioned that way since they first created their company and Backbone is no exception.
“We never try to create a specific story,” he said. “We have our own interpretations of the things we’re doing on stage, but it’s deliberately open to interpretation.”
The show is a stripped-down performance, no fancy costumes, “just doing skills and tricks and sequences for the audience at that time;’ he explained. ‘We’re performing in the moment and engaging with the audience in that space, is something that we really do well”
Binns said that, should they need to, the group could go out “into a grassy field and we could do 90% of the show just without any other props or items;’ and that a large part of the company’s philosophy is that their acrobats are their props.
Part of the excitement of the funding they received was the opportunity to add the 10 extra acrobats, which allowed them to “unlock new skills, bigger acrobatic sequences, bigger tricks, high stacks, all that exciting stuff;’ without adding more set or props or external pieces. That flexibility is important because it allows them to move around more easily and share their production with as many people as possible.
“That’s a testament to our flexibility and we can go to places that normally wouldn’t be able to
fit shows of this scale,” explained Binns. “We’ve made a point to be different from all those other circus shows, so even if people have experienced circus before, they haven’t experienced what we do as a company.”
Backbone will be performing at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre Nov. 16 at 7: 30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.camroselive.ca or in person or over the phone at the Box Office at 780-608-2922.
Alberta Showcase wouldn’t be the same without the amazing folks who attend the conference. Thank you to everyone who attended. We can’t wait to see you next year!
March 5–7, 2020
River Rock Casino Resort, Richmond, BC
Register now for the only conference in the Pacific Northwest focused on sharing knowledge about making arts and entertainment workplaces safer for workers and audiences alike!
In its fourth year in 2020, Actsafe’s annual conference expands to a third full day to include programming for both the live events and performing arts sector as well as the motion picture and television industry!
SPECIAL OFFER FOR CITT/ICTS MEMBERS
Members of CITT/ICTS qualify for an Association Discount on Early Bird full conference passes. Save $25 off the Early Bird rate of $400 by registering by January 31, 2020. Contact support@citt.org to receive the promo code!
Actsafe’s Entertainment Safety Conference (formerly Event Safety Conference) brings together a broad range of stakeholders from event production and venues, festivals and the performing arts, the music industry, film, television and commercials, tourism, health and safety, education, municipalities, labour unions and beyond to network and learn about entertainment safety from a range of experts in their fields.
The conference will be jam-packed with over 50 informative sessions covering a range of topics pertaining to safety, health, and wellbeing with experts in their fields, live demonstrations, more than 20 tradeshow exhibitors, and social events.
BONUS: Registration also includes a free (non-transferrable) Industry Training course in Occupational First Aid (Level 1) or Firearm Safety (Level 1). Courses are held outside of conference dates.
Visit actsafeconference.ca to learn more and to register now.
SESSION PROPOSALS NOW OPEN
Got a great idea for a presentation, panel, or interactive demo? Session proposals are accepted until December 20.
NOTE:
Those who work in the areas of production and event planning, audience services, security, and public safety won’t want to miss this: For the third year running Actsafe is thrilled to welcome back UK-based crowd safety expert Eric Stuart of Gentian Events Ltd. to present his popular two-day Crowd Safety Workshop on March 3–4. This workshop is a sell-out every year, so register early to avoid disappointment. Details at actsafeconference.ca/crowd-
Thank you and enjoy the conference!
CITT/ICTS National Office
support@citt.org
514 504-9998
Fort Macleod, AB (Oct. 23, 2019) – The Empress Theatre is pleased to present the 10th annual Canadian Forces Memorial Film Festival Nov. 8, 9 and 10, 2019 in Fort Macleod, AB.
This year, six military-related films will be shown alongside lectures and a veteran’s panel hosted by master of ceremonies Dr. Stéphane Guevremont, a military historian from Calgary who holds a PhD in Canadian military aviation. Prior to the screening of each of the festival’s films, Guevremont will provide insight and historical context on topics including D-Day, the Normandy landings, the Market Garden Campaign, and the Vietnam War.
The Canadian Forces Memorial Film Festival is Alberta’s only film festival devoted to honouring those who served in times of war, military conflict and peace. It is part history conference for military buffs and part film festival for lovers of war films. The films are generally a combination of black and white Hollywood classics, rare international movies, and modern mainstream blockbusters. The highlight of the festival is the Veterans’ Panel preceding the Saturday afternoon film. Each year, the festival honours Second World War, Korean or peacekeeping mission veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces through on-stage interviews and stories.
Canadian Forces Memorial Film Festival 2019 Schedule of Events: Friday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.
Lecture: The 75th Anniversary of D-Day Film: Overlord (1975) – A rare, brooding British film about a young recruit’s experience, from his army training through to his participation in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings in 1944. The film weaves in archival footage that frequently becomes the soldier’s dreams and visions of the war as it unfolds, providing viewers a unique perspective of WWII from both German and British viewpoints. Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m.
Lecture: The 75th Anniversary of Market Garden Film: Theirs is the Glory (1946) – The story of the American and British armies’ heroic struggle to hold the vital Arnheim Bridge during World War II.
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2 p.m.
Lecture: Canadians at Juno Beach during the invasion of Normandy *Preceding the film, join us for a veterans’ panel and cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the film festival’s 10th Anniversary. Film: Storming Juno (2010) – A Canadian docu-drama about the Canadians at Juno Beach on D-Day.
Saturday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m. Lecture: The Vietnam War Film: Apocalypse Now, Final Cut (2019) – The last and best edition of the 1979 cult movie by Francis Ford Coppola. Secret ops assassin Captain Willard is sent on a mission up a river during the Vietnam War to “terminate with extreme prejudice” the errant Colonel Kurtz. In addition to being re-edited with new footage, the film has been completely restored, converted to digital, and reprinted to improve colour reproduction. This version is Ford Coppola’s own cut and the one he now considers to be perfect.
Sunday, Nov. 19, 10:30 a.m. Lecture: The Home Front in Canada during both world wars Films: Lest We Forget (2015) and The Royal Canadian Legion (2017) – Two unique documentaries made in Canada; the first, the story of a town during two world wars, and the second, the role of the Royal Canadian Legion in Canadian history.
Sunday, Nov. 19, 2 p.m. Lecture: Canada and its allies at the end of the Great War
Film: 100 Days to Victory (2018) – A stunning, modern docu-drama about six generals from five Allied countries who decided to end the war in August 1918, and the ensuing campaign that succeeded. Admission:
$35 Weekend Pass ($17.50 Seniors/Under 18) $12 Single Adult Ticket ($6 Seniors/Under 18) No charge for uniformed service personnel Weekend and single event passes are available now at MacleodEmpress.com or by calling 403-553-4404 (toll-free at 1-800-540-9229).
For more information about the festival, please contact the Empress at 403-553-4404 or at info@macleodempress.com.
The Empress Theatre appreciates the financial assistance provided through the Veterans Affairs Canada Commemorative Partnership Program and our other generous sponsors, including Forma Steel and Structural Truss.
ARTS TOURING ALLIANCE OF ALBERTA
Annual General Meeting
Sunday, October 20, 2019 11:00 AM
Dow Centennial Centre, Fort Saskatchewan
PRESIDENTS REPORT 2018-2019
Greetings!
After a fantastic Showcase last year, it was exciting to begin the work as chairperson for an excellent ATAA Board. It is our privilege to work with an amazing, conscientious staff: our Executive Director – Kennedy Jenson, Programming and Communications Director – Shannon Jones, and Tech Director – Don Waddle.
At Showcase 2018, we said farewell to five board members who had contributed greatly to our ATAA board. We thank Larry Taylor, Vic Close, Bruce Beamer, Duane Steele and Liam Prost for their volunteer service to the ATAA.
Following the final showcase on Sunday last year, our new board met for the first time. We welcomed Chloe Albert, Nick Beach, Brandi Watson, Len Ramsey and Caitlin North as new members of our board and set our meeting dates for 2018-2019. We spent some time reviewing Showcase 2018 – which was a first for our new ED Kennedy Jenson. Our Showcase 2018 went very well thanks to Kennedy, Shannon, Don and his amazing tech crew, Sherrie, and the capable assistance of Ticketpro. We had more advertising and sponsorship for Showcase 2018 thanks to the work of our staff, and this was a good thing due to decreased grant revenue last year.
In November, we reviewed the Survey Monkey results for Showcase and discussed changes for the next Showcase based on these results. Discussions about integrating reconciliation practices that are used nation-wide into our organization, and strategies for working more closely with Alberta Dance Alliance were also highlights of this meeting.
Professional Development for our membership was a goal for our new ED. Kennedy organized two “Steps to Securing Sponsorship” with facilitator Cameron Smillie during the second weekend in March. The workshops were very well attended – 16 in Edmonton and in Calgary there were 8 participants – despite a storm which had closed some southern Alberta highways. Cameron provided a very useful template and role-playing situations for seeking sponsorships. The workshops were also an excellent time for networking.
In February, we reviewed and discussed our Strategic Plan and assessed our present situation with regard to our goals. Our goal of supporting Emerging Artists has exceeded expectations. To increase awareness of ATAA, a postcard ‘takeaway’ has been designed for members to share with others. We also encourage presenters to display our ATAA logo on their promotional materials and to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
In our February meeting, we recognized efforts that our ED, Kennedy, is making to promote closer relationships with other AB networks and made the decision to host a Kairos Blanket Exercise as a part of our Showcase workshops to address reconciliation processes. We also appointed a new accountant with remarkably lower fees than our previous firm.
Two OnStage events happened this past year, one in Calgary at Studio Bell March 10 and one in Edmonton McEwan University March 9. The participants had very constructive discussions about their performance with a panel of presenters and all of the OnStage artists applied and some were selected to present at Showcase 2019.
In April, twelve Showcase jury members received online packages in order to pre-score over 150 artist applications by watching videos and looking at application packages. These scores were then tabulated, and the top 75 artists were re-scored in a weekend meeting at the end of April. This year’s showcase lineup was developed with the assistance of this jury, the board and staff. Over the course of three days, Showcase participants will hear 28 Main Stage Performances, 4 Emerging Artists, 2 Young Albertans, and 2 Dinner Performances. The ATAA believes that our Showcase conference remains central to the society’s objectives, and we feel that the artist submission process is attracting more quality artists than ever, although some genres could benefit from more applications. The ATAA continues to reach out to dance and theatre groups. If you would like to be a member of the Showcase Jury for next year, please contact Kennedy.
Our ED was invited to attend East Coast Music Awards to promote Alberta Showcase. Kennedy also attended CAPACOA meetings in Ottawa to represent ATAA.
One of the main topics in May was, “How can we increase our board efficiency?” Because our board membership now includes more people from north of Calgary, we have decided to host our meetings in the Edmonton area to reduce travel and accommodation costs. Our February, May and September meetings have also been changed to one-day meetings – on Mondays, in the Percy Page Centre Board Room, which is where the ATAA office is located.
Our first kick at a one-day meeting with the executive meeting early in the day, a meeting between the ED and Executive, followed by a full Board meeting at 10:30am at the Percy Page Centre happened in mid-September and worked well. This meeting was mainly to study finances, and work on the Showcase schedule for October.
While many of you will be watching the Grey Cup in November, our Board members will be working on our next three-year Strategic Plan. Thanks to Nick Beach, we will be attending this seminar in Camrose at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Centre. A board meeting will follow the next day. Seeking to expand services and streamline our spending and providing value to our ATAA members motivates us as we look to our next year.
Showcase 2020 will be at the Dow Centennial Centre Shell Theatre during the weekend of October 22 – 25 We hope to see you all back here again next year.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to the board members and our staff for a brilliant year and I look forward to working with you all again for this coming year.
To our membership, thank you for the many hours of volunteer work you do in order to bring the arts to your communities. The ATAA is here for you – let us know how we can serve you. And finally, we are grateful for the sponsorship for Showcase events, the Silent Auction contributors and buyers, and the significant financial grants from The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Canadian Heritage. The Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta could not do what it does without all your support.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Andres
Alberta Showcase 2018 October 18 – 21
Dow Centennial Center, Fort Saskatchewan
A Champagne Reception – Shell Theatre Lobby. Held on Thursday, it was the kick-off the conference. Hors d’oeuvres were served, champagne flowed, live music filled the lobby and politicians and invited guests mingled with delegates. It was a lovely evening and great way to begin the weekend.
The Emerging Artist/Young Albertan Showcase – Lions Main Hall. Six artists performed to a packed room. It continues to be one of if not the most popular showcase of the conference.
Auction – James Keelaghan and Jez Lowe were auctioned off at the Saturday night dinner with the winning bidder being The Arden Theatre. Congratulations.
Rhoda Taylor Award – Went to the Newell Concert Association. Congratulations to them as well.
Jim Robertshaw Award – Terry Syniak, Warburg Cultural Society
Professional Development Workshops
Getting the Most Out of Your Event Budget – Josh Gennings (Dow Centennial Centre); Nick Beach (Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Centre for the Performing Arts)
Building/Maintaining/Renewing a Subscription Audience – Paul Bazinet & Jan Boydol (Calgary Folk Club); Larry Taylor (Bow Valley Folk Club)
Using Facebook to Market Your Events – Glen Erickson (Shameless Design)
ATAA Outreach 2019
Held in Calgary and Edmonton, all four professional development workshops were well received and attended.
Sponsorship Workshop – Calgary and Edmonton February
Based on the response of our delegate survey in 2018, we hosted sponsorship workshops in February in both Calgary and Edmonton. Cameron Smillie from Live at Hippo Pool Events facilitated the workshops and our participants took home some valuable tips to use in increasing their sponsorship revenue.
OnStage – Calgary and Edmonton March
ATAA Outreach 2020
OnStage
I am happy to announce that we will be presenting one of our OnStage workshops at The Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove on February 2, 2020.
It’s not certain at this time, where the Southern Alberta workshop will be held but I have some irons in the fire and will have everything confirmed and announced before Christmas.
Professional Development for Presenters – We will be focusing on a day-long workshop around social media marketing. Taking place in both Calgary and Edmonton, I intend to schedule them in the early new year and again, will announce their dates before Christmas.
Executive Director Conference and Professional Development Travel
As Linda mentioned, I attended CAPACOA meetings in Ottawa and was also invited to attend the East Coast Music Awards and Conference.
EAST COAST MUSIC AWARDS AND CONFERENCE – Charlottetown, P.E.I. May 1 – 5, 2019
The ECMA organization applies for grant money from Canada Council every year to invite and pay for flights/accommodations and meals for Regional Presenter Network E.D.’s to attend and promote our conferences. Nobody had to ask me twice. Through our work there, we generated a substantial amount of interest in artist applications for Alberta and Saskatchewan.
CINARS-MUNDIAL Conferences – Montreal. November 12 – 16, 2018. These three conferences are scheduled together every other year with the intent that delegates have the opportunity to see an enormous amount of shows in one week. CINARS is a circus (cirque) conference. Mundial is a world music conference and CAPACOA is like ours, featuring multi-genre and a multi-disciplinary medium. I stuck close to my Alberta colleagues who attend often and followed them wherever they went. Thanks to Trampas, Brandi, Josh and Nick. The Saskatchewan delegates named us The Alberta Mafia.
Administration
We’ve received an increase in funding through Canadian Heritage which is greatly appreciated. It will go to the always-rising costs of producing our annual conference. We were also approved for a grant through the Government of Alberta, Community Initiatives – for our outreach workshops.
It has yet to be determined whether or not we will see a decrease in our funding from Alberta Foundation for The Arts. Like everyone else, we are anxiously awaiting the budget announcement.
APAC – In September, Alberta Partners for Arts and Culture met with Leela Aheer, Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women to establish a relationship with her. She is certainly passionate about her portfolio and looks to APAC as the conduit to the cultural landscape in Alberta. Minister Aheer had no information to offer about a possible decrease in funding within the coming budget.
Casino – With the government changing in spring of 2019, the AGLC casino licensing changes were put on hold. There is nothing new to report. APAC will stay on top of this and update our partners.
On behalf of the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta I want to extend a huge thank you to our funders, Canadian Heritage, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Government of Alberta Community Initiatives. They not only provide The ATAA with the dollars to keep our doors open but offer advice and support throughout the year.
In closing, I would like to say thank you to our Alberta Showcase team: Josh Gennings, Talia Davies and the Dow Centre, Don & Sherry Waddle and their Production Crew, Shannon Jones the ATAA Communications and Program Coordinator, Maria and Apulia Catering, and to the Arts Touring Alliance Board of Directors. It has been a great year!