11 D C BRETT HOWE, MB SUZANNE SCOTT, PE CULTUREDAYS 2011REPORT HOW CANADIANS PLAYED THEIR PART @PotterDaughter: “Definitely broke a record today for # of bodies “We had 100 people attend our Culture Days event. It all worked out at @VillagePottery on October 1st!! @CultureDays @CulturePEI so wonderfully! We are already planning an event for next year.” #PotterForADay” -Roxanne Rissanen, Sault Ste. Marie Public Library PHOTO CREDITS: CBC, BC; Zaoqing Peng, BC; Sun Life Financial, ON; Martha Haldenby, ON; Laura Bruijns, NL; Dyann Malcolm, BC; Brett Howe, MB; Margaret Ayad, NL; Arts Umbrella, BC; Suzanne Scott, PE; Gillian Veitch, ON; Gabor 1 Gasztonyi, BC; Dan Harper, MB; Brett Howe, MB; Pradipta Datta, ON; GraffitiArt, MB. our culture, ourselves: a national celebration In less than two years, Culture Days has taken flight across Canada in over 800 cities and towns. Inspired by the amazing, 15-year success of les Journées de la culture in Québec and spurred on by Alberta Arts Days, the second edition of Culture Days, which took place from September 30 – October 2 in 2011, underscored the vibrant role that arts and culture plays in the day-to-day lives of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Thank you, and congratulations to all who have supported and embraced this initiative to share your talents and deepen connections in your communities. You have brought Culture Days to life in endlessly meaningful ways. In all corners of the country, artists, organizations big and small, municipalities, cultural workers and, of course, impassioned citizens, are the maestros that inspire our communities with creativity and are what Culture Days is all about. This summary of results of the second edition of Culture Days in 2011 will give you a sense of the impact Culture Days has made in its still very early stages. Thank you to all who provided feedback and shared stories about your experiences. We hope it inspires and encourages you, who have made it happen, and others to join the movement and participate in this great celebration of arts and culture across Canada! Antoni Cimolino General Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival Chair, Culture Days National Steering Committee David Moss National Project Director, Culture Days , MB S ON , TER S AL W KEVIN 2 100 MILE FIND OUR CUltURE, OURselves: A national CELEBRation “Culture Days truly was a magical experience. I would definitely attend and recommend others to attend the event next year. Congratulations and thank you again to all of you for a very successful event!” –Holly Wong, Ottawa • Budding Picassos power up for computer painting lessons • Inspired by the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s smash hit in a Vancouver gallery production of Camelot, families enjoy sword fights, live music, a hawk demonstration, costume try-ons and more • Kids visit a musical petting zoo presented by the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra where they enjoy a free concert, meet • The NFB Mediatheque in Toronto invites kids to explore the the musicians and make their own instruments from spare process of animation by creating their own animated films parts using plasticine • Residents of Flin Flon learn how to sculpt caribou hide three • Fiddler Colin Grant leads Cape Bretoners through a traditional dimensionally to create unique pieces of art in a Caribou Hair Céilidh Tufting workshop That’s just a tiny sample, a mere six of nearly 6,000 activities that inspired Canadian’s creativity and ignited regional and national pride throughout Culture Days 2011. Launched nationally in 2010, Culture Days was created to encourage Canadians of all ages, from coast to coast to coast, to share and embrace culture and creativity in every conceivable form. In its inaugural year, Culture Days started strong with more than 4,700 activities, attracting over a million attendees in communities large and small, spanning every province and territory. In 2011, Culture Days’ vibrancy was even brighter, with… • a 37% increase in activities, approaching • the addition of dozens of participating communities totalling 6,000* nationally nearly 800* across all provinces and territories (a 30% increase over 2010). • corresponding growth in audience, with attendance topping 1.2 million** @WhatsVending: “Celebrating Culture Days @chelseagoodyear: “Takin’ boat to mainland to @PADowntown: “Culture Days were terrific! today in Welland at the Civic Centre! take part @CultureDays and @CBCLive this Hope you got out there and enjoyed our And a little cold rain ain’t gonna stop me - weekend! Many free events across Canada. local culture.” I AM CANADIAN!” Celebrate arts and culture!” * 2,652 activities took place in 345 communities during les Journées de la culture in Québec and 1,046 activities took place in 93 communities during Alberta Arts Days 3 canadians love culturedays Among the more than 1.2 million Canadians who participated in 2011 Culture Days activities… • an overwhelming 98% reported satisfaction with their Culture Days experience. • 69% agreed with the statement “It is important to have events like Culture Days, which celebrate the arts, heritage and cultural activities in my community.” • 84% support Culture Days’ rich diversity, agreeing that, “We are all creative in our own different way.” • approximately one-third made their Culture Days outing a family affair, bringing along at least one person under age 18; and parents across Canada reported that they specifically sought out Culture Days activities with a child-friendly focus; and • two-thirds noted that they’d discovered local artists and arts organizations of which they weren’t previously aware. Additionally, Culture Days activities inspired greater overall interest in arts and cultural activities: • 75% of 2011 attendees said they better appreciated how artists and arts organizations contributed to their communities. • 70% were eager to seek out and participate in more arts and cultural activities. • half of all attendees also claimed that, as a result of Culture Days, they wanted to make their lives more creative and… 90% expressed their desire to participate in Culture Days 2012! ON ENTRE, YK , C S UELL RT M A A S ON K 4 YU ERIN activitiesand activity organizers Across the three days, 2011 Culture Days activities totalled 5,843*, a 37% increase over 2010. The overall number of activity organizers (individuals or groups that enabled one or more Culture Days activity) grew by more than 60%, from 932 in 2010 to 1,499 in 2011**. Their shared enthusiasm was extremely strong, with… • 84% judging their activities as successful; • 69% stating that their expectations were met or exceeded, and an equal number stating that they were very satisfied with public response to their activities; • 56% agreeing that their participation provided opportunities to strengthen cultural ties with their communities. and… 87% expressing interest in participating in Culture Days 2012! “Kir Stefan and The Serb Choir was very pleased to be a part of such an @CynGagen: “Had wonderful time leading a family First Nations amazing movement. We certainly hope to participate next year too. art workshop at Lambeth Library for @CultureDays today!” The audience enjoyed the activity; we even got a new choir member!” -Nada Dimitrijevic, Toronto 5 activities AND activity ORganiZERS top 10 lists: Top 10 Artistic Disciplines by Number of Activities Registered: Top 10 Activity Organizer Types, by number of Activities Registered: 1. Visual Arts 1. Municipal (i.e.: Arts, Culture and Heritage departments, 2. Heritage libraries, heritage sites, etc…) 3. Dance 2. Community Organizations 4. Music 3. Independent Artists, Writers, Performers and Musicians 5. Multi/interdisciplinary 4. Heritage and Museums 6. Literature or Spoken Word 5. Performing Arts Companies or Organizations 7. Film of Video 6. Municipal Arts Councils 8. Theatre 7. Other Commercial Organizers/Venues 9. Design 8. Public Administration, Non-municipal 10. New/Digital Media (i.e.: provincial and federal organizations) 9. Arts Education 10. Post-secondary Education “I believe I witnessed the true spirit of Culture Days when an audience member took to shaking a tambourine as she enthusiastically performed an impromptu “Ragtime” dance, during my presentation.” –Ennio Paola, Composer, Niagara Region C B I, Y C ZTON , B K A OR G L JAU S B IE 6 L GA S communitiesand community organizers 2011 Culture Days activities spanned 365** communities, 58% of which were participating for the first time — an increase of 30% from 2010. 50% of activities took place in regional or belt cities, while 34% took place in major cities and 16% in rural communities. Ranked by total number of registered activities, Culture Days’ Top 10 communities** in 2011 were: 1. Toronto, ON 6. Vancouver, BC 2. Winnipeg, MB 7. Stratford, ON 3. Ottawa, ON 8. Flin Flon, MB 4. Mississauga, ON 9. Richmond, BC 5. London, ON 10. Barrie, ON Thousands of activities took place in the Atlantic Provinces, in the Territories, as well as in rural communities across the country, providing further evidence of the pan- Canadian reach and resonance of Culture Days. @LdnArtsCouncil: “So proud and impressed with all the @CultureDays “Our Culture Days campaign has both increased the variety and diversity events that occurred over the past weekend! #ldnont #cdl11” of arts opportunities and built awareness of how the arts enrich people’s lives and contribute to the liveability of the community. Culture Days has @BCCulturalCrawl: “Still hearing about #CultureDays successes – also encouraged an atmosphere of collaboration among community congratulations to all for getting arts and culture in the spotlight again. partners, including our local newspaper and Tourism Richmond. By Bring on 2012!” working together, we have forged exceptional promotional initiatives that have helped us build long-term, meaningful relationships.” – Liesl Jauk, Manager of Cultural Development for the City of Richmond, B.C. 7 COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS Communities with local organizers (more than half of which were municipal cultural departments and arts councils) totalled 36, nearly triple the number from 2010, and these communities presented more than one-third of all Culture Days activities*.