Blogs

Thank you to everyone who participated in the AGM on June 10th at Waterloo City Hall. It was a significant point in MCPI's history, as it was the organization's first AGM. The presentations on the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region by Roger Farwell and the Waterloo School of Architecture by Rick Halendby, were inspiring and insightful.

A new slate of directors were elected to the board at the AGM. Get to know the current board:

Sam Coghlan, CEO Stratford Public Library
Sam Coghlan has been the CEO at Stratford Public Library (SPL) since 2004. Sam grew up in what is now Thunder Bay and went to school there and in Guelph, Windsor and London. Sam has both LL.B. and MLS degrees. He was Chief Librarian at the Oxford County Library for 16 years. There he developed an interest in rural community development and became involved in local community development initiatives. He has been a strong proponent of public libraries contributing to community development, especially in rural communities. Sam is a member of MCPI’s founding board.

Warren Garret, Executive Director, CCI—The Ontario Presenting Network (Treasurer, MCPI)
Warren Garrett is Executive Director of CCI – the Ontario Presenting Network, an organization devoted to developing leadership in the presenting arts.  Warren has a 30-year management, marketing and communications background in the cultural sector. He served in senior management roles with the Living Arts Centre; Prologue to the Performing Arts; the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra; and Orchestra London Canada.
 
Warren has served on the boards of the Hamilton and Region Arts Council, the Oakville Art Galleries, and the Hamilton Public Relations Association. He served six years on the board of Festival Country (including President) and seven years with the Association of Cultural Executives (three as President).  read more »

I have heard about Culture Days from several people and there is a lot of excitement about this new initiative. The importance of cultural development to municipal cultural planning is clear: we need to create places that people want to live and cultural vitality is essential!

What is Culture Days?
Culture Days is a national campaign and event that is open to all communities and all individuals who believe in making the public aware of the importance of the arts and culture to their lives. Culture Days is also a growing collaboration among Canadian provinces that aims to increase participation and knowledge of arts and cultural activities by all Canadians in their communities. The idea behind Culture Days is to include amateur and professional activities across all geographic and culturally diverse and Aboriginal communities.

When?
The last weekend of each September, individuals, groups and municipalities are invited to provide free opportunities for the public to experience and participate in their particular activity. These can include open houses and demonstrations. This year, Culture Days will take place in Ontario from September 24-26, 2010.

Why do we need Culture Days in Ontario?
Ontario’s arts and cultural communities have been looking for a collective opportunity to work together to promote the value of arts and culture to the people of this province.
Culture Days provides this opportunity!  read more »

Join us for MCPI's first-ever AGM and workshop. While AGM business will be conducted, MCPI is offering a compelling and engaging workshop focused on Waterloo region initiatives that intersect with MCP. Space is limited...so RSVP early!

Topics include:

The Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region
A presentation and dialogue with Roger Farwell on the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region and its connection to MCP.

Design and Architecture: Transforming Mid-sized Cities
An overview of student work from the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture by O'Donovan Director, Rick Haldenby.

Details:

Cocktail Reception
Wednesday, June 9 2010
7:00-9:30
The Bauer Kitchen
187 King Street South, Unit 102,
Waterloo ON
N2J 1R1

AGM & Workshop
Thursday, June 10 2010
8:30-3:00
Council Chambers
Waterloo City Hall
100 Regina Street South
Waterloo, ON
N2J 4A8

Magnetic North Theatre Festival
Kitchener-Waterloo is hosting the Magnetic North Theatre Festival--Canada's national festival of contemporary Canadian theatre in English. The the opportunity to experience the premiere festival of new Canadian theatre.  read more »

I am really looking forward to this upcoming conference. The program looks great and the story of how this conference came to be is a great one too!

This conference came about when a small group of municipal cultural managers conferred at an informal cultural managers meeting and decided that it would be a great opportunity to bring together those invested in the arts and culture while highlighting some of the cultural activities in the near north.  The title “Culture Grows Here” came from discussions around cultivating culture in your own communities and creating opportunities with available resources. A variety of workshops will be presented on May 6th that will appeal to urban planners, economic developers, business persons and cultural managers.

I have known two of the organizers, Claire Loughheed (Town of Oakville) and Onalee Groves (City of Barrie) for a couple of years and they have each delivered excellent presentations at MCP events. When planning the conference, Onalee says that the organizing committee thought about which speakers they would love to hear talk. From there, the put together a great speaker list: Eddie Friel, Laurence Mawhinney, Janis Barlow, Quammie Williams and Craig Metcalf.

For more information visit the conference website here.

From the RFP:

"The Town of Collingwood is seeking the professional services of a Consultant (or consulting team) having experience in the field of cultural mapping. The Consultant will develop a Cultural Map for the geographic region encompassing the Town of Collingwood, Town of BlueMountains, Clearview Township and Wasaga Beach. The Cultural Map will serve as a component of a Regional Economic Development Strategy and provide the foundation for future independent and collaborative municipal cultural planning.

The Cultural Mapping Project is one element of a Regional Economic Development Strategy, the purpose of which is to build upon the assets of the four communities, guide economic development decision making, and facilitate investment attraction and economic growth in the Region. The Project is funded by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade."

The RFP is attached here.

Municipal Cultural Planning Incorporated is seeking a consultant with a proven track record in the research and development of planning and/or mapping guidelines. The consultant’s overall goal will be to produce an easy-to-follow resource providing guidance and direction on the planning and implementation of municipal cultural mapping initiatives. This document will be tailored  to municipal cultural planning stakeholders, elected municipal officials and senior municipal staff. This document will develop introductory guidelines for:
a.    The consolidation and maintenance of cultural resource data based on a defined cultural resource framework
b.    Strategies for connecting municipal policies and plans to cultural mapping in Ontario 
This document should be no more than 20 pages in length. MCPI will be responsible for managing the design, printing and distribution of the document. The document will be professionally designed for print and digital circulation.

Submissions are due to Emily Robson (emily.robson@ontariomcp.ca) by 5:00 on January 4, 2010.

Attached is the full RFP.

This post come from Kate, who attended the Placing Creativity Conference in June and who has been involved in MCP for a number of years.

On June 9-10, some of the best minds in the field of cultural mapping gathered at the MArS Centre in Toronto for the “Placing Creativity” workshop. It was powerful stuff. We were particularly fortunate to have pioneer thinker Colin Mercer on hand, all the way from the U.K..  In reflecting on progress I had made in my understanding of municipal cultural planning and mapping during the event, one of Colin Mercer’s points stood out: Cultural planning is not planning for culture.

“Of course!” I reflected—MCP is about applying cultural resources to address broad civic challenges, it’s about integrating culture into all municipal planning.  We all knew this, yet it was a clarifying statement, a pointed reminder.

While it was an enlightening comment for the practitioners in the room, the statement itself, to any uninitiated person, is simply paradoxical.

It led me to reflect that MCP is burdened by inadequate definitions, explanations and nomenclature. It’s something MCP cogniscenti have to address, if MCP is going to be taken seriously as a part of planning practice in Ontario.

What is MCP?

So what is municipal cultural planning?  read more »

MCPP welcomes Councillor Bill Glover to the Partnership. We are looking forward to having Bill's insight and experience at the MCPP table.

Bill Glover moved to Kingston in 2000 when he retired from the Canadian navy. He was elected to Kingston city council in 2006 for Sydenham District. It is a downtown residential area that includes the main campus of Queen’s University. He obtained his undergraduate degree in History from Queen’s. His MA and PhD are from the University of London (England). He was the editor of The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, a referred journal published by the Canadian Nautical Research Society, for five years. He has published in the areas of Canadian naval history, and the history of navigation and hydrography. He edited Charting Northern Waters for the centenary of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

If you are interested in becoming a Partner, please email emily.robson@ontariomcp.ca

Business for the Arts is launching artsVest in another five Ontario municipalities!  read more »

The City of Thunder Bay has posted an RFP for a Municipal Cultural Plan on their website here. Proposals must be received by 4:00 PM on September 30th. The appendix to the RFP describes the project thus:

"The City of Thunder Bay is requesting the assistance of a Consultant team to develop a Municipal
Cultural Plan. The Plan will consider specific public needs and provide the City with a focus for
future cultural development. Its format and recommendations will be unique to Thunder Bay.
The City of Thunder Bay recognizes the important role of arts and heritage in the community and
is ready to proceed with a process to formally identify and address cultural needs and assets."

Congratulations to Thunder Bay on moving forward with MCP. In April 2007, Thunder Bay was one of three location in north west Ontario for a MCP workshop. It is clear there is a lot of enthusiam and committment to this process in Thunder Bay!