Art publishing advocacy work begun years ago has recently culminated in the production of a letter to Simon Brault, Canada Council’s new CEO, signed by over 70 individuals from the art publishing community. The letter is the outcome of a networking meeting held in Montreal November 7-8, 2014, where a loose knit group of independent cultural producers, directors of artist-run centres and university art galleries among others proposed to work under the umbrella of TXT – The Canadian Art Publishing Network / Le réseau canadien de l’édition en art.

Montréal, January 29, 2015 – On January 20th, the Canada Council for the Arts held its Annual Public Meeting, and announced sweeping changes to the existing granting program to be implemented by 2017. Notably, the announcement proposes a reduction of the number of grant programs administered by Council from 142 to fewer than 10. To »»

On October 19-20, ARCA will attend the 9th annual National Arts Service Organisations meeting taking place in Ottawa in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. This year’s organizing committee – including ARCA again this year – has built on last year’s success by planning a two-day meeting which affords more opportunity for participants to share expertise and network with peers and funders. This year’s meeting’s focus is on research initiatives in the arts sector.

In a conference call on Wednesday September 10, 2014 with the members of the Visual Arts Alliance (VAA), Sylvie Gilbert, head of the Visual Arts Section of the Canada Council for the Arts, announced a major consultation initiative on the Council’s operating program. There will be 11 regional meetings each with approximately 20 individuals in »»

The members of the Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference met recently to debrief the results of the latest Artist-Run Centres multi-year operating program peer evaluation for 2014-2017. The following is an overview of their observations and the basis for further discussions and actions.

On Oct. 20-21, ARCA President Todd Janes, and Director Anne Bertrand, along with over 70 individuals representing National arts service organisations (NASO), attended the annual meeting with The Canada Council for the Arts. Extended by one day, the meeting’s agenda offered perspectives on the current situation at Council, a presentation of the new organisational development assistance program called Leadership for Change, a presentation on available web-based organisational development resources, a presentation of results of a survey polling NASOs on the services offered to their membership as well as their interest and motivation to meet yearly.

As already mentioned in previous communications, Canada Council is planning a review of its operating program across all disciplines. As part of this review process, and in order to allow emerging organisations greater access to operating funding, Council has directed each section to empower staff and juries to recommend adjustments of up to 20% without fair notice. In response to this announcement, ARCA sent the following letter to Anne Valois, the Director of Arts Disciplines Division, in the period during the absence of a Head of Visual Arts Section.

Todd Janes, President and Anne Bertrand, Director attended a day-long meeting on October 22nd with fellow National Arts Service Organizations and the Canada Council for the Arts.

On the agenda, a conversation on the topic of “change” as outlined in the news release of October 10th 2012. This was followed by small group discussions on how the “change” agenda can contribute to reinforcing public engagement with the arts.

(Montreal, May 22, 2012) The Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference(ARCA) welcomes the publication of the Burgess Report, a study titled The Distinct Role of Artist-Run Centres in the Visual Arts Ecology by MDR Burgess Consultants. Commissioned by the Research and Evaluation Section of Canada Council for the Arts, the study’s goal is to provide the Canada Council, and by extension, the visual arts milieu, with a deeper understanding of the roles and characteristics of artist-run centres (ARCs).