Well, so much for Autumn. If you blinked, you missed it. A thought today for our fellow Albertans out on the farms, who after much hard work all spring and summer, now look at crops sitting under snow and wonder if they’ll manage to harvest anything worth taking to market. They have much more in common with professional Artists than you might think. We too put everything we’ve got into creating a painting, a dance, a song – and then hope against hope that our work will find an audience.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton (PACE) is about to undergo a transformation. At the PACE Annual General Meeting, scheduled for Monday, November 19th, at Workshop West Theatre, the members will be called on to approve a new mission statement that reflects a narrowly focused mandate, new bylaws, and a new Board of Directors. The recommendations being put forward at the AGM come out of the facilitated strategic workshop held at the Jubilee Auditorium September 26th, at which an outstanding group of professional arts administrators and artists spent the day hammering out a workable new plan for PACE. Our sincere thanks to Marci Sharlé, Community Development facilitator with Alberta Culture and Tourism, for running the workshop.

For those of you who don’t know, PACE has been running into an increasing problem in recent years: fewer volunteers showing up to support PACE activities and growing difficulties in raising money to maintain PACE operations. So, to address this in a positive manner, we’re proposing that PACE stick to a couple of things it does well and otherwise strip the organization down to basics. PACE would continue to organize and run the #YEGVotesArts campaign in advance of every municipal election, and it would continue to organize and host the popular PACE Salons, the forums for public discussion on issues that are important to the professional Arts community in our city. That would be it. If you want a say at the AGM, make sure your membership is up to date and show up for the meeting.

PACE SALONS

Speaking of our popular Salons, PACE has two Salons scheduled for this month that we believe you will find most interesting.

The first Salon is in partnership with the Citadel Theatre as it launches its new World Café series. This animated coffee house discussion will centre on the topic “Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation: The Artist’s Dilemma.” It will be held the evening of Monday, October 22nd, from 5:30 – 7:00 PM in the Tucker Amphitheatre of the Citadel Theatre. We’ve heard so much about this topic but not always in a context that helps the Artist work their way through their own creative process when the subject matter begins to include material from cultures other than their own. And, in a multi-cultural society like our own, we’re rubbing up against each other’s influences all the time. So how do we tackle Cultural Appropriation in the most healthy, respectful manner possible? Your experiences make up the Café so we hope to see you there.

The second Salon, just a week later, will feature executive director of the Edmonton Arts Council, Sanjay Shahani, talking about Connections & Exchanges: A 10 Year Plan to Transform Arts and Heritage in Edmonton. Mr. Shahani will have just presented the plan to city council the week previous. The Salon will be held from 5:30 – 7:00 PM, Monday, October 29th, at The Aviary 9314 111 Ave, Edmonton.

Many happy creations…

Ken Davis

Chair, PACE

 

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