Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO)

Town Hall On Pluralism In The Arts
Aboriginal and Ethno-Racial Communities In Ottawa and Implications for Arts and Culture

Thursday September 20, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM
219 Argyle Avenue, Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership

The Ottawa community is changing and there are increasing signs of this in the growth of Aboriginal and ethno-racial communities. To address this, several arts organizations in Ottawa have come together to discuss these changes and what they mean to promoting arts and culture in the Ottawa region. Together with Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO), such organizations as MASC (Multicultural Arts in Schools and Communities), Coalition of New Canadians for Arts and Culture, the Ottawa Art Gallery, Shenkman Centre for the Arts and Centre Point Theatre, One World Dialogue, CARFAC National, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership and others are hosting at TOWN HALL ON PLURALISM IN THE ARTS: ABORIGINAL AND ETHNO-RACIAL COMMUNITIES IN OTTAWA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ARTS AND CULTURE.

This Town Hall will provide an opportunity for Ottawa artists and arts organizations to discuss these changes in the Ottawa region and to share strategies for engaging these communities and building audiences for and from them.

This first Town Hall will focus on the characteristics of Aboriginal and ethno-racial communities and relationship to community engagement and audience development. This full day session will involve presentations by Cathy Shepertycki (City of Ottawa Cultural Services), Professor Brian Ray (University of Ottawa) and Jerry Longboat (Artistic Director Circadia Indigena). These panellists will address issues related to Aboriginal communities and their engagement in the arts as well as on ethno-racial and immigrant communities, their interests in the arts and their social capital. This will be followed by facilitated discussions on the importance and extent of community-based organizations in Aboriginal and ethno-racial communities and how to work with them.

In this session, participants will receive information related to the changing numbers and compositions of communities across Ontario related to:

1) What has happened and will continue to happen in terms of the numerical growth and areas of settlement of these communities;
2) The implications/significance of these changes in terms of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives;
3) The key characteristics of these growing communities, particularly in terms of cultural interests/retention and how this might lead to programming, employment and marketing opportunities;
4) The social capital of these communities and some geographic mapping of them as well.
An all day session (9:30 – 4:30), the presentations will take place in the morning. In the afternoon, there will be facilitated workshops to carry through this discussion further and to learn from each other what artists and arts organizations are doing to connect with these growing communities, what’s working and where there is need for assistance. This will set the stage for future workshops aimed at developing strategies for Ottawa arts organizations to connect with Aboriginal and ethno-racial communities in the Ottawa Region.

Registration begins on Tuesday September 4th and ends on Tuesday September 18th. The cost is $25 general admission and includes refreshments and lunch. The costs for students and the under-employed is $15.00 and for those who bring their own lunch, the session is free of charge.
To Register: http://ottawatownhall.eventbrite.ca
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