ELAN News, April 2023

Letter from the Executive Director

Hello Spring,

I hope all our ELAN members are happily enjoying the longer days, the stronger sunshine and the feeling of hope that surviving yet another winter bring us all.

After all, if you can survive February, you can do anything, so yay us!

We are hiring! Our State of the Arts on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion project is looking for a new project manager, please check it out and get in touch if you think you are suited to the role and want to learn more.

If you haven’t participated in any of our Creative Care workshops that are designed to help artists with various possible mental health issues, check out the list of available workshops. We intend to keep this series up so if you can’t join any of the April meetings please keep an eye on our socials for the new ones coming.

I think that is all the news on our end – I hope you are having a creative and sunny spring!

Vanessa

Québec Relations: Culture in the Schools Repertoire Online Drop-In Q&A

Are you new to the Culture in the Schools Repertoire and wondering how to get started with pitching your workshops and generating new opportunities? Have you been in the Repertoire, but find yourself looking for ways to connect with more schools? ELAN’s Québec Relations project can help! Join us from 9 to 11 AM on Tuesday, April 11 for an online drop-in Q&A session to find out how you can better promote your workshop offerings and make the Repertoire a bigger part of your work in the classroom.

ELAN’s Louise Campbell and Nick Maturo will be on hand via Zoom to answer questions and discuss strategies for artists looking to create more opportunities through the Repertoire in the future. You can also learn how to request a free one-on-one coaching session for Repertoire artists with Louise offered through Québec Relations. Please click here to fill out our registration form to receive the Zoom link for this session.

Prior to joining us for this drop-in session, we ask that you click here to watch and review our previous webinar for an overview of the Culture in the Schools program and a discussion of basic strategies for artists in the Repertoire.

Land Acknowledgement

ELAN is an official minority language organization within a country that recognizes two languages as official. ELAN is located in Tiohtià:ke, the original name for Montreal in Kanien’kéha, the language of the Mohawk—also known as Mooniyang, which is the Anishinaabeg name given to the city by the Algonquin. While we are based in this city, our projects have also taken place in many regions across Quebec.

We acknowledge the colonial origin of English and French in Canada, and recognize that both languages benefit from official status throughout the land. The province that we know as Quebec is an amalgamation of the traditional territories of the Innu and Inuit nations, Algonquian nations, as well as the Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kanien’kéha and Anishinaabemowin are but two of the original languages of this province; Atikamekw, Cree, Inuktitut, and Innu-aimun are also among the many Indigenous languages spoken across Quebec as majority languages, all well before French and English.

ELAN acknowledges the important work being done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to revive the traditional languages of these territories, and their advocacy for the official status of Indigenous languages.