ELAN Project News October 2023
Letter from the Interim Executive Director
Halloween is still a few weeks away, but October is already shaping up to be a positively monstrous month for ELAN!
First for anyone who hasn’t already registered, we hope to see you at Day 2 of our State of the Arts: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion conference on October 4th. The meeting will take place from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Centre culturel Georges-Vanier and build on Day 1, during which presented our EDI Community Action Plan. Day 2 will bring together artists and organizations for an engaging day of learning, knowledge-sharing and group discussions, with the ultimate goal of ratifying the revised community action plan, including feedback received during Day 1. Register today if you haven’t already.
On October 19th, we’ll be joined by Compétence Culture for the launch of the English-language version of their Cultural Human Resources Action Plan 2023-2028. The Action Plan, which launched last March after an extensive community consultation period in which ELAN participated, is an ambitious plan to address the urgent need to improve working conditions for artists and cultural workers in Quebec through concrete actions in the coming years. ELAN is extremely pleased to have been able to work with Compétence Culture on the document’s translation, and we hope you’ll join us via Zoom on October 19 for an in-depth presentation of the plan for the English-speaking community.
We’re also putting the finishing touches on two new legal workshops for artists and organizations presented through our partnership with Éducaloi, which will take place at the end of the month. Stay tuned for more news and the opportunity to register.
Last but certainly not least, we’ve got a spoooooky Halloween-themed karaoke schmoozer at the Community Digital Arts Hub. Better start working on your costume now!
Wishing you more treats than tricks and a productive month ahead.
Nick Maturo,
Interim Executive Director of ELAN
State of the Arts on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
After wrapping up a comprehensive and insightful research and outreach phase in spring 2023, we’re now very excited to be nearing our big milestone of phase 2 of State of the Arts on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – the conference! We hope the community will join us in big numbers on October 4th for the second day of the conference. We had a great start to the conference on September 27th for the virtual event and look forward to continuing the conversation in person.
This two-day event represents an important and timely opportunity for the English-language arts, culture and heritage community to come together for dialogue around Equity Diversity and Inclusion issues, as well as for ELAN to present the community action plan we have developed, based on data gleaned from surveys and targeted consultation. Ultimately, our goal is to foster healthy and productive discussions around EDI challenges and solutions in our sector, and ensure the community action plan moves forward with clear support and concrete next steps.
Click here to register for the free conference
Click here to read the Community Action Plan
Last chance to register for Creative Care: Supporting artists’ mental health
ELAN ArtEd is excited to call for artists to participate in the Creative Care series, a project Funded by the Community Health And Social Services Network (CHSSN), the Creative Care series aims to support the mental health and well-being of artists in Quebec through a series of workshops and events offered by health professionals and community members. The project draws on a variety of approaches to well-being and healing practices to offer resources for artists to engage in self care, community care, and build their creative capacity.
Five online workshops will be offered online between October 2023 and February 2024 by facilitators social worker and film maker Alyssa Kuzmarov, music therapist Andy MacDonald, musician and Alexander Technique teacher Ariana Pedrosa and art therapist Emmanuelle Meunier. Participation is free of charge. READ ON for more details and apply HERE by October 5, 2023 to participate.
Year 5 ArtistsInspire School Grant Applications are Open!
Do you know of teachers and schools interested in developing their students’ creativity? ArtistsInspire School Grants provides $1500 to cover the costs of bringing Teaching Artists into classrooms! We work hard to connect schools, teachers, students and professional Artists for in-person and virtual Arts & Culture experiences in English public elementary and secondary schools across Quebec. In the 2022-23 school year alone, we reached approximately 17,000 students.
Please share this link with any schools and teachers you know who may be interested.
Community Digital Arts Hub in the Regions & Upcoming Eventss
We are excited to announce we have launched a new initiative to work with artists and arts, culture and heritage organizations outside of Montreal! Together, these activities will give access to tailored resources that will increase the capacity to produce high-quality content for creation, promotion, artistic expression, and digital archiving.
CDAH in the Regions is an extension of the services of the Hub in Montreal and offers partnerships with arts, culture and heritage organizations located in these regions to offer technical support, training, capacity-building workshops, paid internship opportunities, and mentorship circles related to digital media.
Get in touch: community@cdahstudio.ca
Coming up at The Hub
October 23, 2023 – 6-7:30 PM Online Workshop – Podcast 101 with guest facilitator Tom Zalatnai. Registration details here!
October 25, 2023 – 12-1:30 PM Free Virtual Event – Producer’s Panel moderated by CBC’s Aimee Louw, with participation from producers at CBC, NFB and QEPC (Quebec English Language Producer’s Council). Register here.
November 2023 CDAH in the Regions Digital Launch. Date TBC.
What We Choose To Remember reaches 35!
ELAN’s documentary film What We Choose To Remember celebrated its 35th public screening during a September tour of West Quebec, the Magdalen Islands and Gaspésie. Director Guy Rex Rodgers animated lively post-screening conversations with audiences, and QAHN assisted with live streaming the public presentations in Grosse Ile and New Carlisle.
The Secretariat For Relations with English-speaking Quebeckers has confirmed funding for a promotional project that comprises two components. ELAN will work with educators to incorporate What We Choose To Remember into the high school history curriculum. We will also seek ways to share the new subtitled French version Ce qu’on choisit de ce souvenir with Francophone media and audiences. Both versions of the film can be viewed on YouTube via the film’s website https://whatwechoosetoremember.ca/
Québec Relations Funding Consultations
Coming up on the fall, the Québec Relations program has been busy with consultations!
If you are an artist or artist organization looking for help applying to any of the Quebec arts funders, check out all QR has to offer. On the ELAN website, browse the QR platform to check out all the funding opportunities in the province. If you need help finding the right grant for your project, email research@quebec-elan.org to book a free consultation, and after they can set you up with one of their grant advisors to work on your application. All QR services are free of charge!
This November, Québec Relations is hosting a webinar at Literacy Quebec for their members. This professional development session will focus on avenues their members can explore when seeking funding for their projects, and they can access the QR platform.
