Simple Purpose
We’re living in the latter part of 2020. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in much of the arts and, in particular, the event-reliant, convening sectors, in general. With the final intake for the Digital Strategy Fund complete as of September 30th, the time is now to connect and consolidate what we all have learned and carry forward. This nation-wide effort is designed to:
- instigate conversations on the digitization of the arts, and what it takes to ensure the majority of benefits flows to artists and creators, not technology companies and consultants.
- be the catalyst for visionary, collaborative initiatives for a thriving Canadian arts and culture eco-system in the digital age and the digital world.
A few Digital Strategy Fund supported initiatives to start…
Making Tomorrow Better (TODAY): Taking Digital Action in the Performing Arts, Atlantic Presenters Association and its partners: Island Mountain Arts/Northern Exposure, BC Touring Council, Manitoba Arts Network, N3. Managed by Inga Petri, Strategic Moves with Tammy Lee, Culture Creates
ThePitch.ca: Digital Showcase for the Performing Arts (website coming soon), Debbie Peters, Magnum Opus Management. Managed by Inga Petri, Strategic Moves, design research Margaret Lam, Bemused Network, Technology lead Amine, Octagram
Public Place Network: Community Access Streaming Network, led by Doug Berquist
DigitalASO, led by Jessa Agilo (ArtsPond) and Margaret Lam (Bemused Network). Inga Petri is the Northern Canada Representative.
ArtsPond hosts several other important digital and equity projects: Research Insights: Designing a cooperative digital future for managing the arts – Hatch Open, Artse United, I Lost my Gig Canada (COVID)
Future Perfect: Developing new models for online, hybrid and physical conference experiences, BC Museums Association & Heritage BC. Managed by Inga Petri, Strategic Moves with Jason Guille, Stream of Consciousness and Lynn Feasey, Points North Consulting.
Culture Creates‘ Artsdata.ca: A National Knowledge graph for the Performing Arts, Tammy Lee
CAPACOA: Linked Digital Future Initiative, Frederic Julien and a team of digital consultants.
Artfinds.me explores new ways including geo-location to connect audiences with the visual art, Managed by Jenny Farkas.
Digital Innovation Group/Vancouver Island, Arts Council of Ladysmith & District and partners. Managed by Lynda Baker
What’s your Project
Here is a rudimentary beginning that will grow and cross reference the work, the people and organizations involved. Ultimately, this should turn into a full database tool as an increasing number of people and organizations across the arts and culture sectors are involved in digital projects.
My hope is that this will help us connect to each other and learn from each other as a community of digital activators and activists.
Background on the Initiative
Since our initial explorations during The Value of Presenting: A Study of Performing Arts Presentation in Canada (©2011-2013; CAPACOA/Strategic Moves), we’ve worked to galvanize an important conversation about our digital future in the performing arts sector.
In January 2015 Inga Petri (Strategic Moves) gave a seminal presentation at CAPACOA’s national conference on Breaking the Fifth Wall: Digitizing the Performing Arts. This presentation set out the challenges of the digital world for content providers and intermediaries and proposed a compelling vision of a digital future where the Canadian performing arts sector owns a new generation digital distribution platforms. Interest in digital innovation and the need for a comprehensive study and, ultimately, a digital action plan, was solidified at CAPACOA’s national conference in November 2015, resulting into the formation of the Digital Innovation Council for the Performing Arts.
In October 2020, Inga took the initiative to organize a conversation to bring together digital consultants, developers and project managers to share information and insights about their work under the new banner of Digital Innovation Council for Arts and Culture.
Report
(with funding by Canadian Heritage)
Contact
Inga Petri, Strategic Moves
Digital Innovation Council for Arts and Culture
Mobile (Canada-wide):
(613) 558-8433
ipetri (at) strategicmoves dot com
Location
Whitehorse, Yukon
Y1A 3B7
Your host
Inga Petri, researcher, business strategist and marketing planner. Independent consultant operating nationally from Whitehorse, Yukon, with a 28-year record of impact in arts and culture across Canada.