Q: 1.4 Provide a one-sentence summary of your proposed project. If possible, use the format ACTIVITY and DATES. (approximately 25 words, 150 characters) For example, “To offer a mentorship program to emerging artists from day/month to day/month." This summary will be used in the Canada Council’s official reporting. A: To hire part-time staff to oversee cross-sector innovations/collaborations designed to strengthen the Vancouver Island arts ecosystem, Apr22-Mar23 Q: 1.8 What art form(s), style(s), genre(s) and/or expression(s) are most relevant to this application? (approximately 25 words, 150 characters) Some examples include: hip hop, experimental music, theatre for young audiences, throat singing, documentary film, fine craft, new media, circus aerial acrobatics, transdisciplinary arts, Deaf theatre.This information helps the Canada Council collect examples of art forms and practices in Canada and will not be used for assessing your application. A: This project is intended to support those who administrate and facilitate and promote the work of artists of all art forms. Q: 1.9 Describe your proposed activities or services (including timeline), and explain why you wish to undertake them. What needs or gaps are being filled? Who will be the primary beneficiaries? Refer to any research or reports that support undertaking these activities or services. (Project – approximately 750 words, 5000 characters; Composite – approximately 1000 words, 7500 characters). Organizations currently receiving core (operating) grants must explain how the proposed activities or services are exceptional, non-recurring initiatives that fall outside of the type or scope of regular activities. A: Beginning in April 2022, the Steering Committee (SC) will fill two part-time, one-year contract positions: a Strategic Lead, and a Communications Manager (hereafter “the team”). The team will be responsible for maintaining and growing the arts sector network and connections with other sectors; continuing to foster and nurture key relationships within and beyond the arts sector (e.g. ArtsBC, First People’s Cultural Council, Tourism Vancouver Island, Rural Economic Initiatives, Island Coastal Economic Trust, South Island Prosperity Partnership); initiating, implementing and overseeing collaborative projects such as those recommended in the October 2021 Arts Impact Study (digarts.ca/impact). The team will strengthen awareness about the work that is already happening in the arts sector in order to continue to open doors to new collaborations. The goal is to create sector wide change and innovation, to maximize the socio economic impacts and value of the arts—for artists and audiences alike—in the Vancouver Island region and those visiting the region. The timing couldn’t be better as Vancouver Island has just been declared one of the world’s top tourism destinations for 2022. The team will also work to improve digital discoverability within this growing network, and work with partners to develop and enhance information and knowledge sharing systems/structures (i.e. shared databases, and mailing lists) with adherence to privacy best practices. This work is a continuation of the sector’s response to the global pandemic and is enhanced by new levels of understanding of the role arts and culture play in economic and community resilience. This staffing initiative builds on two years of relationship and digital connectivity/capacity building spearheaded by the Digital Innovation Group (digarts.ca), a collaboration of 6 arts councils who have been working together since September 2019. DIG received a multiphase Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund grant in March 2020. DIG’s first discovery when the group started exploring the Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands arts ecosystem was how siloed everything was between arts councils, and between the arts and other sectors such as tourism and economic development. The 4002-21-0235 - {The Old School House Arts Centre} - Version: 20.1500 - 10-2021 experiment of 6 arts councils collaborating quickly started to bear fruit, with members realizing significant benefits. DIG delivered a variety of impactful sectoral initiatives over the following 18 months, completing ground breaking projects and building connections amongst all 25 arts councils in the super-region. This work culminated with a first-ever all-Islands Arts Impact Study conducted by Nordicity (finalized in October 2021). The study data reveals a concentration of creatives 5 times higher than previously thought - with 40,000+ professional and casual creatives (1 in 20 people) in the super-region. The report’s findings make a compelling case for even broader collaboration within and beyond the arts sector, and continued assessment of the region. This impact study is the first step in a process of developing and maintaining vital datasets. DIG tested this premise by hosting a session at the Vancouver Island Economic Summit on October 28, 2021—the first time the arts sector has presented at this forum. The response has been incredibly positive and has initiated conversations with new partners such as Tourism Vancouver Island, the Rural Islands Economic Partnership and the Southern Gulf Islands Tourism Partnership, as well as with unlikely partners such as realtors. Another key finding from the Nordicity report is that the arts sector is seriously underfunded and entirely over-reliant on volunteers—a sharp contrast to the findings that show how considerable the sector’s economic and social impacts are. The Arts Impact Study prepared by Nordicity found that cultural organizations each engaged an average of more than 40 volunteers in 2019. At a per-volunteer average of 120 hours per year and hourly wage of $19.46, the economic contribution can be valued at approximately $115 million. Ironically, this grant proposal has to over-rely on volunteers (in-kind contribution valued at almost $40,000) in order to test the premise that our sector would benefit from paid coordination. Importantly, and in line with Nordicity’s findings, DIG could not have achieved all that it did without relying on several full-time volunteers, and another handful of part-time volunteers in the form of Arts Council Executive Directors doing this work off the side of their desks. The volunteer total hours contributed to DIG between March 2020 and October 2021 is 1851, of which over 1144 was contributed by two de facto project management volunteers, and the balance from DIG members. Project management activities included scheduling and running weekly virtual planning meetings with the 6 DIG members, overseeing the hiring of two project assistants, overseeing one small and one large research contract with consulting firm Nordicity, hiring a digital technology auditor, overseeing engagement by leading a marketing team comprised of volunteers and two paid contractors, personally contacting and building connections with the other 19 arts councils in the Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands super-region, scheduling and running monthly virtual meetings, building and maintaining the project website, sharing current initiatives and lessons learned on topics including board development and capital funds projects. The efforts and results documented to date highlight the following: how hard it is for arts sector leaders to make time for this kind of work (in particular young leaders/leaders with children), this sector’s unsustainable over-reliance on (mostly retired) volunteers, and how transformative collaboration and innovation can be with the right resourcing. The proposed paid positions will take over from where DIG’s full time volunteers left off. They will continue the momentum achieved over the past 2+ years, building and strengthening relationships and partnerships, and exploring opportunities to 4002-21-0235 - {The Old School House Arts Centre} - Version: 20.1500 - 10-2021 reduce duplication and optimize resources. Note: As DIG’s mandate winds down in early 2022, this momentum will continue through an ad hoc group of arts councils and other partners under the umbrella of Creative Coast (creativecoast.ca). The Strategic Lead position will spend 8 hours a week at $40/hr ($16,000). The Communications Manager will work 16 hours/ week @ $30/hour ($24,000). The Communications Manager will report weekly to the Strategic Lead, and monthly to the Steering Committee. Primary beneficiaries of this project include artists/creatives and arts serving organizations.