Julianna Yau’s blog

Below are the handouts and my notes from the spOtlight 2009 info session. Thanks to the OAC for sending me the files!

Handouts

• Highlights from the Celebrate our Artists Weekend June 6-8, 2008 (doc, pdf)
• Celebrate our Artists Weekend: Participant Overview (doc, pdf)
• spOtlight: Proposal Tips (doc, pdf)

My Notes from the info session

General notes

• keeping 2009 as pilot, rather than moving to other cities
• weekend of 1st weekend in June is arbitrary; not sure why it was selected, but it’s in the Status of the Artist legislation; OAC still working on dates
• spOtlight is the beginning of “micro grants” –> OAC may develop new set of ongoing micro grants in the future
• growth of spOtlight –> can’t get the promotional support to move to other cities
• Globe Studios was bouncing off the walls, but other events were not as well attended
• application forms for the 2009 session should be available by mid-January

Application process

• 1-paragraph description of what you’re going to do; focus on audience participation; involvement builds appreciation
• viability; something that doesn’t take much time; 2-3 hours was too much; people want to go to many different studios and plan their day (note: some, such as Majestic Mud Studios, indicated that their longer sessions were fully booked)
• consider issues of safety
• exciting and fun
• summary should not be art-speak; something to interest people; clear explanation of what they will do and how they will interact with you; end results in brochure were from a lot of back-and-forth between OAC and artists; an ad for your event

• budget –> keep it simple
• artist fees –> suggested $200-$400 per day, depending on how much work was required for the event and the prep work and the expertise required
• materials –> how many people you can accommodate in total, multiplied by the cost of material per person
• equipment –> equipment rentals
• venue rental
• technician fees, etc
• balanced budget –> if you are getting money from other sources, must indicate to OAC where that’s coming from (e.g. donations, in kind service); can ask OAC for full amount
• can’t include advertising costs (flyers, posters, etc); OAC already funding advertising for the event and it is included in their overall budget; advertising will not be paid

• final report required
• get receipts! (for everything except artist fees)
• payment made out to the name on the grant; use a name that can be used for cashing the cheque!

• location! if it changes, let the OAC know if it changes
• ditto for time
• age range for events (can be all ages); include in brochure with location and times

• need to be available to discuss your proposal
• leave your first and last name and phone number if you’re calling!

• needs to be a special event just for spOtlight
• can’t be part of your regular programing; can start with spOtlight and keep as regular programing afterwards (can also apply for funding from OAC afterwards)

• if people need to register ahead of time, let the OAC know so they can publish the restriction
• ensure the OAC knows what information may be published (phone number, address, email address, etc)
• if your mailing address is not the same as the activity address, ensure the OAC is notified clearly of the two addresses and which is the activity address

Question period

• adult-only programing is okay, but needs to be clearly indicated
• can be for one day only, multiple days or the whole weekend
• your program info will also be on the OAC website
• all four mayors (Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph) were very supportive
• can do the same thing in 2009 as 2008
• very grey line on the issue of “regular programing”; e.g. KW Symphony‘s regular programing is an event, but allowing people to attend the rehearsal would be different (my recommendation: contact the OAC if unsure!)
• issues of sustainability for where to host spOtlight; already approached by potential sponsor; considering changes to the current model
• looking into creating Facebook account or other hub for people to facilitate finding space; problem is that some municipalities (e.g Cambridge) are firewalled from Facebook
• use municipalities! Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge are happy to help; will put info on website for OAC
• 2009 dates are set; looking at possibility of moving in 2010
• artist must be an Ontario resident to get funding from the OAC
• selection process –> viability; audience-participatory; must take place during spOtlight event; must be free to public; must be new and initiated for spOtlight; must be geographically to spOtlight event; must have artist fee paid; AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION; not juried the same way the grants are
• event must be local; will decline artists from outside of Waterloo, Kitchener, Stratford and Cambridge (can’t just rent space here)
• people are welcome to start spOlight in their own cities cities
• artists allowed to include spOtlight and other sponsors on their self-funded ads
• artists within the 4 cities can have event in other cities within 4 cities (e.g. artist in Waterloo can have their event in Cambridge)

More questions? Contact the OAC!

Tags: art, arts administration, cambridge, Canada, culture, guelph, kitchener, ontario arts council, resources, waterloo