Toronto, December 17, 2009 – After two years as a pilot project,
spOtlight has concluded. The Ministry of Culture is examining how best to expand the notion of a free participatory arts festival in communities across Ontario. The
Ontario Arts Council (OAC) was pleased to collaborate with the Ministry of Culture on the spOtlight initiative.
The spOtlight: Celebrate Our Artists! weekend in June was meant to encourage an appreciation of the arts and their significance to communities. The goal was to help artists and arts organizations connect to new audiences through public activities and events that shone a spotlight on the creative process.
Although the Ministry of Culture and OAC will not be organizing a spOtlight festival in 2010, we are all committed to the spirit of spOtlight and encourage you to continue to build on the connections made during the last two years to promote an appreciation and understanding of the arts and celebrate the artists who live in our communities.
A national movement entitled Culture Days is set to launch across the country in September 2010. More information will be available over the coming months at www.culturedays.ca.
Background
In 2008 and in 2009, the communities of
Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo and Stratford were selected as the pilot sites for
spOtlight, the first Celebrate Our Artists! weekend in June.
spOtlight was funded by the provincial
Ministry of Culture, and was produced by the
Ontario Arts Council. It was loosely modeled on Quebec’s
Journées de la culture.
If you have questions, please contact
Geneviève Vallerand, Communications Coordinator, Ontario Arts Council at gvallerand@arts.on.ca
416-969-7434 / 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7434 (toll-free in Ontario).
Kirsten Gunter, Director of Communications at kgunter@arts.on.ca or at 416-969-7403 / 1-800-387-0058 ext. 7403 (toll-free in Ontario).