ArtsBC to offer local 'sustainability' workshop for local arts and culture groups

ArtsBC, with support from Canadian Heritage/Patrimoine canadien and the BC Arts Council present the BC Arts Sustain­ability Semesters, a goal-oriented program designed to increase the capacity of BC’s non-profit arts and cultural organizations. The purpose is to help organizations make progress toward increasing their economic sustainability and viability.

Project advisors include the BC Touring Counciland the Centre for Sustainability. ArtsBC is also working with arts organi­zations in host communities around the province to present this project.

What are Sustainability Semesters?

The Sustainability Semesters involves six face-to-face regional sessions that will be presented starting in September 2011 to April 2012. Each Semester includes a one and half day face-to-face learning event led by a team of experts with specialized knowledge in the field of non-profit arts and culture. As well, local experts will be invited to participate as part of the content team. The content of each session will be customized based on the challenges and issues identified by participants in each region.

In addition to being a learning event, participants will establish new goals and begin to develop plans that will contribute to their organization’s sustainability.

As part of the Sustainability Semester, participants will:

• Consider what a sustainable non-profit arts or cultural organization looks like;

• Explore why good governance, solid planning and skillful management are important to the sustainability of any organization;

• Learn how to identify where they are at in terms of their lifecycle;

• Improve practices in the areas of financial management, reporting, planning and proposal writing;

• Learn how to effectively communi­cate goals;

• Learn about what ‘unwritten’ rel­evant resources or partners may exist in their local communities and/or regions;

Following the face-to-face opportunities, the content team will provide ongoing support through one-on-one coaching, an on-line fo­rum and follow-up conference calls. Through this process, organizations will begin to address their challenges, and improve their planning to meet their new goals.

Throughout the Semester, participants will have exclusive access to training and resource materials including toolkits, templates, case studies, and a current list of relevant funding opportunities.

Who should participate (it's free!)?

Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is free for representatives from BC’s not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations. Please note we currently accept on-line registrations only. Seating is limited.

We highly encourage arts and cultural organizations to register a minimum of two representatives, preferably three people per organization. The Semesters are more likely to have a positive impact if more than one person from the organization attends.

The Sustainability Semesters are suitable for staff, board and volunteers from both professional and non-professional, not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations including but not limited to representa­tives from:

• Artist cooperatives

• Arts centres

• Arts councils including regional arts councils

• Arts presenters including festivals and concert societies

• Arts facility managers

• Arts service organizations

• First Nations arts and heritage organi­zations

• Francophone arts organizations

• Museum and galleries

• Heritage and literary organizations

• Performing arts groups

WHY ATTEND?

• To refresh what you learned long ago

• To learn something new

• To connect with your colleagues

• To build and strengthen your network

For more information or to register visit: www.artsbc.org/resources/professional-development/sustainability-semesters

This article is a press release from ArtsBC.