Titles of presentations are found in the Programme.
Speaker biographies in order of appearance.

Keynote: Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and human resources. Now based in Los Angeles, he has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, and with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, not-for-profit corporations, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. These include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J.  Paul Getty Trust, and the Education Commission of the States. For ten years he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in England and is now Professor Emeritus.

In 1998, Sir Ken Robinson led a national commission on creativity, education, and the economy for the UK Government, bringing together leading business people, scientists, artists, and educators. His report, All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report), was published to huge acclaim. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education, enterprise, and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, Unlocking Creativity, was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education, and cultural leaders across the Province. He was one of four international advisors to the Singapore Government for its strategy to become the creative hub of South East Asia. His latest book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Wiley-Capstone), is described by Director magazine as “a truly mind opening analysis of why we don’t get the best out of people at a time of punishing change.” In 2005, he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN’s Principal Voices. In 2003, Ken Robinson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts.

Plenary Presentation: Y. Raj Isar, Professor, Cultural Policy Studies, Department of Global Communications, The American University of Paris
Yudhishthir Raj Isar is President of Culture Action Europe (previously called European Forum for the Arts and Heritage), Jean Monnet Professor of Cultural Policy Studies at the American University of Paris, Maître de Conférences at the Institut d’Études Politiques (Sciences Po), and co-founder and Managing Editor of the Cultures and Globalization project. As an independent cultural advisor, Raj also writes and lectures on many different cultural issues. He is a member of the Board of the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva), London; of the Founding Advisory Board of the Global Center for Cultural Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Santa Fe; Special Advisor to the Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi; and International Advisor to Aid to Artisans Inc., to the World Bank’s Development Gateway, and to the UN Special Unit for South-South Cooperation. He has also been a Special Advisor to the World Monuments Fund and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Fitzcarraldo Foundation (Turin), as well as a consultant to the European Commission, the Organization of American States, and the European Cultural Foundation. 

Previously, at UNESCO, Raj was Executive Secretary of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Director of the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, and Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly Museum. In 1986 – 1987 he was Executive Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, he received a BA in Economics (Honours) at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and a Maîtrise in Sociology at the Sorbonne, and did post-graduate studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Bilingual presentation

Joyce Zemans, CM, Director, MBA Program in Arts and Media Administration, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto
Senior Scholar and University Professor Emeritus, art historian, curator, and arts administrator, Joyce Zemans is the Director of the MBA Program in Arts and Media Administration in York University’s Schulich School of Business. She has served as Director of the Canada Council for the Arts (1988 – 1992), Dean of York’s Faculty of Fine Arts (1985– 1988), and Chair of the Department of Visual Arts (1975 – 1981). From 1966 – 1975, she taught at the Ontario College of Art where she directed the Liberal Art Studies Program. Joyce’s research and teaching focus on both art history and cultural policy, with specific reference to the Canadian experience. In cultural policy, her publications include Where is Here? Canadian Cultural Policy in a Globalized Environment (Robarts Centre 1996) and Comparing Cultural Policy: A Study of Japan and the United States (AltaMira 1999). Joyce has received honorary degrees from the University of Waterloo and the Nova Scotia College of Art and she is an Honorary Fellow of the Ontario College of Art and Design.  

Graeme Evans, Professor, Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University
Graeme Evans is Director of the Cities Institute, a cross-disciplinary research institute combining architecture/urban design, urban policy, economic development, transport, and regeneration with an emphasis on city cultures and sustainable development. He has been leading a national research project developing a Cultural Planning Toolkit, funded by HM Treasury, part of their Creating Cultural Opportunities for Sustainable Communities project. This work draws on planning models and approaches developed worldwide, including Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. The project is being launched this summer under the Living Places initiative. With Professor Meric Gertler, University of Toronto, Graeme also led Creative Spaces: Strategies for Creative Cities, a joint project between London and Toronto. This led to the adoption of Creative Toronto and Creative Hubs strategies by the respective cities. He is currently completing a three-year study of Sustainable Cities/City Growth under a Foundation for Canadian Studies award, based on a comparison of Montréal, Toronto, and UK cities.

Stephen Brennan, Director of Marketing and Strategy, Digital Hub Development Agency, Dublin
With both a commercial and academic background, Dr. Stephen Brennan has a wide range of experience in enterprise, research, and learning which reflects the diversity of the Digital Hub project. He has worked on developing programs that bring together the creative and technical aspects of Digital Media. With exhibits, seminars, workshops, and conferences, he has successfully created a significant dialogue between creatives and technologists. The Digital Hub is a rapidly growing digital media cluster with over 90 companies, located in the centre of Ireland's capital city, Dublin. The Digital Hub is not only involved in enterprise development but attracts artists, researchers, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs, and consumers. The Digital Hub is to be delivered on a phased basis up to 2012, and the project is managed by the Digital Hub Development Agency. Established in 2003, the Digital Hub Development Agency implements some of the most radical enterprise and social development strategies so far attempted by the Irish Government.

Andrew Bullen, Director, Media Guild, Amsterdam
The Media Guild is a new cross-disciplinary incubator environment and centre of innovation for the creative media industries in Amsterdam. Andrew Bullen’s past work combines the creative media industry, arts, and education. He held directorships and senior management positions with Europe Online, Luxembourg and T-Online, Darmstadt, in addition to several years as an independent media consultant for large business corporations in Southern France, and for EU digital media and educational programs. Andrew has taught literature and media at universities in the UK, East and West Berlin, and the Netherlands. He has many publications in the area of journalism, media, and fiction, including the media fantasy and doom scenario 2015: brave new artist... or Z., a future tragedy, part 1?.

Vladimir Skok, Director, eCulture, Department of Canadian Heritage, Gatineau
Vladimir Skok has focused some 20 years of his public sector career on the advancement, research, and development of cultural policy in Canada and abroad. His work as Director of eCulture for the Department of Canadian Heritage includes overseeing Canada's cultural portal, www.culture.ca, and the Canadian Cultural Observatory and its award-winning interactive hub, www.culturescope.ca. Previously, he served as Director of International Relations for the Department of Canadian Heritage, where he helped establish the ministerial International Network on Cultural Policy, which spearheaded a New International Instrument on Cultural Diversity. As a cultural policy expert, he served on the UN-UNESCO World Commission on Cultural Development, under former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez De Cuellar in Paris, which produced the landmark 1996 report Our Creative Diversity.

Dave Peebles, Marketing Manager, Custard Factory, Birmingham
Dave Peebles has been employed by Bennie Gray and the Space Organization since 1993 with two Birmingham-based projects, the Custard Factory and the Big Peg. His primary role in very simple terms is to find interesting, creative people and companies to fill the Custard Factory’s equally unique spaces. Since 1989, the Custard Factory has helped develop and nurture creative companies in Birmingham, attracting businesses from all over the UK to relocate to the city. A buzzing hub of creativity, it is now home to more than 350 creative individuals and organizations, with over 800 people employed within the complex. The Custard Factory has helped catalyse Birmingham’s creative renaissance and sought to complement the creative industries strategies developed by the region’s key funders. The Custard Factory has grown to support the incredible success of creative business in the city and by the time all seven phases are complete, this £50-million, part EU-funded project will accommodate in excess of 2000 people, making it the largest independent media hub in Europe. 

Jason Alsop, Operations Manager, Haida Heritage Centre at Quy’llnagaay, Haida Gwaii (Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands, BC)
Jason Alsop is responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs and staff supervision at the Haida Heritage Centre. A member of the T’saalth Eagle clan, Jason grew up in Skidegate surrounded by Haida art, song, and dance, entrenching a deep interest and general understanding of Haida art’s formline system and the accompanying myths and legends. Jason attended post-secondary education at Vancouver’s Langara College and received a diploma in Business Management. During college, Jason served as a director of the Bill Reid Foundation for two years. A unique combination of upbringing in the matriarchal clan system of Haida Gwaii, exposure to the visual and performing Haida art forms, formal education, board experience, and on-the-job experience have provided a diverse and well-rounded perspective into the complexities and challenges of developing culturally relevant and significant First Nations museums and cultural centres. 

Miles G. Richardson, CEO, Haida Heritage Centre at Quy’llnagaay, Haida Gwaii  (Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands, BC)
A citizen of the Haida Nation, Miles Richardson grew up among his people on Haida Gwaii, attended high school in Prince Rupert, BC, and in 1979 received a BA in Economics from the University of Victoria. From 1984 to 1996 he served as President of the Council of the Haida Nation, and was BC’s Chief Treaty Commissioner from 1998 to 2004.

Raymond Picard, General Director, Wendake Tourism Industry and Tourism Wendake/Deputy Director, Huron-Wendat Nation Council, Québec
A graduate of Laval University, Raymond Picard holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology as well as a Masters of Business Administration. An active member of the Huron-Wendat Nation, he has held various positions in First Nations’ public administration, organizations, and commissions. Notably, he has been Chief delegate of the Huron-Wendat Nation; has worked as Director of the Economic Development, Technical Services, and Land and Housing Departments; and has served as Co-President of the Regional Management of Québec’s First Nations Commission, as well as President of the First Nations Economic Development Commission of Québec and Labrador. Raymond has been actively involved in major projects in Wendake, including the revitalization of Old Wendake and the implementation of Wendake’s tourism industry (such as the museum-hotel and amphitheatre projects). He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Quebec City’s 400^th Anniversary celebrations.

Anne Bérubé, Director, Huron-Wendat Museum, Québec
Anne Bérubé, a graduate of Laval University, holds a degree in Anthropology. Over the past 25 years, she has worked in the fields of museology and heritage, and has been involved in planning, administration, concept development, and research, as well as conservation projects. She has also collaborated on numerous research projects on behalf of various First Nations communities, notably the Council of the Huron-Wendat Nation, the Parc Jacques-Cartier project, and the Maison Tsawenhohi. She has been the president of Muséoconseil, a museology consulting firm specialized in collections management, since 1992. In 2006, the Council of the Huron-Wendat Nation hired her to oversee the technical and functional programming of its new Huron-Wendat Museum. Anne has been acting director of the Huron-Wendat Museum since it opened in 2008.

Guy Sioui Durand, PhD, Curator and Author, Quebec City
Guy Sioui Durand is a member of the Wendat First Nation (Huron) from Wendake. He holds a doctorate in Sociology, works as an independent curator, and writes on visual arts in Canada and abroad. He is a frequent panelist and speaker, including at The Banff Centre; at Belo Horizonte, Brazil for the 5th Encuentro, entitled Performing Heritage: Contemporary Indigenous and Community-Based Practices; and at events in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. Most recently, he was a guest speaker at the Visual Arts Summit in Ottawa in November 2007. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including Sightlines and Point Zéro.

Ann Galligan, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Cultural and Arts Policy Research Institute at Northeastern University, Boston
Previously, Ann Galligan served as a senior associate scholar at the former Center for Arts and Culture in Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in the fields of cultural policy, arts education, and cultural planning. She is the author of numerous articles and chapters on these topics, and co-authored a chapter with Neil O. Alper on “The Career Matrix: the Pipeline for Artists in the United States”. In addition, she serves as the lead executive editor of the Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society and a consulting editor for the Cultural Industries Journal. She is the research director for the Rhode Island Arts Learning Network and authored the cultural plans for the cities of Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 

Joyce Zemans: For bio, see above

Sue Beal, Manager of Cultural Venues, City of Melbourne
Sue Beal has worked as a senior Actors Equity Union official; as a member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council; as manager of Australia’s major cultural export – Circus Oz; for Cirque du Soleil (in Australia, Canada, and the US); and as a partner in an independent company that managed a range of innovative performing artists and groups. In 1998, with more than 15 years experience of performing arts under her belt, she agreed to establish and run the City of Melbourne’s Arts House program. Melbourne’s Arts House produces new work and supports the presentation of existing work; offers access to spaces and financial support for creative development; provides a hub venue for festivals and commissions new work to be shown at them; provides for international touring and hosts local community groups for their regular activities; belongs to a touring circuit for cutting edge work; and provides work and office spaces for local artists and groups.

Matthew Kwatinetz, Producing Artistic Director/CEO Capitol Hill Arts Center,
Seattle
In 2002, Matthew Kwatinetz developed a 1917 auto-warehouse in Seattle into an
18,000-square foot performing arts centre, which later became Capitol Hill
Arts Center (CHAC). Home to three performance venues catering to collaborative, innovative, and community-powered events, CHAC supports emerging artists and producers, and fosters community growth and national artistic exchange. It’s one of the few for-profit (and only known triple-bottom line) performance centres in the States west of the Mississippi. Matthew is a founder and Vice-President of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Steering Committee of the King County (WA) Chapter of the Americans for the Arts Creative Conversations, which recently released a 14-point plan for addressing development and cultural ecology issues locally. Matthew is a Seattle City Artist 2007 and a WA Cultural Congress Scholar. He is currently completing the University of Washington's Commercial Real Estate Development certificate program, and is a graduate of Harvard University and Deep Springs College.

Jocelyn Robert, Méduse Co-Operative, Quebec City
Artist Jocelyn Robert is the founder and artistic director of Avatar, an artist-run centre for audio and electronic arts and one of the ten not-for-profit organizations that is a member of Méduse. He served on the Méduse board for five years, from the foundation in 1993 through the construction process and the opening in 1995, ending up president of the cooperative in 1997 – 1998. Jocelyn’s work has been shown internationally and he has published both creative and critical writings as well as numerous CDs. Méduse is an artist-run production and cultural centre with a mandate to provide member groups with space and equipment and to encourage cross-disciplinary work. Members include galleries, a community radio station, media labs, and living spaces for artists-in-residence. The 4,000-square metre facility also contains exhibition and performance space. Despite being a contemporary building, it integrates with the heritage character of the city, and serves as a cultural beacon in city-centre regeneration.

Louise Matte, Agente Culturelle, Maison de la culture Frontenac, Montréal
The Maison de la culture Frontenac is a member of Accès Culture, a cultural outreach municipal network comprised of 24 presenters, including 12 maisons de la culture (i.e. Cultural Centres). The Maison Frontenac, the network’s flagship centre, houses a 314-seat performing space, two art exhibition studios (3,500 sq. ft. and 1,421 sq. ft.), as well as a spacious entrance hall that can also serve as a performance, an exhibition, or a special event space (such as openings). Located along the eastern border of Montréal’s Ville Marie borough, one of the country’s most depressed neighbourhoods, the Maison Frontenac presents some 20 art exhibitions yearly as well as an average of 150 events annually, many of them in collaboration with various cultural partners.

Debbie Hill, Manager, Cultural Services, City of Ottawa
Cultural Services oversees the City’s public art programs, archives, exhibition programs, cultural funding, community art programs, museum services, citywide events, and cultural facility operations. As the leader of a dynamic multidisciplinary team that champions arts and heritage development across the corporation and the community, Debbie was responsible for the evolution of the Cultural Services division following amalgamation in 2001 and with her team has led initiatives ranging from the Ottawa 20/20 Arts and Heritage Plan, a 20-year integrated growth management strategy, to the rise of the new Shenkman Arts Centre, a multidisciplinary arts facility built under a Public-Private Partnership (P3) model, serving the east end of Ottawa. Debbie is a founding board member of the Creative City Network of Canada/Réseau des villes créatives du Canada and a member of the National Advisory Group for the Centre of Expertise on Culture and Communities. She has 21 years of cultural management experience in Ottawa’s municipal government.

Felix Reinberg, Project Director, Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi
Felix Reinberg has been Project Director of the Cultural District since 2006. His duties include overseeing the execution of the design and construction of the island’s cultural institutions, with specific focus on the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, to ensure they achieve the prescribed time, cost, and quality objectives. His involvement extends to the visioning and execution of the Cultural District as a whole, incorporating the needs and expectations of Abu Dhabi’s stakeholders, inclusive of Master Plan development, economic modeling, consultant appointments, operator negotiations, and design/construction delivery approaches. Felix earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Cornell University and an MS in Construction Management from Stanford University.

Kate Shaw, Professor, Melbourne University
After working in production off-off-Broadway in New York in the mid-1980s, Kate Shaw returned to Melbourne to promote independent/alternative arts projects. She was swept into local redevelopment politics and spent ten years juggling theatre, community work, and campaigns for cultural difference and equity in the city. Kate is a well-known commentator on issues relating to gentrification, affordable housing, and cultural diversity. Her article, The Place of Alternative Culture and the Politics of its Protection in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Melbourne, was awarded the Aesop prize in 2005.

Will Straw, Professor, McGill University, Montréal
Will Straw is Associate Professor within the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. He is on the editorial boards of Screen, Cultural Studies, Canadian Journal of Communication, Social Semiotics, Space and Culture, and numerous other journals. He is the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Currently, Will is a member of a five-year research project, The Culture of Cities.

Alan Stanbridge, Professor, University of Toronto
Alan Stanbridge is an Assistant Professor in Visual and Performing Arts and Arts Management at the University of Toronto, cross-appointed in Music and Museum Studies. He teaches undergraduate courses in cultural policy, cultural theory, collaborations, and jazz history, and graduate courses in cultural policy and music and discourse. Stanbridge is the recipient of a Faculty Teaching Award for his contribution to undergraduate teaching, and his current research project is supported by a grant from SSHRC. Stanbridge has published numerous articles on cultural policy, cultural theory, popular music and jazz history, and he is currently working on a book on the discourses of jazz, to be published by Routledge. He is a contributor to The Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, writing the entries on Postmodernism, the Hollywood Musical, and Jazz. Stanbridge is a member of the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Cultural Policy and the Jazz Research Journal, a member of the Advisory Board of Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation, and serves as a Research Collaborator on a major international research project on Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice. Prior to his academic career, Stanbridge pursued a 15-year career in professional arts management in Britain, during which time he held the post of Director of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, and occupied senior management positions with several arts and media centres and organizations, including Jazz Services and Midlands Arts Centre.

Scott Thomson, Association of Improvising Musicians, Toronto
Scott Thomson plays trombone in numerous working ensembles in many styles, and prizes ad hoc improvising activities as a way of meeting and collaborating with as many creative folks as possible. He is a Board member for the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto (AIMToronto), coordinated the 18-piece AIMToronto Orchestra for a celebrated collaboration with Anthony Braxton in September 2007, and continues to serve as the Orchestra’s administrative director. Scott is also the Artistic Director of Somewhere There, a terrific little performance studio in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood that hosts live creative music four nights a week. Plumb, a recording of solos and duets with Montréal clarinetist Lori Freedman, is recently released on Jean Martin’s Barnyard Records. As a composer, Scott makes site-specific pieces for improvising musicians with the aim to animate particular acoustic spaces. His cartographic work for mobile improvising musicians, Acoustic Orienteering, will be presented at the 2008 Sound Symposium in the streets of St John’s, Newfoundland.

Caroline Andrew, Professor, School of Political Studies/Director, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa
Caroline Andrew’s fields of primary research interest include municipal government, urban development, municipal policies in the area of ethno-cultural diversity, and women in local politics. Current research projects include being co-director of the federal team of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded initiative led by Professor Robert Young (University of Western Ontario) on municipal public policy in a multilevel governance context, a comparative study of Montréal and Ottawa on the impact of municipal amalgamations on policies for the management of diversity, an analysis of best practices in the local management of diversity, and an action research project involving the City of Ottawa and community-based women’s groups. Recent publications include Accounting for Culture: Thinking through Cultural Citizenship (co-edited with Monica Gattinger, Sharon Jeannotte, and Will Straw, University of Ottawa Press, 2005), “Women as Citizens in Canada” (2004, in From Subjects to Citizens, University of Ottawa Press), and “Les fusions municipales: ouvertures ou obstacles pour les femmes?” (2005, in Femmes et politiques, University of Ottawa Press). 

Jim Gurnett, Executive Director, Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers
The Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers is a civil society organization providing programs and services for immigrants and refugees, including settlement assistance, language training, employment and career services, community development, counseling, housing, and advocacy. Previously, Jim was Manager of Community Services at Bissell Centre, serving people living in poverty in Edmonton’s urban core. He was founding Executive Director of The Hope Foundation, a centre for research and services related to the intentional use of hope as a means of enjoying enhanced quality of life. For 15 years Jim worked as a teacher, program facilitator, and administrator at schools in Alberta and Afghanistan. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Director of Communications and Outreach for the Official Opposition at the Alberta Legislature, and a newspaper editor. In 2007 he was a recipient of the Project Ploughshares Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award and was named one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People by Alberta Venture magazine. He was educated at the Universities of Alberta and Calgary.

Benedetto Zacchiroli, External Affairs, Office of the Mayor, Bologna
Benedetto  Zacchiroli obtained a degree in Theology at the Vatican University, San Tommaso D'Aquino, in Rome. At present he is a member of the political staff of the Mayor of Bologna, in charge of External Affairs.

Christina Cameron, Chair, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Montréal
Christina Cameron, PhD, holds the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the University of Montréal. She is also the Canadian representative and the current Chair of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. Christina enjoyed a distinguished career in the public service with the Parks Canada Agency and is a recipient of a 2007 Outstanding Achievement Award for her dedication to studying, preserving, and promoting Canada's built heritage.

Jane Andrew, PhD Candidate, Creative Economy Research and Development, Australian Institute for Social Research, University of Adelaide
Jane Andrew has been a creative practitioner/business operator; the executive director of an industry association for artists, designers, and craftspeople; a teacher; and a researcher/academic. In August 2004 she was awarded an APAI scholarship and commenced a PhD by research as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant with the Centre for Labour Research, a member of the Australian Institute for Social Research at the University of Adelaide. In undertaking research across government policy domains that seek to influence the development of a creative economy, the project will fill gaps in knowledge about the role and strategic implications of creative capital for employment and economic development in Australia. Jane teaches Professional Management and Business Practice courses in the Graduate Diploma/Master of Visual Art and Design (Specialization) Programs at the South Australian School of Art, University of South Australia, and serves on the Board of Service Skills SA, the Arts Industry Council of South Australia, and the Academic Board of Community Arts Network SA.

Guido Ferilli, Researcher, Department of Art and Industrial Design, Iuav University, Venice
Guido Ferilli is a PhD candidate at Napier University, Edinburgh, and holds a fellowship at Iuav University, where he teaches Economics of Design. He is researching on culture-led local development processes and on cultural policy design.

Michael Gordon, Senior Central Area Planner, City of Vancouver
Michael Gordon’s work focuses on urban design, built form, and land use policies for the downtown and False Creek areas of Vancouver. He has worked as a city planner for 32 years, as a consultant on municipal development policies and by-laws (in Alberta), and as an inner city planner for the City of Regina. Michael is Adjunct Professor of Planning in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia and teaches a course for Simon Fraser University’s Sustainability Certificate Program. He is currently the Program Chair of the BC Land Summit, scheduled for 2009 in Whistler, BC. Michael has written extensively on urban policy, planning theory, and urban design, most recently for the UK’s Journal of Theory and Practice and Sweden’s Arkitektur. With colleagues, he co-produced the documentaries Shaping the Plaza: designing downtown Vancouver’s Skatepark, Through a Young Lens about families, youth, and children living in Vancouver’s high density neighbourhoods, and Sustainability…it’s a good thing.

Mark Pickersgill, Community Planner, Delta, BC
Mark Pickersgill holds a Master of Arts (Planning) degree from the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning and currently works as a community planner for the Corporation of Delta, where he oversees development projects and other long-range policy initiatives. As a performing musician, writer, and urban enthusiast, Mark has developed an affinity for issues that affect music and the arts in communities. Mark's master’s thesis (From Nuisance to Amenity: Exploring Planning Policy Alternatives for Live Music Venues in Vancouver) examined live music venues and the opportunities/barriers created by city planning policies. In Edmonton, Mark sat on the Board of Directors at CJSR 88.5 FM (campus-community radio) from 2000 – 2003 where he also hosted a weekly music program. Mark has since served as an editor and contributor for Streethawk Magazine (a Vancouver-based music website) and has worked as a freelance journalist writing primarily on music and city planning. He is currently collaborating on a documentary about Vancouver's live music venues and performance spaces.

John Hannigan, Professor, Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Toronto
John Hannigan teaches courses in urban sociology, and environment and society. He attended the University of Western Ontario and Ohio State University, where he received his PhD in 1976. At Ohio State, he was a Research Associate at the Disaster Research Center. He is the author of two books: Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective (1995) and Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern City (1998), both published by Routledge. Fantasy City was nominated for the 1999/2000 CSAA John Porter Award. Most recently, he organized, edited, and wrote the introduction to a special symposium on “Branding and the Global Entertainment Economy” published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. John is a frequent contributor to media discussions of culture and urban development, having appeared among others in/on National Public Radio (US), The Independent  (UK), and The Globe and Mail (Canada). He has just completed a second, revised edition of Environmental Sociology.

Keynote: Dr. Allen J. Scott, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Geography, UCLA
Dr. Allen J. Scott’s book The Cultural Economy of Cities has become the definitive work on the way that place, culture, and economies are interconnected. His work on Los Angeles and its diverse creative industries has become a standard reference. Allen’s Hollywood, The Place, The Industry was awarded the Meridian Prize by the Association of American Geographers in 2006. He is a former Guggenheim Fellow, Fellow of the British Academy, and recipient of the Prix Vautrin Lud International Award for Geography. Allen has held several chairs in universities around the world, including the André Siegfried Chair at Sciences Po in Paris, the Chaire d’Excellence Pierre de Fermat at the University of Toulouse-le Mirail, and the Wibaut Chair at the University of Amsterdam. He was a member of the faculty at the University of Toronto from 1969 to 1981.
Bilingual presentation

Geoff Cape, Executive Director, Evergreen Canada, Toronto
Geoff Cape is founding Executive Director of Evergreen, an organization which has grown to achieve a national reach with over 70 staff and offices in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. Geoff is the visionary leader behind the transformation of the Don Valley Brick Works from a derelict industrial heritage property into the greenest building in North America and was recently recognized for his green design leadership with NAIOP REX and Canadian Urban Institute Brownie Awards. Last year, Geoff was a selected delegate of Toronto's Creative Cities International Study Group and inducted into the Ashoka International Fellowship in Washington, DC. He is the founding Chair of the Sustainability Network and a member of the Lake Ontario Park Steering Committee. Geoff is a former winner of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and a regular speaker on urban issues. He attended Trinity College School, has a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University, and a Masters of Management from McGill University.

Ross Wallace, Director, Strategic Partnerships, MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
Ross Wallace coordinates relations and collaboration with MaRS (Medical and Related Sciences) and all levels of government, and with regional and international partners, as well as other key stakeholders. Ross joined MaRS after completing his MBA at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Before attending Rotman, he worked as the Executive Editor of Corporate Knights, Canada’s first corporate social-responsibility magazine, helping create partnerships with stakeholders in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Ross spent almost five years in Washington, DC, working for the G7 Group, an economic and political consulting company, and for the Canadian Embassy, assisting Canadian companies liaise with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. He is a senior member of Canada25, a national non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization, and has received a Masters in Public Administration from Queen’s University. In 2006, Ross received a Global Youth Fellowship from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Tim Jones, President and CEO, Artscape, Toronto
Under Tim Jones’ direction since 1998, Artscape has grown from a Toronto-based affordable arts space provider into an international leader in culture-led regeneration. In 2007, Artscape worked on 25 projects, programs, and strategies in Canada and abroad that aim to unlock the creative potential of people and places. Tim serves as a consultant on numerous development projects in Canada and is a sought-after speaker internationally. Tim also chairs the steering committee for Toronto’s Creative Convergence Project, whose members include the Toronto International Film Festival, Evergreen Foundation, Ontario College of Art and Design, Canadian Film Centre, and MaRS. Partners include the City of Toronto, University of Toronto Cultural Economy Lab, TEDCO, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The initial phase of the project includes mapping Toronto’s creative sector and its space and place needs, engagement of industry partners, and identification of opportunities for collaboration.

Marla Waltman Daschko, Research Consultant, Toronto
Marla Waltman Daschko has recently retired from the position of Chief of the Culture Statistics Program, the focal point in Statistics Canada for the creation, analysis, and dissemination of data on the culture sector. Marla is a member of the National Advisory Group of the Centre of Expertise on Culture and Communities and of the Editorial Working Group of the Department of Canadian Heritage research website, Culturescope.ca. Marla has worked as an archivist at the Public Archives of Canada; a policy analyst for libraries and archives at the Department of Communications (now Department of Canadian Heritage); Chief of Sound Recording Policy and Programs at DOC; and Chief, Policy and Research at the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS), Human Resources Development Canada. Marla holds an MA in History from Queen’s University (1981) and a BA in History and Anthropology from York University (1974).  

Keith McPhail, CECC Research Associate, Halifax
Keith McPhail worked as an arts administrator in Theatre and Dance in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998 he launched his consulting and communications business, and became Project Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Culture Sector Strategy. In 1999, Keith joined the Nova Scotia Cultural Network as Program Officer and became indoctrinated in arts advocacy. In 2001, he was recruited by Halifax Regional Municipality as its first Cultural Officer and while there he increased his knowledge of arts policy development. Keith left HRM in 2006 to resume arts consulting, research, and writing fiction. He holds undergraduate degrees in Microbiology and English from University of King’s College, a certificate in Non-profit Sector Leadership, and a graduate degree in Public Administration from Dalhousie University.

Sharon Jeannotte, Senior Fellow, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa
From 2005 to 2007, M. Sharon Jeannotte was Senior Advisor to the Canadian Cultural Observatory in the Department of Canadian Heritage. From 1999 to 2005, she was the Manager of International Comparative Research in the Department’s Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate. Since 1996, Sharon’s primary research focus has been on social cohesion as a horizontal public policy issue affecting Canadian society as a whole. In 2005, she co-edited with Caroline Andrew, Monica Gattinger, and Will Straw a volume entitled Accounting for Culture: Thinking Through Cultural Citizenship, published by the University of Ottawa Press. She was also part of a research team studying the social effects of culture; several of the papers produced by that team were featured by the Canadian Journal of Communication in April 2006. Sharon is currently working with a national team of scholars on a comparative study of provincial cultural policies in Canada.

Sue Stewart, CECC Research Associate, Saskatoon
Sue Stewart has worked in arts administration and cultural development for over 20 years. Sue grew up bilingual in Québec and studied literature, communications, and translation in Canada and the US. She worked in literary publishing and theatre before becoming a cultural administrator in municipal and federal government. Promoting the interests of minority-language, diverse, and artist-run groups has given her a grounding in local community dynamics, and working with the Canada Council for the Arts brought a national perspective. In 2006 Sue prepared a Cultural Mapping Toolkit for the Creative City Network of Canada. She is also an editor, translator, and sometime playwright.

Rodger Hunter, Vis-à-Vis Research Consulting, Nanaimo, BC:
Bio unavailable

Alison Beale, Professor, School of Communication/Co-Director, Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Alison Beale (PhD McGill) is a Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, and Co-Director of the Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities. She previously taught in the Département des Communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Alison's principal research and teaching areas are cultural policy, communication history and historiography, and film and video. She directed a documentary on the Canadian communication historian Harold Innis in 1990. She has been a visiting scholar in cultural policy at universities in Australia, at the University of Edinburgh, and at New York University where she was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in the Privatization of Culture Project directed by Toby Miller and George Yúdice. Her most recent publications include a special issue of Feminist Media Studies on Feminist Contributions to Cultural Policy Research (V. 7. No. 4, 2007) as Editor, and "The Expediency of Women" in Feminist Interventions in International Communication edited by K. Sarikakis and L. Shade, Rowman and Littlefield, 2007.

Gordon Stratford, Senior Vice-President, Design Director, HOK Architects, Toronto
Gordon Stratford is responsible for the creative vision of HOK in Canada. Gordon takes direct design leadership for major projects such as the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, while acting as a proactive mentor for design architects leading projects in the HOK studio. Gordon’s talents encompass the essential design stages of each project. Through consensus building, strategic visioning facilitation, strong communicative visualization, and creative design methodology, he fosters client participation to seek the effective development of unique design concepts. His abilities are evident in a wide variety of projects, including work for the University of Alberta and significant R&D and educational facilities. Gordon is Chair of the City of Toronto Design Review Panel and the Brant Community Healthcare System Board of Governors.

Shauna McCabe, Associate Professor/Canada Research Chair, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
Shauna McCabe was appointed Canada Research Chair in Critical Theory in the Interpretation of Culture at Mount Allison University in June 2007. She had directed The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, St. John’s, since 2005, and was Senior Curator of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery from 2001 to 2005. Extending her doctoral investigations of spatial culture within contemporary art at the University of British Columbia, her recent exhibitions include imagineacity (2008), Brian Jungen: Vienna (2007), and Douglas Coupland: Play Again? (2006). She is the founder of CHARTS, the Centre for Humanities and Arts Research in Transdisciplinary Space, leading research in creative practice as a critical investigative tool into visual and built environments. Shauna writes frequently on space, architecture, and visual culture, contributing essays and articles to numerous publications and venues. Her poetry has been published in Canada and the US, and a collection of writing and photography, ancient motel landscape, was published in 2005.

Brigitte Desrochers, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa
Brigitte Desrochers works at the Canada Council for the Arts, where she reports on   funding for arts organizations. She has been involved in the recent strategic planning exercise at Council and served as a Corporate Plan Committee member. Prior to this, Brigitte acted as Architecture Officer for the Canada Council, building on her Graduate Studies in Design, Architecture, and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, as well as on fellowships from the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the British School at Rome, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Jean-Robert Choquet, Director of Cultural Development and Libraries, City of Montréal
Jean-Robert Choquet was the political advisor of the Mayor of Montréal from 1986 to 1994. From 1995 to 2002, he was the executive director of Union des artistes. Back with the City of Montréal, at the administrative level, he was in charge of the Communications Department until 2004. He is now in charge of Cultural Development. Jean-Robert has coordinated the research and consultation work of the Cultural Development Policy adopted by the City Council in August 2005. Since then, he has been a member of the Steering Committee of the November 2007 Rendez-vous – Montréal, Cultural Metropolis.

Beverley O’Connell, Senior Arts Consultant, Department of Canadian Heritage, Toronto:
Bio unavailable

Dave Donaldson, Director, Manotick Mills Development Corporation, Ontario:
Bio unavailable

Sandra Stone, Strategic Project Coordinator, Strategic Project Division, Economic and Environmental Sustainability Branch, City of Ottawa
Sandra Stone has spent over 15 years working for the public sector. In 2003, Sandra was selected by Senior Management as one of six Master Trainers in Facilitation by the City of Ottawa. In 2004, she joined P3 Advisors, a consulting firm that specialized in developing partnering solutions for public-sector clients. Sandra’s efforts focused on the implementation and evaluation of Alternative Service Delivery models and Public-Partnership (P3) solutions. Some of her clients included the University of Ottawa, the NCC, and the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs. In 2006, Sandra returned to the City of Ottawa to join the Strategic Projects Division, which specializes in the P3 delivery model. Sandra used her extensive financial administration and project management experience to play a key role in the construction of the Shenkman Arts Centre and the development of the Orleans Town Centre. Currently, Sandra works with the Arts Court Foundation and its partners to deliver an Arts Court Cultural Complex in downtown Ottawa.

Arthur Milner, Project Director, Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, Ottawa
Arthur Milner has served as Project Director for the Great Canadian Theatre Company’s new Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre since April 2005. His responsibilities include coordination between the Great Canadian Theatre Company and its architects, consultants, and construction management, as well as fundraising from government organizations. He also led the campaign to acquire GCTC’s previous home at 910 Gladstone Avenue. Arthur has a long association with GCTC, where he was Resident Playwright (1985 – 1991) and Artistic Director (1991 – 1995 and 2005 – 2006). Published plays include Masada (in Modern Jewish Plays, Playwrights Canada Press), Zero Hour (The CTR Anthology, University of Toronto Press), and Learning to Live with Personal Growth (New Canadian Drama 5, Borealis Press), all premiered at GCTC. His newest play, Facts, a murder mystery set in Israel's Occupied Territories, will be produced by the New Theatre of Ottawa in its 2008 – 2009 season.

Charles McFarland, Artistic Producer and Program Manager, Theatres, City of Ottawa
As Managing Director of the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Charles McFarland spearheaded the campaign to build GCTC’s new home, the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, from its inception to its ground-breaking in Spring 2005, both as its first Project Director and first Chair of GCTC’s Making It Greater capital campaign. Now responsible for staffing, operations, and programming for the new Shenkman Arts Centre in Ottawa’s east end, opening Spring 2009, Charles serves as the City of Ottawa’s Cultural Services representative on the SAC’s design-build team. A former Managing Director of Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Assistant Head of the Theatre Section, Canada Council for the Arts, and artistic director of several Canadian theatres, Charles is an award-winning stage director, with over 50 professional productions to his credit across Canada. He holds an MA in English Literature from Cambridge University and a management certification from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance.

Debbie Hill: For bio, see Day 1 above

Sue Harvey, Managing Director of Cultural Services, City of Vancouver
As Managing Director of Cultural Services for the City of Vancouver, Sue Harvey is responsible for the Office of Cultural Affairs, the Vancouver Civic Theatres, future planning of Hastings Park and the Pacific National Exhibition, and Civic Sponsorship Initiatives. Sue also chaired the Creative City Task Force, a committee comprised of community representatives, elected officials, and senior City staff that developed a new ten-year strategic culture plan for the City of Vancouver. Sue joined the City in 1993 as a Cultural Planner responsible for facility development and since that time has held a series of positions with the City within the Office of Cultural Affairs, Social Planning, and the City Manager’s Office. Prior to joining the City, she was Director of Operations for the Ballet Opera House Corporation, a joint initiative of the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company, Assistant Producer of the EXPO 86 World Festival, and General Manager of Chamber Players, a Toronto-based chamber orchestra.

Terry Rock, President and CEO, Calgary Arts Development
Dr. Terry Rock’s experience covers a broad spectrum of sectors, including Agri-Food/Biotech, Software/Internet, Professional Services, Arts, Consumer Goods, Media, Government, and the Non-Profit sector. He has worked with top managers and boards of organizations ranging from one-person start-ups through to one of the world’s largest multinationals. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Calgary, Terry’s research focused on the processes by which organizations develop competitive advantage and continue to create value in turbulent times. At the City of Calgary, he worked on a range of issues related to government/non-profit partnerships. In his 20-month tenure, he led two initiatives: the development of a comprehensive partnership accountability framework and of a new civic arts policy. A member of the 2002 class of Leadership Calgary, he has a PhD in Management (Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation) from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction) in Marketing from the University of Saskatchewan.

Terry Nicholson, Manager of Cultural Affairs, City of Toronto
With over two decades of professional life in the cultural sector, Terry Nicholson has been Manager of Cultural Affairs in Toronto since April 2000. Cultural Affairs has responsibility for the City’s cultural asset management, including capital projects; cultural development projects for the adaptive reuse of major heritage structures; cultural policy, research, and strategic partnerships (including grants of $4 million to Major Cultural Organizations), and the City’s public art collection. Terry joined the Metro Cultural Affairs Division in 1990, where he was responsible for major public art projects after having served for 10 years as the Director of the Gallery and Media Centre at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus. He has an MBA in Arts Administration from York University and an MA in History from the University of Toronto.

Patrick Overton, Director, Front Porch Institute, Astoria, Oregon
The Front Porch Institute is dedicated to creating resources to address the unique challenges and opportunities of cultural development in rural and small communities. Patrick Overton, PhD, currently serves as facilitator for the New Richmond Area Front Porch Project in and around New Richmond, Wisconsin (population 12,000), where he is working with the community to create a comprehensive community cultural plan, and of the Academy Square Project in Brigham City, Utah (population 17,000), where he is facilitating a ten-million dollar restoration, renovation, and new facilities construction of a Brigham City Town Center cultural facility complex. The Front Porch Institute is also involved in a public/private partnership with Clatsop Community College in Astoria, working with the college to identify and fulfill its role as a community cultural catalyst as well as becoming a regional and national training resource for rural and small community cultural development. Author of Rebuilding the Front Porch of America: Essays on the Art of Community Making, Patrick is completing his new book The Poetry of Place: Engaging the Democracy of Civil Discourse Through The Hard Work of Creating Communities.

James Counter, President, New Richmond Area Community Foundation, Wisconsin
James A. Counter, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, has been in the business of financial planning for over 40 years. James has been an active citizen in his community for over 30 years, serving on countless boards and, for the past two years, he has served as President of the New Richmond Area Community Foundation, overseeing the creation of a comprehensive organizational strategic plan designed to help the organization make the challenging transition from a traditional, donor-driven funding depository to that of being a more active, community-based, outreach organization. As an active participant in the New Richmond Area Front Porch Project, James recognized early on the potential partnership that could exist between the Foundation and the Project. Through his leadership, the Foundation has become the lead agency for the Front Porch Project, making the organization a major cultural catalyst in the New Richmond area community.

Bill Buell, Vice-President, New Richmond Area Community Foundation, Wisconsin
Bill Buell is President and CEO of a large dairy and dairy beef nutrition and manufacturing company in New Richmond. He also serves as VP of the New Richmond Area Community Foundation, the lead agency for the New Richmond Area Front Porch Project. Bill is the founder of The SPACE, a centre for Creativity, whose mission is: “Inviting our Community to Celebrate and Participate in Creativity." His true passion is connected to his role as creator of this innovative, community-based organization, enabling him to promote the synergy between creativity, culture, and community. It is his conviction that we must nurture the relationship between creativity and community, and it is his nature as a citizen entrepreneur that prompted him to become a catalyst for the Front Porch Project. Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, and is a practicing artist in his own right, focusing on the fine art of photography and acting in theatre.

Joe Kerlin, Director, Parks and Recreation, New Richmond, Wisconsin
Joe Kerlin, a native of North Dakota, currently resides in New Richmond. He has worked for 12 years as Director for the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for 200-plus acres of parkland, the development and maintenance of a variety of sport fields, shared-use paths, and the health of the City’s urban forest. Joe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education with a Business Minor from Mayville State University. Joe has become one of the most active participants and strongest advocates for the Front Porch Project. His participation and unique perspectives have helped remind everyone involved that cultural infrastructure isn’t just about facilities but also about the spaces that provide human connectivity between these facilities. Through his guidance, planning for one such “gathering place,” the Hatfield Lake Regional Park, has become an important cultural bridge, inviting key Township, Village, and City leaders to work together on a new regional project that benefits the entire New Richmond area community.

Phil Carlson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Phil Carlson is a senior in the Landscape Architecture department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His initial relationship to the city of New Richmond was through his senior capstone project, intended to be a small site design of one of New Richmond’s City parks. Realizing the potential contribution he could make to the Front Porch Project and the community cultural planning project underway when he arrived, Phil was invited to extend his contribution and provide extensive research into the geographical layout of the community and the connective relationship between the various cultural anchors/gathering places identified in the planning process. These gathering spaces include the South Anchor/Heritage Center, North Anchor/Hatfield Lake Regional Park, and the Town Center/Downtown Four Corners. He is now creating visual concept drawings for how all of these gathering places connect and how the citizens of the New Richmond area will use them to interact. Phil is pursuing a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning.

Paul Larsen, Director, Economic Development, Brigham City, Utah
Paul Larsen is a native of the State of Idaho. He currently resides in Brigham City, where he has worked for 11 years as Economic Development Director. Paul’s work requires a very generalist approach, and he has experience with a variety of issues, including land use planning, wetland issues, historic preservation, downtown revitalization, telecommunications related to economic development, redevelopment agency operation, entrepreneurial development, and business incubation. Paul holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fisheries and Wildlife and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University. He currently serves as President of the Utah Alliance for Economic Development. As a result of his education and professional experience, Paul is interested in the interplay between the built and natural environment, and the capacity and potential for the cultural and built environments to serve as driving engines for both economic development and quality of life for the community. 

Roger Manning, VP, Incoming President of the Academy Square Foundation, Brigham City, Utah
Roger Manning is a native of the State of Idaho and currently resides in Brigham City, where he has worked for 24 years as a Manufacturing Engineer with ATK Launch Systems. Roger holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Education and Manufacturing Engineering from Brigham Young University and a Master of Art in Management from the University of Phoenix. Roger serves as Vice-President of the Academy Square Foundation, created to assist in the fundraising for the Project, becoming its President this summer. Roger’s goal for the Academy Square Project, with which he became directly involved in 2007, is to use the restoration and renovation of this old, abandoned, historic building as a way to not only preserve an important part of his community’s past, but also to have it contribute to the quality of life and economic vitality and sustainability for the community and its residents.

Lon Dubinsky, Instructor, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montréal
Lon Dubinsky teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University. Previously, he served as Co-Director of the Cultural Future of Small Cities, a community-based research initiative in Kamloops, BC focused on how and why arts and culture flourish in small places. His interest in the cultural dimensions of city life stems from work in collaborations between museums and community organizations, including Reading The Museum, the national program of the Canadian Museums Association. Lon has developed programs and policies for the Canada Council, City of Ottawa, and Site Santa Fe. Publications include Museums and Municipalities, The Culture of Participation, and How Cultural Production and Participation Enhance Collective Understanding within Small Cities and Communities.

Keynote: Jonas Bjälesjö, Baltic Business School, University of Kalmar/Rock City, Hultsfred, Sweden
Jonas Bjälesjö is subject teacher at Baltic Business School, where he is head of the music and event industry courses in the Music and Event Management program and part of the research-oriented Centre for Cultural Economy. He is responsible for education development and research at the centre for music and experience industry at Rock City, and is also connected to the Department of European Ethnology at Lund University through his research around popular music, youth culture, music festivals, local music life, and music tourism, with a focus on the festival phenomena, including the Hultsfred festival. He is Chairman of the Swedish Rock Archives, Swedish contact person and member of the Board for IASPM-Norden (International Association for the Study of Popular Music), and Swedish partner in the European Union education project Muzone (a Leonardo da Vinci project). Jonas has been involved in different research projects concerning youth and their everyday life through European Union and Swedish government institutions. He is also a member of the Academy for Swedish non-professional culture. During 2007 he was a guest teacher at Middle Tennessee State University, at the Institute for Art, Development, and Education/Art Universities of Finland, Turku School of Economics, Finland, and Popakademie Badem Würtemberg, Germany.

Keynote: Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, ExecutiveVice-President and General Manager, TOHU, la Cité des arts du cirque, Montréal
Charles-Mathieu Brunelle is a pioneer member of the Board of Administrators and ExecutiveVice-President and General Manager of TOHU. The mission of this non-profit organization is to secure Montréal as a world centre for the circus arts, to actively participate in the St. Michel Environmental Complex rehabilitation project (on the former site of the Miron quarry), and to contribute to the revitalization of the city’s Saint-Michel District. Instigator and owner of the first circular performance hall in Canada and of ecological installations that have won several urban planning and architecture awards, TOHU is a $72.6 million innovative vision of urban and cultural development, which won Charles-Mathieu the title of “Personality of the year 2005 – Business, administration, and institutions” at the 21st Gala Excellence La Presse/Radio-Canada. He has been at the helm of TOHU since 1999.

Charles-Mathieu has been guest speaker at the conference Creativity, an urban innovation: trans-national collaborations in Yokohama, at the International Conference on Creative Cities in Osaka, at URBA 2015 in Montréal, at a number of conferences for the Government of Canada, and at the World Conference on Development of Cities: Democratic Innovation and Social Transformation for Inclusive Cities in the 21st century held in Brazil in February 2008.

He has also been involved in many endeavours that have had a marked impact upon cultural life in metropolitan Montréal in recent years. Charles-Mathieu is a member of the Executive Board of Culture Montréal, of the Board of Directors of Montréal’s Société du Havre, of the Economic Advisory Committee of the City of Montréal, of the Board of Directors for the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal, and, since January 2008, he has embraced the presidency of the KARUNA foundation, an organization involved in humanitarian projects in Asia.

Catherine Gill, Site Director, Nonprofit Finance Fund, New England
Catherine Gill joined Nonprofit Finance Fund, which helps nonprofits build and renovate facilities, fund growth needs, and expand and sustain operations over time, in February 2004. She is responsible for managing and overseeing the office’s activities throughout the six New England states and for marketing and fundraising. Prior to assuming this position, Catherine worked as a senior lender both at NFF and at SEEDCO, another CDFI located in New York City. In this capacity, she underwrote, structured, closed, and monitored over $12 million in loans to nonprofits. At SEEDCO, she also created and managed the organization’s financial management assistance program. In addition, Catherine has worked in fundraising for Columbia Business School and as a consultant for a Spanish Foundation on development projects in Honduras. She holds an MBA from IESE, Universidad de Navarra in Barcelona, Spain and a BA from Wellesley College.

Billie Bridgman, Executive Vice-President, Artscape, Toronto
Billie Bridgman started her career as a singer and over several decades became known as a specialist in contemporary Canadian music. As Artistic Director of both COMUS Music Theatre and the Guelph Spring Festival, she championed new Canadian operas. She also directed major fundraising campaigns – the Canada Pavilion at Expo ’86 among them – as well as spending almost a decade on the faculty of the Banff School of Fine Arts. Billie was the first full time Executive Director of Artscape (1990 – 1995), and her six years as a director with the Bank of Montreal’s IT subsidiary CEBRA added valuable experience in the corporate world. From 2005 – 2007 Billie was President and CEO of the Council for Business and the Arts, where she developed new programs such as SpeedDating with the Arts. Artscape, active since 1986, has become Canada’s leading practitioner in arts-led regeneration and a respected contributor in the international discussion on the way that arts spaces make for better urban places and stronger local economies.

John Lorinc, Journalist and Author, Toronto
John Lorinc specializes in urban affairs, politics, education, culture, and business. After obtaining a degree in journalism (Carleton, 1988), he became a freelance reporter and columnist, publishing his work in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and Canadian Business, among many others. John was Toronto Life’s urban politics columnist for a number of years and has won numerous honours for his journalism, including four National Magazine Awards for his coverage of city issues. He wrote The Franchise Industry (Prentice Hall Canada, 1995) and contributed to uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto (Coach House, 2005), a collection of essays on what works about Canada’s largest city. His most recent book is The New City (Penguin 2006), which addresses the complex causes behind the problems now afflicting Canada’s metropolitan centres.

Kelly McCray, Active 18 Group, Toronto
Kelly McCray is a visual artist and a member of Active 18, a group of community activists who were instrumental in getting developers to replace disappearing low-cost artist live/work studios in Toronto’s red-hot Queen West Triangle neighbourhood. Kelly is a former coordinator for Toronto’s Days of Action, is currently the Director of Edward Day Gallery, and has been a resident of Queen Street West for the past 15 years.

Jason Schupbach, Director, ArtistLink, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston
ArtistLink is a major new artist and creative economy initiative to stabilize and revitalize communities through the creation of affordable artist space. The Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Boston Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and several other arts and economic development agencies created ArtistLink to play a primary role in the cultural economic development of the state. Jason Schupbach has a degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Masters in City Planning with an Urban Design Certificate from MIT. Jason worked for the Mayor’s office and Department of Cultural Affairs in Chicago, and he was the staff Urban Planner and Capital Projects Manager for the Department of Cultural Affairs in New York City. Jason has been involved in Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), a ten-year national initiative to improve the artists’ environment in the US; his primary focus is the National Artist Space Initiative.

Barbara Koenen, Cultural Planner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Barbara Koenen has created innovative programs to support individual artists and art organizations, as well as facilitating the development of affordable artist housing and creative industry development in Chicago. Among her programs are the Chicago Artists Resource (CAR) website, the annual Creative Chicago Expo, and At Work Forums. Launched in 2005, CAR combines comprehensive information on all aspects of artistic practice in Chicago with live community-contributed sections for jobs, spaces, calls, events, and forums to a growing community of over 45,000 users. The Creative Chicago Expo is a free daylong showcase held at the Chicago Cultural Center that connects over 3,000 artists with businesses, organizations, city services, schools, and “neighborhoods seeking creatives.” Barbara began work at DCA in the public art program. A practicing artist, her “spice Afghan war rug” installation is currently on view at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and she curated the recent Consuming War exhibition for the Hyde Park Art Center. Her work may be seen at www.barbarakoenen.com.

Andrew Lee, Manager of New Business Development, Ontario Social Housing Services Corp., Toronto
Andrew Lee served as a Senior Cultural Affairs Officer with the City of Toronto, where he developed Toronto’s culture plan, instigated the year-long celebration of creativity in 2005, and managed an international cultural internship program for Canadian university graduates. As a Policy Adviser in Ontario during the Rae government, Andrew’s responsibilities included public art and artist live/work space.

Celia Smith, Executive Director, ArtsBuild Ontario, Toronto
ArtsBuild Ontario is an umbrella organization representing over 500 small and mid-sized performing and visual arts organizations across Ontario. Celia Smith is also President of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, supporting over 190 theatre, dance, and opera companies in the city. She is a member of the Boards of Creative Trust and the Cultural Careers Council of Ontario and is an advisor to the Metcalf Foundation. Celia was the General Manager of the Canadian Stage Company from 2001 to 2006. From 1997 to 2001, Celia Smith & Associates offered marketing, development, and strategic consulting advice to clients ranging from the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Playhouse, Opera Atelier, and The Grand Theatre, London. Celia has also worked for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, establishing their corporate development program. She has an MBA from the University of Ottawa and a BA (Honours) from Queen’s University in English.

Jay Paget, Program Director, Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, Boston
The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund is a 2006 initiative within the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with a first-year budget of $13 million. The goal of the CFF is to increase investments from both the public and private sector to support the sound planning and development of cultural facilities in Massachusetts. It provides capital grants and feasibility and technical assistance grants to promote the acquisition, design, repair, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion, or construction of nonprofit cultural facilities. Grants are on a matching basis with cash contributions from the private or public sector.

Amy Cervenan, PhD Candidate, Geography, University of Toronto
Amy Cervenan is a PhD student working under the supervision of Deborah Leslie, Canada Research Chair in Cultural Economy. With a background in economics (McGill) and a Master's degree in urban planning (University of Toronto), Amy's interests have shifted to critical geography, yet remain concerned with the overlap of economy and culture in space, particularly cities. Her master's research examined Toronto's cultural promotion initiatives associated with its ongoing cultural renaissance and status in 2005 as a Cultural Capital of Canada.

Kevin Stolarick, Associate Director and Research Associate, Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Kevin Stolarick has held faculty positions at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. For over a decade, he worked with technology in the insurance industry as a manager of strategic projects. Kevin holds a PhD in Business Administration and an MBA from the Tepper School of Management, Carnegie Mellon University, and a BS Honors in Applied Computer Science from Illinois State University. Research interests include the relationship between firm performance and information technology, and the impacts of technology, tolerance, talent, and quality of place on regional growth and prosperity. Kevin provided quantitative research and analytical support for Richard Florida’s books The Rise of the Creative Class, The Flight of the Creative Class, and Who’s Your City?. With Florida and others, he continues to research primary development of measures, indicators, and benchmarking approaches with significant impact on theory growth and development related to the Creative Class theory. 

Ian Swain, MA Candidate, Political Science, University of Toronto
Ian Swain’s research interests include implementation strategies for creative city initiatives and the social and economic effects of music scenes on cities. Previously, Ian worked on social marketing projects for the federal government and holds a degree in marketing from the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management.

Elizabeth Currid, Assistant Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California
Elizabeth Currid teaches courses in economic development and urban policy and planning. Her research involves economic development, with particular focus on the artistic and cultural economy, and the importance of social networks, nightlife, and innovation in urban economic growth. Elizabeth has written extensively on the role of the arts in economic development. Her first book, The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City (Princeton University Press, 2007) has received wide attention in publications such as the Economist, the New Yorker, the Village Voice, NPR, and the New York Times. She received her PhD in urban planning from Columbia University and divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.

John Hannigan: See Day 1 above

Clarence S. Bayne, Director, Institute for Community Entrepreneurship and Development, JMSB, Concordia University, Montréal
Clarence Bayne's research interests are cross-disciplinary, with an emphasis on community development. He has published and lectured in this area in many cultural communities across Canada (including Cree, Black, and Inuit), in Nigeria, and in South Africa. Clarence’s research in statistics focuses primarily on forecasting and sampling theory, with special emphasis on the applied aspects of these fields of study. He co-authored Statistics Applied to Canadian Issues and co-published “From Community Workshop to Professional Theatre: Audience Development and the Consumption of Art” (Advances in Nonprofit Marketing, 1993). He teaches graduate courses in Economics for Non-Profit Managers and the Finance and Economics of Health Care. He is president of the Black Studies Centre of Montréal, and the Director of its Institute for Community Economic Development. Clarence is a member of CIM, an advisory committee to the Mayor of Montréal and a member of an advisory body to the Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities, Government of Québec.

June Creelman, Partner, Apropos Planning/Past President, Glebe Community Association, Ottawa
June Creelman is a planning and communications specialist with more than 20 years experience in the cultural and heritage field. Her areas of expertise include exhibit development, interpretive planning, research, and writing. June has developed such major interactive exhibits as Pier 21, Founders’ Hall, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum’s Connexions. As an interpretive planner, she has tackled topics ranging from dinosaurs (for the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology) to crime detection (Tech Museum of Innovation). She has also put her Master’s degree in Canadian Studies to good work presenting the country in the Canada Pavilions at Expo 92 and 93, Canada Place in Banff National Park, Canada House at the Pan Am Games, and Canada and the World in Ottawa. June has developed programming and visitor service strategies for Parliament Hill, as well as long-range plans for parks (Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area) and historic sites (Saint Croix Island International Historic Site).

Mirela Duculescu, MA candidate, History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture, University of Alberta
Mirela Duculescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, and is now an MA candidate, focusing on the history and theory of democratic design. Mirela has a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and Theory from the University of Arts of Bucharest (2000). During the course of her career, she has taught the history of design as associate lecturer at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and City Planning of Bucharest, Interior Architecture Faculty Design Department (2004 – 2006). Mirela has organized cultural events such as exhibitions, public space events, and seminars dedicated to sustainable design and architecture for the Chamber of Romanian Architects (2003 – 2006), and she was the editor-in-chief of DeSIGN Bulletin, the only local Romanian magazine devoted to design (2001 – 2003). Mirela has been the design columnist for Igloo, an architecture and design magazine, and has contributed to other Romanian cultural publications.

Lidia Varbanova, Senior Consultant, Laboratory for European Cultural Cooperation, European Cultural Foundation/Co-Director, Center for Intercultural and Social Development, Montréal
Dr. Lidia Varbanova has 20 years of professional experience in the management, leadership, advancement, and research of national and international cultural policy and cultural development programs, capacity building for artistic organizations, and project management and international cultural cooperation in Europe, Asia, Canada, and the US. Lidia has extensive experience as a trainer on international cultural cooperation, cultural policy, arts management and marketing, fundraising, human resource management, and managing cultural content online. Currently she is a visiting professor at City University, London and at University of Arts, Belgrade; external examiner with the Utrecht School of the Arts; and a member of the Alumni Society of Salzburg Global Seminar and of the International Remarque Forum Network. Among the major awards and fellowships she has received are a Fulbright fellowship; RSS-OSI grant; NISPAcee fellowship; Fellowship Grant by the Japan Foundation; Project Grant by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; ARTSLINK fellowship at UCLA; and a Scholarship by the Webb Memorial Trust at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Jane Marsland, Principal Associate, Arts Action Research, New York
Jane Marsland is a founding member of Arts Consultants Canada and serves as Director of Technical Assistance for the Creative Trust: Working Capital for the Arts Program. Jane was co-founder and director of ARTS 4 CHANGE, a program designed to create positive change for and by arts professionals in Toronto. She has managed arts organizations since 1970 and was General Manager of the Danny Grossman Dance Company from 1982 to 1999. She received the first M. Joan Chalmers Award in Arts Administration for outstanding leadership in the arts, a “Harold” Arts Community Award, and the Sandra Tulloch Award for Innovation in the Arts. Arts Action Research helps arts organizations design creative infrastructure and organizational responses to their needs. 

Louise Poulin, Founding Partner and CEO, ArtExpert, Montréal
Louise Poulin serves as a board member for the Canadian Conference of the Arts and for Culture Montréal, is president of the Montréal Cultural Mentorship Working Group, and is a founding member of Arts Consultants Canada. She has 20 years of experience as an arts and culture manager and executive director, working with theatre and dance companies, including La La La Human Steps, Dynamo Theatre, Circus, la Grosse Valise, and major cultural events such as the Festival de théâtre des Amériques, the Montréal International Mime Festival, and the Congrès annuel sur l'industrie du disque (Rencontres de RadioActivité) in Paris. Louise studied Programming Orientation from Disney University, Orlando, specializing in program, organizational, and infrastructure assessment. ArtExpert is a firm offering strategic cultural analysis, research, and feasibility studies in arts and culture.

Jim Morrow, Artistic Director, Mermaid Theatre, Windsor, NS
Mermaid Theatre, one of North America's most respected theatres for the young, has toured its shows internationally for 35 years but remains strongly anchored in its hometown of Windsor. The company is currently completing restoration to its main street headquarters façade and renovation of a grand old movie theatre, to operate as a 400-seat performing arts theatre as well as a 60-seat professional development space dedicated to the pursuit of puppet excellence. Other company activities include an Institute of Puppetry Arts and a Youtheatre outreach program. Jim studied puppetry at the Institut International de la Marionnette in France with the late Jim Henson. He serves as Director of Puppetry for Symphony Nova Scotia, is chair of the Artist in Residence Program at the QEII Hospital in Halifax, and is on the executive of the NS Arts and Culture Partnership Council. Jim is a recipient of the 2004 Portia White Prize and a recent recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from his alma mater, Acadia University.

Brigitte Desrochers: For bio, see Day 2 above

Jason Schupbach: For bio, see above 

Shawn Patrick McLearen, Project Manager and Director, International Consulting, Artspace, NYC
Shawn Patrick McLearen has been associated with Artspace Projects since 1994, working in various capacities ranging from community development to international consulting. He now serves as Project Manager and Director of International Consulting. Prior to joining Artspace full time in 2005, Shawn was the Executive Director of CHOROS, a non-profit organization that served as an international platform for artist exhibitions and exchanges.

Andrew Brown, Architect and Facilities Planner, The Resource Planning Group, Vancouver
As a senior planning consultant, Andrew Brown’s expertise ranges from conceptual and strategic planning, typically seen as an aspect of management consulting, to physical planning, typically part of the architectural design process. The Resource Planning Group was responsible for the functional programs for the Vancouver, Seattle, Salt Lake, and Winnipeg Public Libraries, and is currently completing planning work involving the City of Ottawa Archives and new Central Library. The firm’s work has included research, health care, education, and cultural projects. Andrew has served as the University Planner at the University of British Columbia, where he was responsible for siting the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and the University Art Gallery. He has also served as Associate Dean for Planning and Development at the University of Texas School of Public Health, where he focussed, among other things, on the issues of sustainable social capital and cultural health as a much-neglected aspect of general public health.

Paul Henry, Archivist, City of Ottawa Archives
Paul J. Henry is the archivist responsible for electronic records at the City of Ottawa Archives. He began his archival career in the Art, Photo, and Philatelic Archives at the National Archives of Canada, and later served as an archivist at the Directorate of History and Heritage in the Department of National Defence. Paul is a winner of the 2007 Alexander Fraser Award from the Archives Association of Ontario, the 2003 Public Service of Canada Award of Excellence, the 2000 Rt. Hon. Roland Michener Medal from The RPSC Philatelic Research Foundation, and the 1996 Eastern-Ontario Archivists' Association Award. He is a past-president of the Archives Association of Ontario and a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists.

Stewart Boden, Archivist, Archives of Ontario, Toronto
Following a colourful career in municipal, corporate, and not-for-profit archives in Ontario and Manitoba, Stewart Boden has been at the Archives of Ontario since 2001.  He spent five years as the Special Collections Reference Archivist, helping researchers find and use photographic, architectural, and cartographic records. His passion for archival advocacy led to his current position as Outreach Officer, a job he has been doing since January 2007. As Outreach Officer, Stewart coordinates tours of the Archives of Ontario and online and in-house exhibits, and schedules and delivers speaking engagements around the province. Lately a lot of his time is spent raising public awareness about the Archives’ new public service facility, currently being built at York University’s Keele campus, and slated to open in early 2009.

MC Biographies

Day 1

Catherine Murray, Professor, School of Communication/Co-Director, Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Catherine Murray came to SFU in 1992 after a position as Vice-President, Media and Telecommunications at Decima Research, Toronto. Her research interests include cultural participation; cultural infrastructure and creative cities; cultural industries, especially broadcast policy; communication rights and global trade; and research design in audience and policy evaluation. Catherine co-authored Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Media in BC (2007), Researching Audiences (2003), and “BC’s Place Based Approach: Policy Devolution and Cultural Self-Determination” in Cultural Policy and Cultural Public Administration in Provincial and Territorial Governments in Canada (2008), as well as over 60 articles. She has served on nine not-for-profit Boards, including SFU, BC Film, and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council; as a member of the Mandate Review Committee, exploring the future of the CBC, NFB, and Telefilm; as advisor to the Auditor General of Canada on programs in support of Cultural Industries; and as a Member of the Minister of Canadian Heritage’s Expert Advisory Council on the Instrument for Cultural Diversity. 

Day 2

Alain Pineau, National Director, Canadian Conference of the Arts, Ottawa
Alain Pineau, National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, has spent 34 years of his life within the CBC, where he was, amongst others, radio journalist, Managing Editor of French Radio Network News, Associate VP of Regional Broadcasting Operations, and VP of Planning and Regulatory Affairs. Before joining the CCA, he launched and spent nine years managing Galaxie, CBC’s very successful for-profit pay audio service. He has an MA from Oxford University (UK) and has completed studies in public administration at ENAP in Montréal. Alain has sat on the Board of the Foundation of the Governor General’s Awards for the Performing Arts since 1992 and served for many years on the Board of Opera Lyra Ottawa.

Day 3

John Hobday, CM, former Director of the Canada Council for the Arts, Montréal
From 1956 to 1964, John Hobday was Director/Producer of drama with CBC Radio in Halifax; from 1966 to 1971, successively, Theatre Director at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown and Administrative Director of the Neptune Theatre in Halifax; and from 1971 to 1982, the first full-time National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts. In 1982, John was appointed Executive Director, Corporate Donations for Seagram Canada. From 1983 to 2003, he was also Executive Director of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation. He has served on numerous commissions, committees, panels, and boards, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. John has received both the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and Golden Jubilee Medals, the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation and an Honorary Life Membership Award, and the Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada. He was awarded the Diplôme d’honneur by the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 1999 for his service to the arts in Canada. In May 2006, the Canada Council created two annual John Hobday Awards celebrating outstanding achievement in the field of arts management.

Thank you to the following artists (listed in order of appearance) for performing, creating, and participating in the symposium. 
 

Pre-Registration Reception

Mike Yates spent several years as an orchestral cellist performing with the Sudbury, North Bay, Sault St Marie, and Ottawa Symphonies and remains much in demand as a cellist, performing regularly with some of Canada's top performers and recording artists. Mike Yates and the Candidates perform regularly across Ontario, parts of Québec, and the Eastern US, and are considered some of the hardest working musicians in Ottawa. They have a very determined philosophy of "write great songs – play great songs – meet great people – and foremost – have a great time doing it."

Day 1

Loyal Kigabiro: Les Tambours sacrés du Burundi au Canada was formed in May 2006 by a trio of visionary drummers: Godefroid Munyaneza, Nestor Nduwayo, and Patrice Ntafatiro. The 14-member bilingual ensemble combines Burundi’s Sacred Drums music with choreography, partnering on occasion with the all-female group Abezamutima. The group’s goals include creating outreach opportunities for Burundi culture in North America and around the world, assisting children of Burundi’s underprivileged Batimbo families by providing them with school supplies, fostering the longevity of Burundi’s art and culture by teaching its principles to young Burundians living abroad, and enhancing Batimbo’s historical and tourism sites, as well as developing various resources to promote the Sacred Drums of Burundi. Loyal Kigabiro has performed in major venues, including the National Arts Centre (2007), the Ottawa Congress Centre (2007), and Chicoutimi’s Festival des Rythmes du monde (2006 and 2007), as well as Carleton University (2007).

Ever since her arrival in Ottawa in 2003, Marie-Josée Houle has certainly found her niche in the local music scene. Between playing accordion and singing back up for a variety of acts, this lady doesn’t know how to remain idle. Hence her also branching out as a solo artist, allowing her to play private or public shows, and with theatre companies and filmmakers anywhere in the world her itchy feet will take her. Armed with the audacity to play the accordion – the world’s most uncool instrument – and backed by a stellar cast of musicians, Marie-Josée will endear you with her own brand of French Café and Gypsy Jazz and light you on fire with a passion as intense as her hair color.

Steve Boudreau and Jake Von Wurden are both graduates of Carleton University with degrees in Jazz Performance. Steve has studied with many great jazz musicians in Montréal and New York. He is also highly in demand as an accompanist and a teacher.  Currently he teaches privately and through Carleton University. Jake is in high demand as a bassist, sound technician, and producer around Ottawa, with a growing reputation for good taste and clarity in his playing.

An author and performing songwriter, Phil Jenkins has written for a number of magazines, including National Geographic, Traveller, Equinox, and Heritage Canada, and was a feature writer for Ottawa Magazine for five years. His first book, Fields of Vision: A Journey to Canada’s Family Farms, a national bestseller, was published in 1991. His second, An Acre of Time, published in 1996, won the Canadian Author’s Association Lela Common Award for History, jointly won the Ottawa Citizen Non-Fiction Award, and was made into a play nominated for a Governor General’s award. His third book is titled River Song: Sailing the History of the St. Lawrence. From 1991 to 1996, Jenkins was the book columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and he currently writes on interesting city rooms for the newspaper. He has also recently released a CD, CarTunes, with the band Riverbend.

Company of Fools has been delighting audiences all across Canada since 1990. Inspired by the rogue Elizabethan players that once entertained audiences outdoors and at the Globe Theatre, they have built a reputation as a highly physical troupe doing interactive shows indoors and out. Being Fools, they combine physical theatre techniques such as clown, mask, and puppetry with classical text. This unusual mix has earned them critical acclaim across Canada. As part of their mandate they create new works based on and inspired by Shakespeare. Although known for their performances, the Fools are active in the field of education by providing workshops and performances for elementary and high school students. They also program professional development workshops for emerging and established artists in the region.

Day 2

Yves Laroche was born in Pine Falls, Manitoba and moved to Ottawa at the age of five. Inspired by the genius of the late Glenn Gould, he began piano lessons at 13, studying the program from the Royal Conservatory of Music system. During this time, he also learned to play blues and boogie-woogie. After graduating from high school, he discovered the piano styles of Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, which gave him the incentive to study jazz improvisation. Yves became involved with musical theatre and played in such productions as Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, which was the stepping-stone to his professional career. On several occasions he participated in the Festival Franco-Ontario, which gave him the opportunity to play French Canadian folk music.

Garry Elliott's musical roots go back to his early years in Montréal. He developed an interest in the classical guitar and went on to receive a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Ottawa where he studied under Michael Strut. He has been performing and teaching professionally in Ottawa since 1976. Over the years, he has integrated his classical training and love of jazz into a tasteful blend of classical, jazz, and boss nova styles. Garry has recorded prolifically for the CBC and is very active as a soloist, chamber player, and arranger.

Day 3

Leading the pack of upcoming female artists in Canada is Amanda Rheaume. Hundreds of shows, fans, and great stories bring Amanda to life on the entertainment scene. Fronting one of Ottawa's hottest bands, Amanda has become a staple in the Canadian music industry. Showing determination, courage, and strength, she brings a high energy, musically rich, and diverse show to any audience big or small. Presented in partnership with WESTFEST. 

Ana Miura warms the hearts of each audience she encounters. From living rooms to main stages, her smooth, sweet, melodic voice and fluid, finger-style approach to guitar has made her an Ottawa favourite. Voted Ottawa's Best Singer/Songwriter in the Ottawa Xpress, her songs captivate with folky inflections of jazz, pop, and rock. Ana’s debut album, Tenacious Heart, lets you bring her unique sound home. Presented in partnership with WESTFEST. 

Kirsten Carlson completed her Bachelor of Music at Carleton University in 1993, studying composition with Patrick Cardy and Deirdre Piper and flute with Cathy Rollins Baerg. In 1995, she completed her Masters in Music in Composition at the University of British Columbia where she studied composition with Steven Chatman. She studied flute with Lise Germain and performed in master classes with Julius Baker and Peter Lloyd. Since her return to Ottawa in 1995, Kirsten has composed music for theatre and chamber music concerts, and performed solo, with several ensembles, and as a member of the flute quartet Opus Four. She is an enthusiastic teacher and volunteer.

A graduate of the Mexico City Conservatory, Loyda Lastra studied flute with Agustin Oropeza and Gildardo Mojica. In Canada, Loyda studied with Cindy Shuter of McGill University and has performed in master classes for Robert Aitken, Alain Marion, and Julius Baker. In Mexico she played in a variety of groups and worked with composers Mario Lavista, Manuel Enriquez, and Max Lifchitz. Since her arrival to the Ottawa area in 1993, Loyda has played in a number of recitals and fundraising concerts, and as a member of the flute quartet Opus Four. In addition to performing, she is an active private flute teacher. She has volunteered extensively for the Ottawa Flute Association.

Jeff Rogers was born in Bathurst, NB and raised in Ottawa. From the age of 18 he has played in many different bands and styles ranging from rock, pop, funk, punk, blues, swing, jazz, and salsa, and for the past three years, Jeff has been one of the duelling pianists at Fat Tuesdays in the Byward Market. While his repertoire is vast, he is excited to focus on original songwriting, citing BB King and Stevie Wonder among his major influences. With a recently released self-titled first album, Jeff is looking forward to contributing to the Canadian music scene, hoping to bring something different with piano and sax front and centre.

Thank you to artist Lisa Westphal for creating the unique beaded nametags for delegates.

Lisa Westphal attended the Spruill School of Arts in Atlanta, Georgia where she was trained in the art of glass bead-making. She has been designing and creating beads, jewellery, and novelties for six years and has been teaching a bead course at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre for two years. What are Lamp work beads? The Lamp work beads are created from pencil thick multi-coloured glass rods that are heated by a torch using a gas-fuelled flame. The glass used is called Moretti glass and is imported from Italy. When the glass becomes soft (molten), it is wrapped around a stainless steel rod, called a mandrel, which has been dipped in a bead release (clay) in order to prevent the glass from fusing to the rod. Several layers of coloured glass are added on top of the base bead forming different shapes and design.

Thank you to the following local artists who have created “Made in Ottawa” gifts for symposium speakers.

Jim Thomson has been creating in clay since 1973 and has exhibited his work across Canada, the US, the UK, China, Japan, the Netherlands, and Italy. He has lectured at the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, Ontario College of Art, Concordia University, Sheridan College of Art & Design, Queen's University, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Burlington Arts Centre. Jim’s work is found in many private collections and is in the permanent collections of the Canadian Museum of Ceramic Art in Fuping, China and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, as well as in the collections of the Coca-Cola Company, the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto and London, England, and the Ottawa Art Gallery, among many others. His publicly commissioned work, On Top of the World, can be seen at the new Ottawa City Hall. Currently, Jim welcomes new students at his newly built Lolaland Clay Studio in the Gatineau Hills where he conducts workshops and teaches privately. Info: www.jimthomson.ca

Mustapha Chadid, who lives and works in Gatineau, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Design from the Université du Québec en Outaouais (2004). His solo exhibitions include Entre Temps at the Centre d’exposition Raymond-Lasnier in Trois-Rivières (2007); Fil de Temps at the Université du Québec en Outaouais’ gallery (2007); Comme un temps qui n’existe pas at the Karsh-Masson Gallery in Ottawa (2005); and Un temps soit peu at AxeNeo 7 in Gatineau (2005). He has also participated in collective exhibitions, including Comme sur des roulettes at the gallerie Artimage in Gatineau (2004); Recycl’Art at the Centre régional d’art contemporain de Montpellier (2004/05/06/07), at the Festival franco-ontarien in Ottawa, and at Inpex in Pittsburgh (1997). He received several awards, including a special mention from the jury at the Vidéastes recherches competition (Télé-Québec, 2004), a gold medal at Inpex in the US, and a scholarship from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec in 2007. Represented in Ottawa by the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery, 13 Murray Street. 

Chandler Swain lives near Almonte, Ontario in a little house with Michael and the dog and cats on the banks of the Mississippi River in the village of Blakeney. The river and her large flower garden are her muses. She has been a visual artist specializing in ceramics since studying art in Toronto and England in the early 1970s. Chandler is known for her engaging teaching style and runs a popular adult pottery summer camp at her home for two weeks every July as well as giving invitational workshops to other potters around Ontario, Quebec, and the US. Her work is included in several important publications on ceramic art, including Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface (Robin Hopper, KP books 2004); Handbuilt Tableware (Kathy Triplett, Lark Press, 2001), and 500 Tea pots (Lark Press, 2003). Chandler was a co-founder of 260 Fingers, an annual invitational exhibition of Ottawa area ceramic artists (www.260fingers.ca). Represented in Ottawa by the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery, 13 Murray Street. 

Erin Robertson explores a variety of materials and themes as a multidisciplinary artist and art educator. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Guelph University, Erin has maintained a studio in Ottawa for the past 16 years where she has created works for public and private collections, including the Museum of Civilization, the Canadian Postal Museum, and the Ottawa Business Association. She has worked as a scenic painter and props maker for film and theatre, and has designed and fabricated numerous murals and sculptures for museums and public spaces. Erin is an instructor at the Ottawa School of Art, where she teaches all age groups, including Diploma Drawing. She has facilitated several workshops for the Ottawa Carleton School Board, the Ottawa School of Dance, and private institutions. Erin has created illustrations for publications such as the Great Canadian Theatre Company brochure, the Children’s Museum, and Guerilla Magazine. Erin shows regularly in Toronto, Montreal, and the Ottawa region. Represented in Ottawa by the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery, 13 Murray Street. 

Jeff Stellick, born and raised in Saskatchewan, received a BFA from the University of Regina with a major in printmaking. After graduating he worked at a number of different jobs: as an art teacher at a native-controlled school, a designer for a crest company, a graphic technician for a university chemistry department, a draftsman for a gas company, a political cartoonist, and as the printmaking technician for the Alberta College of Art – all the while continuing to develop his own artwork. He received an MFA from Concordia University with a concentration in studio arts. Jeff has taught at Concordia University, the University of Ottawa, and the Ottawa School of Art. He has also presented workshops and demonstrations for the National Gallery of Canada, Cork Printmakers (Ireland), Atelier de l’Ile, Atelier des Milles Feuilles, and le Conseil de culture de la gaspésie. Jeff has been director of the Ottawa School of Art since 1988, and has exhibited his work in Canada, the US, and Europe.

Born in Montréal, Michèle Provost is a long-time resident of the Ottawa area, where she first studied and worked as a parliamentary translator, before discovering a passion for visual arts. Her artwork, which encompasses various improvised media, is part of several private and public collections, including those of the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, the Canada Council Art Bank, and the Ottawa Art Gallery, and has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions, across Canada, and abroad.

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PHOTO CREDITS
Surrey Arts Centre | Surrey, B.C. | Photo: Surrey Arts Centre
TransAlta Arts Barns | Edmonton, Alberta | Photo: TransAlta Arts Barns
Graff Centre de Conception Graphique | Montreal, Quebec | Photo: facility website
Salle J.-Antonio Thompson | Trois-Rivières | Photo: Trois-Rivières Tourism
The Varley Art Gallery | Markham, Ontario | Photo: The Varley Art Gallery