I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the ties that arts, culture, and heritage have to community building. I’ve also been thinking, in fact, about culture’s ties to recreation, capacity building in general, and the economic impact of creativity. Gah! As you can rightly imagine, my brain is quickly filling to the brim.
There has been a lot of interest lately in the connection that the arts have to the quality of life sectors like recreation but also the connection they have to building both community and economic capacity.
I recently attending a talk on this very subject in Calgary called ‘Creativity as an Economic Force’, the Indigenous Sport Council Alberta’s (ISCA) upcoming conference in Red Deer touches on this as well (I know because I am hosting the session!!), and even the Canadian Confederation for the Arts (CAA) has just made a conference call for topics related to artists powering the economy.
Why all the recent interest?
Much of my personal musing on the subject has been sparked by two things: 1) the recent ACE ARTS Tour in Grande Cache and 2) the various ways I hope to report on what I have learnt.
If you haven’t, by some miracle, heard me mention it yet, the ACE Alberta Rural Talent Showcase (ARTS) Music and Dance Tour is a 4-day initiative meant as an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate and grow local talent. ACE truly believes that fostering arts, culture, and heritage is what make all communities better places to live, work and play.
The ACE ARTS Tour, with musicians John Wort Hannam (Juno-nominated) and John Rutherford as well as dancers Michelle Greenwell and Emma Forman, have just returned from Grande Cache and the first inaugural, dare I say groundbreaking, ARTS Tour. This Tour culminated in dance and music workshops and performances in Grande Cache schools, senior centers, their recreation centre as well as workshops in Susa Creek for the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation.
If I were to use my recent experience in Grande Cache as a test example, I can easily think of many ways that arts, culture, and heritage were used to both build community capacity and drive the economy.
It was during this recent ARTS Tour that I saw a group of complete strangers meet over their love of the guitar and form a brand new peer group. It was there that I also saw a local café donate their space for artistic workshops and then benefit from the business of the attendees.
I visited the Susa Creek School and was gifted a book of drawing and poems made by community members of the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation to both celebrate and promote their culture. Myself, along with over 500 participants, benefited from the knowledge and skills of two professional musicians and two professional dancers and they, in turn, made a living wage. I also heard these same artists comment repeatedly on how much they were personally inspired by the enthusiasm of the Grande Cache community.
The list could go on…
Because of history, we know that it has been celebrations involving arts, culture, music and dance that have strengthened families and communities. It is these celebrations that build our confidence and self esteem and express a vision for the kind of community we’re seeking. It is the arts, culture, and heritage that ultimately teach us that joy can be achieved in sustainable ways.
For images from the Grande Cache ACE ARTS Tour see: http://acecommunities.ca/gallery/P12/
