In a galaxy not so far away...

I love Star Trek. There… I said it. And when I say love, I mean LOVE!! More than I probably love my husband. Love, love, love, love… So when I had a chance to visit Vulcan during the last ACE Communities Ignite tour… well. You can only imagine.

My trip to Vulcan was to present them with their ACE Communities Award and to get a real feel for the community. It was a chance for a true ‘in-the-trenches’ view of what makes Vulcan tick.

What I discovered during my visit was very interesting. Vulcan, it seems, is a place in flux. It’s a community taking a serious look at both its cultural and pop cultural identities. And in Vulcan, that is a tricky exploration. Because, despite the rather impressive statue of the Starship Enterprise on the proverbial doorstep, not everyone in Vulcan necessarily loves Star Trek as much as I do.

Shocking, I know.

As part of their journey to becoming an ACE Community, Vulcan expressed an early interest in expanding arts and culture in their town. To answer this need they have already set up initiatives like a new concert series (starting with Blues Legend Tim Williams on Feb. 12^th) and are working towards other related events. And yet, much of their identity as well as their economy are driven by events like their Spock Days/Galaxyfest. Without a doubt, the number of tourists that visit Vulcan per capita is enough to put the big cities to shame.

Still, Vulcan’s foray into the sticky realm of identity has really made me wonder: is pop culture the same as culture?

My first instinct is to say yes! Of course it is… as a huge addict of pop culture, I would argue that much of our music, film, literature, and art is rooted in the drama of real life. Or, in Star Trek’s case, the drama of fantasy life. The pull between our real lives and escapes from the same are what makes us human. It defines us and thus, defines our community.

In Vulcan’s case, however, the question is do they really want their identity to be driven by a galaxy far, far, away (no wait… that’s Star Wars), on what the town has to intrinsically offer despite its trademark name, or a little bit of both?

This is a question that I’ll ponder as I happily wear my plastic Vulcan ears and sip from the Gothic Spock mug I purchased from the Vulcan Tourist center. In my mind, it makes sense to celebrate one’s community for both what is has and for what it can be – even if what you’ve got is a little …. out of this world.

Validation is just a mouse click away

As someone who has spent most of her career in the arts, I have devoted a lot of energy in convincing people (funders, patrons, art collectors, newspaper editors… the list goes on) that they should invest in the arts. And when I say invest, I don’t necessarily only mean money – not that money is bad. Bring the money on… No purism for me! No, what I really mean is the investment of time, energy, faith, and conviction.

For me, commitment to the arts, culture, and heritage is a huge investment in the quality of life for you, your family, and your community.

Luckily for me, and for anyone who is currently in the position of writing a fundraising proposal, presentation, or brand new policy, ACE Communities has now launched the online version of the Benefits Catalogue. Included in this Catalogue is a database of over 700 studies proving the value of recreation, parks, sport, arts, culture and heritage.

The 2009 Benefits Catalogue, in essence, is an online tool that provides updated evidence for 50 outcomes statements using leading-edge technology. The vision of the Benefits Catalogue is one of sustainability with always-current research and evidence. Users, in fact, are encouraged to upload their own personal research or studies that the Catalogue might be missing.

This living resource summarizes evidence that what we do – as recreation and cultural providers - really does make a difference and has a significant impact as economic, social, and/or political drivers. It provides users with an invaluable resource for policy development, planning, marketing, program/service development and/or evaluation.

Type in ‘arts’, ‘culture’, and ‘heritage’ into the search engine and actual documented studies are found that prove that these three fields:

· are essential to personal health and well-being

· provide the key to balanced human development

· provide a foundation for quality of life

· reduce self-destructive and anti-social behaviour

· build strong families and healthy communities

· reduce health care, social service and police/justice costs

· are a significant economic generator

This same type of search can be done for topics like: active living, aboriginal issues, children and/or adults, cultural diversity, living with disability, seniors, parks, and recreation. And then – voila! - the database formats the results into a handy, dandy pdf ready for print. Your work is fait accompli.

And I ask you, has research ever been easier? So if you are currently in a position where you need or want to prove the benefits of parks, recreation, arts, culture, and heritage, look no further! Validation is just a mouse click away.

So visit: http://benefits.acecommunities.ca

Etsy.com: The Medieval market gone virtual

I recently had an insightful chat with an old school friend of mine. Eileen is one of the few friends I still… luckily… have from my art history graduate days at the University of Toronto. Those were tough, demanding times and she was my strongest comrade-in-arms in the art historical trenches. Not all of us made it out of that MA Program with our sanity (or dignity) completely intact.

The conversation that we had the other day was about how she was using Twitter to drive people to the photographs she currently has on sale on www.etsy.com. Etsy.com is a popular point-of-sale site used to sell homemade objects varying from art, jewelry, clothing items, and furniture to accessories for your pampered pooch. Some call it ebay’s funky, artsy little sister.

The fact that the two of us were having an au courant 2010 ‘technology’ talk was very amusing to me. My favourite memory of Eileen was the two of laughing as we sat discussing our medieval art history class at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the U of T. This very serious and lofty class used to crack us up. You never knew when someone might spontaneously start speaking in Latin (kinda like in the Exorcist) or show up wearing a minstrel-style cape. Twitter was definitely not the rage back then.

It’s interesting how technology has shaped so much in the past few years. So much, in fact, that old dog former art historians like Eileen and myself (although, she was always way more computer-savvy than me) have had to dust ourselves off and engage with current practices.

So back to etsy.com. It’s funny how things have changed and not changed at the same time. What Etsy is, in essence, is an artisan marketplace – with undeniable medieval roots - gone virtual. Items are still being crafted in cottage industries, brought to market (albeit virtually) then sold to a buyer. The change is that the buyer and/or seller can now be almost anywhere in the world. Even us parchment-reading types have to admit that the economic impact of such an initiative is mindboggling.

The medieval artisan market has evolved into a cyber-community celebration of the creative individual. But don’t be fooled, it is still an economic enterprise driven by millions of dollars in sales for its combined members.

Rob Walker, in his article “Handmade 2.0” for the New York Times Magazine, writes: “For Circa Ceramics, and for crafters in general, Etsy is another manifestation of how D.I.Y.-ism has evolved. Its motivation may still be the independence from capitalism ... But it can also be about a form of economic independence within capitalism.”

In practice, Etsy is very aware of its role as an alternative to traditional marketplaces and actively celebrates its community grassroots. One of the services it provides is ‘Etsy Teams’. These teams are groups of organized Etsy members who network, share skills, and promote their shops and Etsy together. A Team forms around a shared location, crafting medium, or another interest.

Etsy's 450+ Teams make the site not just a marketplace of individuals, but an interconnected and diverse artistic community. The teams, in fact, are Etsy’s biggest and most creative grassroots engine for support, networking and marketing.

While I am most definitely not a shopper, I do have a fetish… dare I say obsession… for handcrafted art objects. I’ve been supporting my little bubble of capitalism for years by buying objects off of various art sites. Now that I’ve discovered Etsy, I could be in trouble. Because, for me, there’s nothing as exiting as that little brown, art-filled package, waiting patiently for me on my doorstep.

So I will raise the cry: “Medievalist shoppers…embrace technology and unite!”

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To check out Etsy: www.etsy.com

For Rob Walker’s complete article on Etsy: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16Crafts-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Interested in my friend Eileen’s Etsy site? See: http://www.etsy.com/shop/easelarts?ga_search_query=easelarts&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Not Your Usual Resolution

T’is the season for New Year’s Resolutions. I personally am not the biggest fan of the ole New Year resolution. Eat less, exercise more, be nice to puppies and small infants…. these are just some of the things that we promise ourselves yearly that we will - without a doubt - carry through with.

“Ach pbbttt!” my Irish-mother-in-law would say. And you can’t argue with the simplicity of that logic. How many of these things do we actually stick with once the grind of post-holiday life kicks in? Why can’t we just be better, thinner, happier version of ourselves forever, and ever, and ever without the muck and the fuss?

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I spent a few days recently travelling with Ian Hill, our ACE ambassador, on the ACE Ignite tour. Not only is this tour a celebration of our new ACE communities, it is also an opportunity to ignite the communities into further action.

The Ignite Tour is as what one community leader in Trochu said: "A pat on the back and a kick in the butt at the same time."

Part of this call to action was a very inspirational talk by Ian Hill. Ian, an award-winning philanthropist and businessman, often centered his speech on the power of the individual. “Imagine,” he said, “what your life would be like and the life of your family, if you woke up tomorrow and decided to be 10% better. What if you aimed to be a better mother, a better husband, a better neighbour?”

“Now imagine,” he continued, “if everyone in your community woke up that day and decided the exact same thing. How much better would the quality of everyone’s life be then?”

I heard variations of his speech as we travelled together over those few days. By day three and possibly ten speeches later, I finally stopped and thought to myself: “hey – maybe its time that I figured out how I could be a better person and a better citizen.”

Some are clearly slower on the uptake than others.

So here is not one … but ten resolutions that I plan on making in 2010 to not only better myself but to better the quality of life of the people around me. 2010 is going to be fierce!

Janet Naclia's 2010 New Year's Resolutions

1) I will stop and make a meaningful connection with at least one person every week in my neighbourhood. And I don’t mean some fluffy, quick nod of the head… I really want to know an interesting fact, idea, or value relating to the people around me.

2) I will listen earnestly to someone else’s opinion everyday without judgment. I will make sure to take one positive thing away from each of these encounters even if I think they are full of crap. Oops – scratch that last bit. I’ve fallen off the wagon already and I’m just at number 2!

3) I will spend extra time every day scratching the bellies of my basset hounds – even when I feel like I don’t have the time or the patience.

4) I will make every effort to improve my mind with new ideas and rise to all challenges. An engaged mind is a benefit to my family, my employers, my friends, and my community.

5) When I workout, I will give it my all no matter how much I think I might upchuck. This is purely in respect to those who are nearly upchucking next to me.

6) I will always stop to help those in need – the lady who looks lost on the street, the mini-van stuck in the snow bank, the gentleman looking for the last dollar for his bus ticket.

7) I will eat fewer pastries because I know they are bad for my cholesterol. I didn’t say I would STOP eating them, though. Who am I – superwoman?

8) I will spend more quality-time with my parents. Because, you know, I really like them. Maybe I’ll get my mom to teach me how to make pierogies.

9) I will make an effort to speak to my very dear ‘out-of-town’ friends at least once a month. No matter what! I have that unlimited calling plan and I just don’t know why I don’t use it more.

10) I will increase my volunteer-work because it really does feel good to help others. They don’t just say that so you get out there and volunteer. It’s true. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Do you have any resolutions you would like to add? I would love to hear them… especially if they involve basset hounds…. you know, doing good in the community.

Memphis and Me

I had the distinctive pleasure last week of participating in the ACE Communities Ignite Tour. This, essentially, is a series of launches for the 10 brand new ACE Communities who came on board this September.

The tour involved visits to 5 rural Alberta communities (the 2^nd stage of the tour happens in January) where Ian Hill, the ACE Ambassador, presented to them their ACE Award and then had in-depth conversations with community members. Never having experienced an Ignite Tour before, I went along to soak it all in.

What I experienced was a real grassroots movement, in the trenches, eating home-cooked meals, meeting with community members and discussing salient issues. It was absolutely exhausting, enlightening, and I loved it!

This tour really got me thinking about my work with ACE. As the Creative Cultural Liaison, it is my aim to have a true impact in these communities in regards to the arts, culture, and heritage. It is a huge task and, in my personal opinion, the best job around.

The question I have been batting around in my head since my time on the tour is how exactly does one influence the ‘creative’ side of a community? Especially since, as I learned, each community is so unique.

Luckily for me, great minds have already been working on this very question. In my research regarding what I like to think of as the heart and the soul of community, I came across the Memphis Manifesto.

This document was created at the Memphis Manifesto Summit – an event hosted by Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, and Carol Coletta, host and producer of the award-winning public radio interview program, Smart City.

Held in Memphis in 2003, this gathering of the creative class called ‘The Creative 100’ was a group selected from nominations from across North America. Coming from 48 cities in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, the Creative 100 wrote this manifesto for their own communities and for all communities seeking to compete in today’s economy.

I am encouraging all who have even the smallest interest in creative communities to read this manifesto. I’m so committed, in fact, that I have included it below in this blog as well as provided a link to the document in its entirety.

Basically, this document is 10 points… 10 points!... easily read… that can help any community become a community of ideas! Consider this my new personal manifesto.

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The Memphis Manifesto: Building a community of ideas

Preamble:

Creativity is fundamental to being human and is a critical resource to individual, community and economic life. Creative communities are vibrant, humanizing places, nurturing personal growth, sparking cultural and technological breakthroughs, producing jobs and wealth, and accepting a variety of life styles and culture.

The Creative 100 are committed to the growth, prosperity and excellence of communities, and all who live and work there.

The Creative 100 believe in the vision and the opportunities of a future driven by the power of ideas. Ideas are the growth engines of tomorrow, so the nurturing of the communities where ideas can flourish is the key to success. Ideas take root where creativity is cultivated and creativity thrives where communities are committed to ideas.

Creativity resides in everyone everywhere so building a community of ideas means empowering all people with the ability to express and use the genius of their own creativity and bring it to bear as responsible citizens.

This manifesto is our call to action.

Principles:

The Creative 100 are dedicated to helping communities realize the full potential of creative ideas by encouraging these principles:

1) Cultivate and reward creativity. Everyone is part of the value chain of creativity. Creativity can happen at anytime, anywhere, and it’s happening in your community right now. Pay attention.

2) Invest in the creative ecosystem. The creative ecosystem can include arts and culture, nightlife, the music scene, restaurants, artists and designers, innovators, entrepreneurs, affordable spaces, lively neighborhoods, spirituality, education, density, public spaces and third places.

3) Embrace diversity. It gives birth to creativity, innovation and positive economic impact. People of different backgrounds and experiences contribute a diversity of ideas, expressions, talents and perspectives that enrich communities. This is how ideas flourish and build vital communities.

4) Nurture the creatives. Support the connectors. Collaborate to compete in a new way and get everyone in the game.

5) Value risk-taking. Convert a “no” climate into a “yes” climate. Invest in opportunity- making, not just problem-solving. Tap into the creative talent, technology and energy for your community. Challenge conventional wisdom.

6) Be authentic. Identify the value you add and focus on those assets where you can be unique. Dare to be different, not simply the look-alike of another community. Resist mono-culture and homogeneity. Every community can be the right community.

7) Invest in and build on quality of place. While inherited features such as climate, natural resources and population are important, other critical features such as arts and culture, open and green spaces, vibrant downtowns, and centers of learning can be built and strengthened. This will make communities more competitive than ever because it will create more opportunities than ever for ideas to have an impact.

8) Remove barriers to creativity, such as mediocrity, intolerance, disconnectedness, sprawl, poverty, bad schools, exclusivity, and social and environmental degradation.

9) Take responsibility for change in your community. Improvise. Make things happen. Development is a “do it yourself” enterprise.

10) Ensure that every person, especially children, has the right to creativity. The highest quality lifelong education is critical to developing and retaining creative individuals as a resource for communities.

We accept the responsibility to be the stewards of creativity in our communities. We understand the ideas and principles in this document may be adapted to reflect our community’s unique needs and assets.

For the Memphis Manifesto in its entirety, please see:

http://www.norcrossga.net/user_files/The%20Memphis%20Manifesto.pdf

The Writing Challenge... are you up to it?

One of my not so secret secrets is that I’m attempting to write a novel. I’ve been doing so for what feels like forever and it is probably a few chapters away from completion. That is, if I ever get around to looking at my first draft again.

The reason for this massive delay is that writing is really, really… really hard. On the flip side, it’s also massively rewarding when it goes well. After complaining yet again about this thorny face of writing, a friend recommended that I read Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Lamott, like myself, acknowledges that the process of writing can be… wait for it… really hard sometimes. She, however, has some sound advice on how to suck it up and keep writing. Aspiring writers read this book!

It is this painful bit of first-hand experience that makes me endlessly appreciative of any form of writing. I’m especially delighted, then, when I come across great pieces of writing by people who are entirely unexpected.

Take for example, The Joining of Dingo Radish by Rob Harasymchuk. It was my father who introduced me to this book. Offhandedly one day, he mentioned that a guy he worked with happened to have written a book in his ‘free time’. This book turned out to be an award nominated, page turning, crime/thriller set in a small, rural town and Harasymchuk’s first novel. Harasymchuk, a Project Superintendent for a construction company, is a self-taught writer whose dream it is to tell people’s stories for a living.

I read Dingo and was jealous. Not only did Harasymchuk write the perfect Prairie underdog story, he managed to capture the nuances - good and bad - of life in a rural town. Plus, he finished HIS book.

Equally putting me to shame is Chris Willard’s Sundre: a novel. Willard, a former New-Yorker who is currently head of the Painting Department at the Alberta College of Art and Design, wrote this – his second book – after moving to Alberta and becoming captivated by the vastness of the prairies. After spending time in Sundre and in their archives, Willard wrote what reviewer Robert Coover called: “An affectionate elegy for a gone time, laced with strands of old-fashioned prairie wisdom in the face of life’s sad turns.”

Hey – wait a minute! Why is this New Yorker writing the prairie story I SHOULD be writing? I’m sorry. Did I say I was jealous yet?

So, I wonder time and again… what compels people to write these amazing stories? Is it the seductive feeling of a hard battle won over the self-doubting voices in your head? Is it because of the urge we have to communicate our inner thoughts and feelings to others? Or is it the simple need to tell a really good story whether it is about an unlikely hero like with Harasymchuk’s Dingo or, with Willard’s Sundre, about a time in our history slowly being forgotten?

University of Calgary English professor Harry Vandervlist has always been amazed at the tenacity many writers show in drafting and re-working their material. “If you take the time to look at the work an author puts in, which you can sometimes do by studying all the drafts and revisions available at a good archive collection, you realize just how many thousands of hours go into a good piece of writing. The only reason writers stick with the job, I’ve always thought, is because they don’t have any choice. Writers write because they have to. It can be an addiction that doesn’t make life easier for the author, but without it we’d be a lot poorer as readers.”

Our compulsion to write, to tell our stories, in fact, has realized itself in online writing groups, book clubs, poetry slams, and writing camps across the province. It’s for reasons like this that resources like the Writer’s Guild of Alberta exist. See their website (www.writersguild.ab.ca) for info on support for writers as well as for organizations looking to connect with Alberta’s writing talent.

So here’s my challenge to you. Get writing! We all can do it with a little commitment, fearlessness, and support. I’ll show you my work in progress if you show me yours.

Please see:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (Pantheon Books)

The Joining of Dingo Radish by Rob Harasymchuk (Great Plains Publications)

Sundre: a novel by Chris Willard (Esplande Books)

Cultural Intelligence - how would you score?

How judgmental do you think we are as a culture or, more importantly, of culture itself? There’s no denying that we are constantly striving to improve ourselves, to embrace multiculturalism, to champion human rights, and promote diversity. How often, though, do we stop… I mean really stop… to consider what all of this means?

I had an ‘ah ha’ moment a few weeks ago while attending Alberta’s first ever Aboriginal Recreation Leaders Summit hosted by ACE Communities and the Indigenous Sports Council.

At the end of the event, participants were asked to comment on what they had learned. When it was his turn one gentleman named Tommy Quinney, a volunteer recreation advisor from Frog Lake, stated this as his reason for dedicating himself to improving his community.

“When I die and meet the Creator,” Quinney said, “the last thing I would want him to think was that I was ever ashamed to have been an Indian.”

“Wow,” my brain said. Funny concept that – that in this day and age someone might still have to defend himself or herself for being who they are. Pride in oneself and one’s community can still be a hard fought battle no matter what that community is. It’s the Boomers versus the Net Generation, the artsy fartsys versus the corporations, the green movement versus the oil guys. Why can’t we all just get along?

In a session at the recent Alberta Recreation and Parks Association Conference, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Jennifer James speak on ‘Cultural Intelligence: What’s your score?’. It was her argument that for humanity to evolve, we must first observe, learn, understand, and evaluate our own culture as well as the culture of others. She argued that we must embrace diversity and give up what she phrased a ‘single option perspectives’ in order for us to advance our civilization past values based on money and power to a place where an overall sense of community is our greatest asset.

Culture it seems can be defined in clumps based on identity. There is the gay culture, the comic book culture, the yummy mummy culture, and your classic culture based on ethnicity. It is whatever defines you and your chosen group.

In fact, if we want, we can easily alter Tommy Quinney’s statement. Maybe the thing you aren’t ashamed of is being working mom or a single dad. Or maybe it’s that you are a lesbian… Jewish… gay… a white Irish Catholic male...an East Indian woman… a feminist…a sci-fi geek…or First Nations. We could all spend hours defending our chosen culture whether it is one of ethnicity, social, or political leanings. The question arises, what can we do so that we can all evolve to a place where we won’t need to defend our cultures anymore?

I personally would like to take a lead from Tommy Quinney. I believe that we all work hard to improve the community that we are in; the rest of the world will follow. It seems what we really need to do is to BOTH take pride in ourselves and joy in learning about others. Simple enough. The real question is then: if you had to rate your cultural intelligence – what would be your score?

For more info on Dr. Jennifer James’ most recent book see: "Thinking In The Future Tense" and her upcoming new book, "Cultural Intelligence".