In this edition of At The Mic, we bring you Heather Young of Young Associates in conversation with the ACCA’s Jane Needles. Heather is an expert in Financial Management for the Arts and has just published two books on the subject which are something that should be on every consultant’s bookshelf and in every Arts Administration teacher’s required reading lists for their students.

ACCA recognizes the generous support of Unity Design Studio for sponsoring this podcast! — Unity Design Studio (https://www.unitydesignstudio.ca) is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum which you heard about in our last podcast!

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Introduction and Welcome
• 00:18 - Guest Introduction: Heather Young
• 01:05 - Heather's Expertise and Background
• 01:44 - Discussion on Heather's Books
• 03:17 - Impact of the Pandemic on the Arts
• 05:24 - Regional and Organizational Differences
• 10:30 - New Financial Models and Community Engagement
• 19:07 - Challenges in Arts Administration
• 26:29 - Conclusion and Farewell

Useful links from this episode:

• Purchase “Finance for the Arts in Canada”: https://www.youngassociates.ca/finance-for-the-arts-in-canada
• Young Associates' free glossary: https://www.youngassociates.ca/glossary/
• Scale Collaborative: https://scalecollaborative.ca/programs-and-initiatives/
• Thriving Nonprofits (one of Scale's programs): https://www.thrivingnonprofits.ca/
• Mass Culture - https://massculture.ca/
• Alex Sarian, “The Audacity of Relevance”: https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance/
• Max Wyman, “The Compassionate Imagination”: https://www.cormorantbooks.com/the-compassionate-imagination/
• David Maggs, “Art and the World After This”: https://metcalffoundation.com/publication/art-and-the-world-after-this/

Heather Clara Young, CPB (Principal, Young Associates) founded her company in Toronto in 1993 to provide bookkeeping, payroll, training, consulting and data management services to not-for-profits and charities, specializing in the arts and culture sector. Heather teaches accounting and financial management i...

In this edition of AT THE MIC, we bring you an exceptional example of how Canadian architects are putting contemporary values into action today.

Our guests are Bill Lett and Michael Gallant, registered architects with Unity Design Studio. Unity is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum.

The Canadian Canoe Museum, located on the Traditional Territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations in Peterborough, Ontario, has stewarded, for the last 27 years, the world's largest and most significant collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft. More than 600 in number, these watercraft and their stories have a pivotal role to play in understanding our past and our collective future.

Award-winning local architectural firm Unity Design Studio (formerly Lett Architects Inc.) assisted The Canadian Canoe Museum in realizing a creative vision for our waterfront home and campus.

Unity Design Studio’s dedicated professionals are passionate about creating connected, happier, and healthier communities. By blending architecture, design, strategy, and engagement, they collaborate to tackle today’s challenges and build resilience. They believe that lasting impact comes from working together, uniting diverse stakeholders around a shared vision to inspire meaningful, positive change.

Bill Lett has 25 years of experience and was inducted into the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2018. He has led the design of major municipal, cultural, healthcare, and institutional projects across Ontario, working closely with diverse stakeholders, administrators, councils, and government agencies. Bill loves to seamlessly integrate buildings into their communities and is dedicated to transforming project delivery by embracing more collaborative design and construction models.

Michael Gallant leads Unity’s design direction. He has guided major projects across Ontario, while also serving on boards such as the Electric City Culture Council and Peterborough DBIA where he was chair from 2020-2023. Michael finds inspiration in client collaboration, aiming to create lasting impacts. He also supports Unity’s project teams, ensuring alignment with the studio’s values and strategic goals.

Unity Design Studio
Canadian Canoe Museum
Integrated Project Delivery Alliance

We are back with a new season of At the Mic / Au micro, ACCA’s podcast available now on our YouTube Channel and your favourite podcast platform. We are delighted to kick off this season with a very special guest, Alex Sarian, as he is about to launch his new book, ‘The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture. ‘

ACCA recognizes the generous support of Unity Design Studio for sponsoring this podcast! Unity Design Studio is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. You’ll hear more about them in the next podcast!

In this timely and valuable conversation, our guest Alex Sarian shares some of his wisdom on making arts organizations relevant today gained from his personal experience and that of others. Alex joined Arts Commons as President & CEO in 2020 after seven years of leadership roles at Lincoln Center. In addition to overseeing this major facility in downtown Calgary, he also leads the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canadian history, the Arts Commons Transformation. His new book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture to be released later this month is already being praised as a “manifesto for the arts in times of crises.”In this episode of At the Mic, Au Micro, presented by Arts Consultants Canada, we explore how arts and cultural organizations can stay relevant in today's rapidly changing landscape. Guest Alex Sarian, President and CEO of Arts Commons, shares his insights from leading major arts projects in Calgary and his experience with global arts institutions. We dive into Alex's book, 'The Audacity of Relevance,' and discuss critical conversations about the value proposition of the arts, community engagement, and new business models. Don't miss this inspiring talk about the future of the arts in a post-pandemic world.

Alex Sarian:

Alex Sarian was appointed as President and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary in May 2020. He is noted as being the youngest executive to oversee a major performing arts centre in North America. Prior to joining Arts Commons, Sarian held leadership roles in New York City for nearly two decades. He was previously an executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where he led grant-making, global consulting, community engagement, education, and artistic programming for young audiences and families.

• Alex Sarian
• The Audacity of Relevance
• LinkedIn
• Alex Sarian (@alexsarian) on X
• Arts and Culture Activator

ACCA:

• ACCA
• ...

Hosted by Victoria Steele with invited guest expert, Roger Gaudet: Arts organizations have always sought out partnerships to help them develop - to increase their dissemination and production opportunities, to reach new audiences or to share services and infrastructure. Your organization may be thinking of entering a partnership with a group in another sector - or considering a long-term collaboration with an organization that is quite different in structure or mandate. Roger Gaudet and Victoria Steele discuss a simple exercise that partners can do to get to know each other better, improve communication and smooth the way forward in partnering activities.

Animé par Victoria Steele avec l'expert invité Roger Gaudet: Les organismes artistiques ont toujours recherché des partenariats pour les aider à se développer - pour accroître leur diffusion, augmenter leurs opportunités de production, rejoindre de nouveaux publics ou partager des services et des infrastructures. Votre organisation envisage peut-être de conclure un partenariat avec une autre organisation dans un autre secteur - ou envisage une collaboration à long terme avec une organisation dont la structure ou le mandat est très différent. Victoria Steele et Roger Gaudet discutent d’un exercice simple que les partenaires peuvent faire pour mieux se connaître et faciliter la progression des activités de partenariat.

As we approach the end of 2023, how has the arts and culture industry adapted since the pandemic - or has it? Considering the current state of inflation and economic instability, what unique revenue generation challenges are arts organizations facing now? Tune in for a discussion with Sue Edworthy and Ben Dietschi as they talk about virtual events and online platforms, collaboration with other sectors, the preferences of younger audiences, and the ever-evolving financial and artistic landscape all without ever using the word pivot.

Ben Dietschi:

Ben Dietschi is a Senior Consultant with the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, supporting a diverse array of organizations to achieve short and long-term goals in the areas of strategic planning, artistic planning, marketing, fundraising, change management, and community engagement.

Since joining the Institute, Ben has led or assisted 50+ strategic planning processes, conducted regional arts ecology studies, and served as advisor to 30+ organizations. Recent clients include The Yale Schwarzman Center (New Haven), The Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), Step Afrika! (Washington, DC), Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), The Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music (New Orleans), and Kentucky Shakespeare (Louisville).

Prior to joining the Institute, Ben was executive director of Soundstreams, Canada’s leading contemporary music and opera producer. During his tenure, the organization expanded revenues by 67% to support more staged opera and immersive performances, launched an ambitious international touring program, and transformed its brand to reach new audiences. He spearheaded the launch of a guest curator program designed to address the fragmented talent pipeline for music curators in Canada and contribute to the organization’s artistic succession plan.

Ben has served on the boards of several cultural institutions, frequently speaks at industry forums and conferences, and has served on numerous award and grant assessment panels. He received a distinguished alumni award from Brandon University and completed the DeVos Institute Global Arts Management Fellowship from 2017–2019.

Fundamentally, his arts management ethos rests on formative years as a saxophonist and composer, performing and recording across North America and Europe, experiencing the transformative power of the arts firsthand.

Sue Edworthy:

Sue Edworthy has worked in the non-profit performing arts for over twenty years, with stints as a director, event coordinator and arts administrator. She is now in demand as a consultant, speaker, and facilitator. She has run 75+ workshops on marketing, social media and branding, including the inaugural Work in Culture Marketing Masterclass in 2021/22. In addition, her company Sue Edworthy Arts Planning provides counsel, solutions and support for individual artists and arts organizations in areas such as marketing, branding, strategic planning, mentorship and facilitation.

Sue is a former Board Member for TAPA, was co-chair for Artsvote 2014, 2016 and 2018 and spent two years of a seven-year stint as Vice President of The Toronto Fringe Festival. She is a Harold Award recipient, received the 2012 and 2013 Char-PR Prize for PR, and was the 2015 recipient of the Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for Excellence in Arts Administration. Most recently she hasaccepted the Marketing position for Arts Consultants Canada.

How are municipalities and other regional governments approaching culture planning and strategy? What trends are taking hold in how municipal and regional planners are approaching culture planning and culture service delivery? How have municipal cultural planning goals shifted?

In this episode of At The Mic, Peter Lyman and Mila Dechef-Tweddle from Nordicity discuss their observations of how culture planning has evolved over the past decade and what approaches their team use to ensure a successful, community-engaged planning process.

Peter Lyman is Senior Partner of Nordicity, which he co-founded in 1979. He guided Nordicity’s merger with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998 and was made national lead partner for the Information Communications and Entertainment/Media practice. He then led Nordicity’s re-emergence as a standalone firm in 2002. Over the decades, he has found new ways to drive the business and help companies, arts and heritage institutions, industry associations and government agencies transform themselves to the digital world.

Peter is a media commenter and frequent panelist or moderator at professional conferences. He is active in the arts and social justice community, as past chair of the board for the Inspirit Foundation, governance chair of Canadian Stage in Toronto, and currently a board member for Caribbean Tales Media. He is an adjunct professor at Schulich Business School at York University, where he teaches cultural policy to the MBA students in arts and media. He is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Mila Dechef-Tweddle is a Director based in Nordicity’s Toronto office. She is a skilled consultant and accomplished leader who works closely with clients and stakeholders to proactively respond to key issues and opportunities.

Building from her background in museums and heritage, Mila works primarily with clients in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Her work ranges from policy analysis, evaluation, and development, to economic and social impact assessment, to strategy development at the organizational and sector level.

Fluently bilingual in French and English, Mila has a proven track record of developing and implementing multifaceted methodologies and leading effective stakeholder and community engagement in both languages to inform the development of meaningful and actionable recommendations for her clients.

ACCA:

• artsconsultants.ca
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• At The Mic / Au micro

How do consultants work effectively with diverse and marginalized communities, especially those who may challenge consulting norms? How do they build meaningful relationships in order for authentic community voices and data to be gathered?

In this episode of At The Mic, consultants and ACCA members, Dr. Terri-Lynn Brennan and Annalee Adair discuss their approach to working with equity deserving groups and Indigenous communities. They emphasize the importance of trust, relationship building, and challenging norms in their work. They share their experiences in challenging systems and measuring change, particularly in engaging with diverse communities and giving voice to marginalized groups. They highlight the concept of story reporting, where they collect and present qualitative data that honours the authenticity of voices in the community.

Link to slides discussed in this episode:

ACCA:

• artsconsultants.ca
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• At The Mic / Au micro

How do consultants and architects approach working with communities, arts organizations, and city builders to successfully develop or redevelop new cultural spaces? What are the true foundations of arts infrastructure and what’s next in the future of cultural planning?

In this edition of AT THE MIC, we bring you a conversation about some essential contemporary approaches to imagining and reimagining cultural spaces. Our guest Sabrina Richard and moderator Christina Bagatavicius will share some of their wisdom gleaned from twenty years of experience. They are the co-founders of the Bespoke Collective, a forward-looking creative consultancy that is committed to redefining how culture and civic life bring people together.

ACCA acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for this podcast series. / Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada pour son soutien à cette série de balados.

Sabrina Richard is the Director of Research and Planning at Bespoke Collective. An architect by training and a cultural planner by profession, Sabrina has led numerous large scale and complex architectural and cultural planning projects across Canada and internationally spanning needs assessments, feasibility studies, strategic planning, and community engagement. She is dedicated to the realization of thoughtful, dynamic, and meaningful cultural spaces enriched by innovative design, public engagement, community activation and inclusive consultation.

Sabrina is also a published author, designer and strategist focused on building a more equitable, inclusive, and resilient arts and culture ecosystem. Some of her recent projects include support for Indigenous Fashion Arts (IFA), the New Orleans Triennial of Art (Prospect), the Public Art Strategy for the Downsview Lands Development.

As the Principal of Bespoke, Christina Bagatavicius believes in forward-looking cultural programming, uplifting public engagement processes, and communications that captures the hearts and minds of a wider public. She collaborates with inspiring and creative clients who are committed to making lasting positive change.

Christina brings over fifteen years of international experience working with renowned culture and city building projects. Prior to launching Bespoke, she was the Curator and Head of Interpretation at the Tate in London, where she shaped the visitor experience for a world-leading art museum. During her time as a Project Director at Bruce Mau Design, she worked with a global roster of creative clients, from the Oprah Winfrey Network to the Liverpool Biennial.