Arts & Culture Policy

• Provide a framework for Council’s consideration, decision-making and allocation of municipal support for arts and culture;
• Provide a vision that inspires and calls everyone to action, including Town of Collingwood Council, staff and volunteers, the arts and culture community, and Town residents and visitors, to support and develop arts and culture in Collingwood;
• Provide a means for the arts and culture community to engage and act in partnership with the Town.

• Arts include design arts, visual and performing arts, music, literary arts, electronic arts, communications and media, crafts, festivals and events.
• Culture includes arts, built and natural heritage, the history of the community, ethno-cultural identity and expression, language and literacy, urban design, artistic expression and creativity in all sectors of the economy and the community.

• Downtown Collingwood as a vital arts and cultural core, a source of pride for the residents and a recognized arts and culture destination;
• Opportunities and access to arts and culture as the right of every person;
• Recognition of the value creativity and imagination as necessary to a vibrant, developing community; supporting the development of the human imagination through arts, culture and education;
• Arts and cultural festivals and events throughout the year to enrich and enhance our downtown, neighbourhoods, parks, public spaces and places of work and as a valuable economic engine for our community;
• Communication networks that link artists and artisans, arts groups and organizations to one another and to the community at large; an infrastructure that includes databases, resources for education and funding, media and promotions;
• Our evolving identity as a sense of place, heritage, innovation, diversity and inclusiveness, celebrated and explored through the arts;
• Long–term investment and collaborative planning (including capital partnerships with the Town, organizations and groups) that sustain Collingwood’s cultural health and the strength of its vital cultural organizations; where support for our arts community promotes Collingwood as a significant arts destination sustaining artists and cultural institutions into the future.

Principles

• Arts and Culture will be recognized, nurtured, encouraged and promoted as an integral part of life in Collingwood. The Town of Collingwood recognizes and endorses the following:
• Arts and Culture is one of four pillars of sustainability
• Arts and Culture is a fundamental core component of community identity, and contributes strongly to sustaining community quality of life.
• Arts and Culture is important as it encompasses many elements, including arts, built and natural heritage, the history of the community, ethno-cultural expression, language and literacy, urban design, artistic expression, and creativity in all sectors of the economy and the community.
• Collingwood’s unique cultural assets and identity strengthen the community as a cultural tourism destination, supporting and enhancing other attractive features of the Town.
• Collingwood’s arts and cultural activity, organizations, resources and products are key elements for educating residents and visitors.
• Collingwood’s arts and culture represents a diverse range of components which will enrich the lives of all of its citizens.

• A vibrant arts and culture sector helps to attract and retain creative, entrepreneurial, skilled, committed and enthusiastic businesses, workforce and volunteers.
• An environment supportive of creativity is a catalyst for innovation and imagination, inspiring renewal, growth, prosperity and vitality.
• The arts and culture community is comprised of a diverse group of artists, artisans, organizations, arts and cultural workers and volunteers who are involved in the creation, production, presentation and distribution of arts and culture.  Whether professional, semi-professional or non-professional, all are important and valued.
• The Town of Collingwood’s Arts and Culture Policy requires ongoing planning and development, and annual evaluation of its arts and cultural activity and growth.
• As the advocate and steward for arts and culture in Collingwood, the Town will create an environment in which the arts and cultural community can be sustained and nurtured through economic investment and cultural renewal.
• The Town will develop an effective marketing and communications strategy for promoting Collingwood's arts and cultural activities to further community involvement in and awareness of arts and culture.
• The Town will promote Collingwood’s arts and cultural activities in its tourism and economic development initiatives.
• Cultural identity is important to providing a framework for sustainable growth.  A community that embraces and protects its sense of identity is able to respond to the evolving dynamics and needs of it citizens both young and old. 
• Growth of a vibrant arts and culture community requires strategic partnerships with private and public investors, and alliances between the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
• It is important to recognize and celebrate volunteers, arts and cultural achievements and initiatives.
• Supporting the creation and enhancement of arts education programmes within the work of arts organizations encourages cultural renewal and growth.

• Culture is an important pillar of a sustainable community.
• The quality of life, augmented by the community’s cultural products, attracts business, industry, new residents and consumers of cultural products. “The arts community make significant contributions to our economy. According to a recent study commissioned by Business for the Arts:
• Currently, government investment in the performing arts sector earns a positive return of over 200% based on direct and indirect benefits.
• The real beneficiaries of cultural investment are Canadian communities. The multiplier effect on a region’s economy is 8.5 when induced benefits are included.” (Canadian Arts Coalition)
• The tangible benefits of “cultural tourism” make significant contributions to our economy. For example, the Stratford Festival has developed into an industry for a community which was failing. Collingwood has seen the economic benefits of the Collingwood Elvis Festival, Theatre Collingwood and the Collingwood Summer Music Festival. “When $1.00 is invested directly or indirectly in cultural activities it generates $3.20 in economic activity.” (Canadian Arts Coalition)
• Cultural tourists stay longer and spend more than other tourists.
• “Leisure travellers who include a culture/heritage activity in their trips travel longer distances, have longer stays and higher spending per trip compared to other leisure travellers.
• “From jazz festivals to world-class heritage sites, Canadians love culture and will travel great distances in their own country to attend certain events or experience unique parts of Canada’s history or culture.”
• (Statistics Canada, Quarterly Bulletin from the Culture Statistics Program, Focus on Culture, Summer 1998).
• Arts and culture are "cornerstones of the creative, knowledge-based economy".  (Conference Board of Canada, Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, August 2008).

• Support of artistic and cultural activities may be represented by both financial and other resources.
• By virtue of funding, the Town lends groups, artists and not-for-profit organizations credibility and accountability. This recognition raises the status of artists, projects and organizations in the eyes of other potential supporters, funding groups, levels of government and the private sector.
• Recognition through financial and other resources encourages capacity building of events, activities and programmes within the community.
• Public art must be developed and maintained in order to enhance the quality of public spaces in Collingwood.

• The full development of arts and cultural resources demands adequate facilities.
• All individuals, groups and organizations are entitled to participate.
• All artistic and cultural activities may take place in a variety of venues and spaces, indoors and outdoors, fully accessible to the public.
• Where possible, the Town will incorporate planning for artistic and cultural programmes in future developments of public facilities.

• It is important to provide cultural organizations with support and assistance, in a pro-active manner, for promotion, advertising, and marketing of cultural opportunities, activities and events happening in Collingwood for the residents of our community and beyond.
• Clear communication is necessary between the Town and the cultural organizations, to ensure the circulation of information about cultural opportunities, activities and events offered in our community, as well as facilitating the inclusion of cultural information with materials and brochures about the Town.
• Making arts and culture available to all is valuable and important, particularly to those with barriers to overcome or limited opportunities for exposure to cultural experiences and activities, in order “to foster social inclusion and cultural diversity” (from the Town of Collingwood’s Sustainable Community Plan).
• It is necessary to assess gaps and plan to address needs on an ongoing basis.