Volume 4 - Issue 3
Thursday July 16, 2015
Hello

The Garden City is bustling as excitement grows for the opening of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. We are excited to bring you more exciting cultural news and events for St. Catharines.
Kudos
      
     
Congrats to the Niagara Youth Orchestra for winning the "ALL FOR COMMUNITY CHALLENGE" during the Niagara Falls stop of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay evening celebration!
 A BIG St. Catharines welcome to the Foster Festival. The new festival celebrating renowned Canadian playwright Norm Foster is coming to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in 2016!
In the Spotlight

St. Catharines LOVES Culture!

The City of St. Catharines is excited to officially participate in Culture Days for the first time! Culture Days celebrations will take place nation-wide on September 25, 26 & 27, 2015.


Culture Days is a national movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. Culture Days will feature free hands-on activities that invite the public to participate in the "behind-the-scenes" world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work.


The City has created a Culture Days Assistance Program to provide financial and/or in-kind support for this inaugural year of Culture Days activities in St. Catharines. For those interested in planning an activity, Culture Days offers great resources, podcasts, and webinars to help you get started. Click here to check out their tips and tools. 


Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for Culture Days updates.

For more on Culture Days in St. Catharines visit: www.stcatharines.ca/CultureDays
City News

St. Catharines Arts Awards
Photo Credit: The Brain Farm

 

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the 2015 St. Catharines Arts Awards a fantastic night! 300 people were in attendance for a great night of performances and celebration of the St. Catharines art scene. Stay tuned for the 2016 Arts Awards as we move to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre!

 

For more information on the 2015 Arts Awards recipients visit: www.stcatharines.ca/ArtsAwards

 

Arts Award Designs

Three shortlisted Arts Award designs are now on display at the St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatic Centre. You can visit the centre to view all three works of art, and share your feedback with City staff through an online survey or a survey sheet available at the reception desk. The Arts Awards Design Selection Panel will select the new St. Catharines Arts Award design in the fall.

 

To learn more about the designs and give your feedback visit:  www.stcatharines.ca/ArtsAwards#designs

 

Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

On June 8th St. Catharines City Council approved Dereck Revington Studio as the design team for the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial. The approval also included $60,000 in the 2015 Capital Budget for Phase 1 of the project.

 

Join Us: August 6, 2015, for the design unveiling and other announcements related to the Memorial.

 

Hamlet in the Park

Driftwood Theatre is rolling back into Montebello Park with their Bards Bus Tour, presenting HAMLET, the world's most famous play, like you've never seen it before! In addition to the performance, stick around afterwards for a post-show Q&A with the cast!

 

The performance is Friday July 17 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is pay-what-you-can (suggested $20/person). In the event of inclement weather, the performance will be moved to Market Square on King Street. - Remember to bring a chair or blanket.

 

For more on this event visit: www.driftwoodtheatre.com

 

Movies and Music in the Outdoors

Moonlight Flicks is back for another summer of free Friday night films and live concerts.

 

The City of St. Catharines will feature free movie screenings at Lakeside Park on most Friday nights in July and at Montebello Park in August. The festivities begin at 7 p.m. with live music; movies begin at dusk. Bring your own lawn chairs, blankets, snacks and drinks.

 

To view the line-up of movies and music visit: www.stcatharines.ca/MoonlightMovies

 

Economic Importance of Culture in Ontario

In June Statistics Canada released the Provincial and Territorial Culture Satellite Account, 2010 report. It provides insight into the economic importance of arts and culture in Ontario and across Canada.

 

The report found that:

  • Arts, culture and heritage products represent $21.9 billion of the province's gross domestic product (GDP) and over 278,800 jobs,
  • Ontario's arts, culture and heritage sector represents $23.8 billion or 4% of the province's GDP and over 301,000 jobs.

The City of St. Catharines is one of several government partners - federal, provincial and municipal - as well as non-governmental organizations that are participating in Statistics Canada's development of the Cultural Satellite Account (CSA), a framework to produce precise and reliable data on the economic importance of culture, arts, heritage and sport in Canada.

 

To read the full report from Statistics Canada visit: www.statcan.gc.ca
Calls and Opportunities

Catherine Street Park Mural Project

As part of upcoming Culture Days programming, the City of St. Catharines is inviting Niagara based artists and artist-led teams to submit an original design for a new community mural project at Catherine Street Park. The mural will be on two sides of the utility shed in the park: the back wall and the door.


Designs should complement this playful gathering place in St. Catharines that is enjoyed by a variety of community members, including children in the nearby schoolyard. The successful design will be executed by the artist along with community members as a Culture Days activity on the September 25-27 weekend. 


To view the Call to Artists visit: www.stcatharines.ca/CallstoArtists

Submission Deadline: Wednesday August 12, 2015 at 4 p.m.


Meridian Centre Community Suite
The City of St. Catharines will again offer some of the best seats in the house for Niagara IceDogs games to local community youth groups and charities.

 

Interested organizations can apply at www.stcatharines.ca/Suite

Submission Deadline: Friday, August 14, 2015


Museum's Guided Spirit Walks

The St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre is preparing for its annual Guided Spirit Walks in Victoria Lawn Cemetery on September 11, 12, 18 and 19. This year's walk will highlight the life and deaths of workers during the Welland Canal construction.

 

The museum is seeking volunteers to help as theatre crew or to do historical research, script writing, sewing and costuming. Also, males ages 15 to 25 are required to portray young fallen canal workers. To learn more contact Adrian Petry at 905-894-8880 or [email protected]

 

Community Projects | Leadership Niagara

Leadership Niagara is now accepting project applications from not-for-profit organizations. Each year their leaders are broken into teams and help a local non-for-profit with a project of their choice. Click here for more on the application process.

Submission Deadline: Friday, September 11, 2015
The Cultural Services office is a division of the City of St. Catharines' Parks, Recreation and Culture Department. Cultural Services focuses on public art, community development, planning and policy related to arts and culture in the City of St. Catharines.