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Vancouver: Creative City?

Two years ago, the City of Vancouver began something called the Creative City. City Council directed the Task Force to “work with the community to develop strategic recommendations on the City’s future role in arts and culture.” It’s goal: “To develop a 10-year, long-term plan for arts and culture in Vancouver.”

More than two years later (eight years to go?), on April 23, 2007, from 8:30 am to 5 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse, they will be holding their first public forum. Admission is free.

Personally, I don’t have a lot of faith in municipal plans that strip away existing communities (driving away the poor, including artists), in favour of giant shiny Starbucks-condo forests, only to ask 20 years later: “Hey, where’s all the culture?” Artists are keenly aware that “community” is not a living room set from Ikea; there is no out-of-the-box solution. Communities need to build themselves, over time, when favourable conditions exist in the first place—not because we want them to be there—and a culture unique to that place develops over time as well. Art, then, flourishes in these real communities; it follows and mirrors and records culture. This includes illustration, animation, and design. So.. Creative City? I’m wincing a bit…

BUT:

I do urge Vancouver artists to get involved and have your voices be heard. It’s killing me that the public forum takes place on a day I’ll be out of town, or you can bet I’d be there asking questions. I hope to follow this as it develops and be a part of it if I can.

  • http://www.groveartworks.com/ jaleen

    Fortunately, some pretty great people are already on the ball to head off the downside of artist-driven gentrification in Vancouver. Irwin Oostindie (of Gallery Gachet) and Jayce Salloum have been heading up meeting with top city officials and with downtown eastside artists to work out acceptable strategies. They have started the DTES Community Arts Network with clusters addressing the following interests:

    SPACE: developing a co-op gallery/studios/gallery shop/artist & spaces support centre..
    FEARLESS: dtes arts and community newspaper, working on it’s second edition..
    DTES Arts Festivals: coalition of existing and prospective festivals/programming..
    HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS: housing projects & plans, coalition building, liaison with SLICHC..
    POLICIES: developing strategies and positions on bonuses/variances/bylaws..
    RESOURCES: finance/budget/fundraising/development/endowment (Friends of CAN)..
    COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP: website, mailing lists, outreach, membership growth..
    PERFORMING ART(S): theatre, music, dance projects
    HEALING ART(S): yoga, martial arts..
    CRITICAL STUDIES: art school/lecture series, critical reviews/tours, theory&practice;, liaison with edu institutions in the area (SFU-SCA etc)..

    Email me for more details. jaleen at gmail.com

  • http://www.groveartworks.com jaleen

    Fortunately, some pretty great people are already on the ball to head off the downside of artist-driven gentrification in Vancouver. Irwin Oostindie (of Gallery Gachet) and Jayce Salloum have been heading up meeting with top city officials and with downtown eastside artists to work out acceptable strategies. They have started the DTES Community Arts Network with clusters addressing the following interests:

    SPACE: developing a co-op gallery/studios/gallery shop/artist & spaces support centre..
    FEARLESS: dtes arts and community newspaper, working on it’s second edition..
    DTES Arts Festivals: coalition of existing and prospective festivals/programming..
    HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS: housing projects & plans, coalition building, liaison with SLICHC..
    POLICIES: developing strategies and positions on bonuses/variances/bylaws..
    RESOURCES: finance/budget/fundraising/development/endowment (Friends of CAN)..
    COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP: website, mailing lists, outreach, membership growth..
    PERFORMING ART(S): theatre, music, dance projects
    HEALING ART(S): yoga, martial arts..
    CRITICAL STUDIES: art school/lecture series, critical reviews/tours, theory&practice, liaison with edu institutions in the area (SFU-SCA etc)..

    Email me for more details. jaleen at gmail.com

  • http://chowderheadbazoo.typepad.com/ RodF.

    Nice post, Luc. Smells like corporate lip service to me. And HR guys like Sir Ken Robinson aren’t exactly priming my creative juices.

    We all know that the real juice is in the plum positions for the lucky few who can art-speak and wrangle their way into the newly formed little bureaucracies that will make everything a complicated rodeo but will look real good for the cameras.

    Let’s get manufacturing that culture!

  • http://chowderheadbazoo.typepad.com/ RodF.

    Nice post, Luc. Smells like corporate lip service to me. And HR guys like Sir Ken Robinson aren’t exactly priming my creative juices.

    We all know that the real juice is in the plum positions for the lucky few who can art-speak and wrangle their way into the newly formed little bureaucracies that will make everything a complicated rodeo but will look real good for the cameras.

    Let’s get manufacturing that culture!

  • zatoichci

    I totally agree with your post, Luc. Administered culture isn’t culture, it’s administration. Who needs the govt to create art anyway. f’em. I liked your illustrative description of Van also. As a Van resident, I can literally watch the city get uglier and less inspiring by the minute. sux

  • zatoichci

    I totally agree with your post, Luc. Administered culture isn’t culture, it’s administration. Who needs the govt to create art anyway. f’em. I liked your illustrative description of Van also. As a Van resident, I can literally watch the city get uglier and less inspiring by the minute. sux

  • http://www.luclatulippe.com/ Luc

    Thanks for everyone’s comments!

    I agree that the only people who’ll really see any benefit to this thing are the “South Granville Art Gallery set” y’know what I mean? Those of us who are likely to come to places like Drawn are not the audience that this is meant for. But that’s exactly why we should attend these meetings, otherwise no one knows we’re out there!

    I admit, I don’t have much faith in it. But if there are opportunities we can take advantage of in this, we owe it to ourselves to check it out. If only to ask questions and hear answers.

    I still think and believe that the only true culture and art in this or any city can only come from the heart — as corny as that sounds — and not from the top down, like this. Artists will keep doing their thing, either by continuing to try to live here, or they’ll move away to other more affordable towns and do their thing there. It’s an organic thing, and it happens when it happens.

    I’m still curious about this thing though, and hope to follow its progress. It’s up to the rest of us non-South-Granville-ites to hold their feet to the fire about stuff like this too.

  • http://www.luclatulippe.com Luc

    Thanks for everyone’s comments!

    I agree that the only people who’ll really see any benefit to this thing are the “South Granville Art Gallery set” y’know what I mean? Those of us who are likely to come to places like Drawn are not the audience that this is meant for. But that’s exactly why we should attend these meetings, otherwise no one knows we’re out there!

    I admit, I don’t have much faith in it. But if there are opportunities we can take advantage of in this, we owe it to ourselves to check it out. If only to ask questions and hear answers.

    I still think and believe that the only true culture and art in this or any city can only come from the heart — as corny as that sounds — and not from the top down, like this. Artists will keep doing their thing, either by continuing to try to live here, or they’ll move away to other more affordable towns and do their thing there. It’s an organic thing, and it happens when it happens.

    I’m still curious about this thing though, and hope to follow its progress. It’s up to the rest of us non-South-Granville-ites to hold their feet to the fire about stuff like this too.