What does advocacy look like at the Rozsa Foundation
By Lisa Mackay
As you may know, the Rozsa Foundation engages in advocacy in support of and alongside the arts sector at each of the three orders of government. What you might not know is what that looks like or means. We recently completed a community engagement process in support of our next strategic framework, and that lack of understanding was one of the many useful insights we gained.
And that confusion is understandable, as advocacy is not always visible work. You might see a campaign asking you to write to City Council, see photos from a meeting with government, or see us at a policy announcement. What you don’t necessarily see is the research, conversations, coalition-building, relationship-building, and preparation behind those moments.
As well, even when advocacy is successful, there isn't often a big announcement. A relatively small meeting can introduce an idea that someone carries into another conversation or creates an ally within government. A briefing note can give a public servant useful evidence to carry your recommendations forward. Sometimes we can draw a direct line between advocacy work and a decision, but more often than not, it isn't that straightforward.
Although I am no longer full-time staff at Rozsa Foundation, (or even in Calgary!), I am continuing to work on three projects for the Foundation. I will describe them here so you know who to contact about these things, but also because it might give you a better understanding of what advocacy at the Rozsa Foundation looks like.
I am still working on the steering committee for Creative Calgary, which is now focused on Calgary City Council’s upcoming budget decisions. We know that this Council is eager to hear from, and make decisions benefiting their constituents, so it is important that they know that support for the arts matters to people in their ward. Our committee, a coalition of amazing Calgary arts leaders, has been developing shared strategies and messages, meeting with councillors and other decision-makers, and creating ways for Calgarians to speak directly to Council about why investment in the arts matters to them.
And as a heads up, the next few weeks will require collective action and help from you! We need arts organizations across Calgary to put the campaign in front of their audiences, participants, volunteers, artists, and supporters. We’ll soon be making available a package with draft notes to deliver from the stage, social posts, newsletter copy, and artwork to make that easier. The more Calgarians City Council hears from, the stronger the message will be. If you want to make sure you receive that package, please send me an email!
At the national level, I’m continuing to serve on the Canadian Arts Coalition steering committee through Arts Day on the Hill, which took place last week. The meetings in Ottawa were the visible part, with pictures shared on socials, but they rely on months of work to identify shared priorities, build agreement across the sector, prepare evidence and materials, including a pre-budget submission, and develop relationships with elected officials and public servants. We also work with a government relations firm, PAA, who can give us insights into current government priorities we can work within and arrange for the in-person meetings. I invite you to follow along on Instagram @artscoalitionca to meet the other delegates and see who we wound up meeting with.
I am also still working towards the first phase of an arts and social prescribing project which might not seem like advocacy, but is actually another approach to the work. Here, advocacy begins with testing an idea. We’re working with arts organizations, community partners, students from the Cumming School of Medicine, and health partners like Healthy Aging Alberta to create the start of a project connecting older adults with arts experiences through CARYA’s Link Workers. The project will give us, and others interested in social prescribing, better information about what arts organizations, Link Workers, and participants need for a successful program to potentially scale up. We are also being careful to include mechanisms for feedback and research to track involvement vs health outcomes. That evidence can help inform a larger conversation about the role the arts could play within health and social-care systems, which will eventually involve the province and health policy.
The projects are different, but the work behind them is similar: understanding an issue, gathering evidence, working with other people towards a goal, developing practical solutions, building relationships, and creating opportunities for the community to work alongside and in partnership with us.
Advocacy and policy change rarely follows a straight line. Sometimes it means making a direct ask. Sometimes it means doing the work now that makes change possible later. Both avenues are exciting for me and somewhere the Rozsa Foundation continues to have an impact. It fulfills our mission of strengthening the arts sector in Calgary and Alberta from a different angle. I am grateful that I get to continue this work from afar, and happy to answer any questions you might have about our advocacy work.
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