REAL Final Presentations
Introduction
The 2020 Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) final presentations were moved online to ZOOM this year due to the COVID-19 world-wide pandemic.
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To prepare a final presentation, each REAL participant was requested to identify a complex issue in their arts organization and then elevate the concern to an arts sector-wide issue. They were assigned a partner who had a similar complex issue and were tasked with identify 5 BOLD Ideas to address the situation. Four of these bold ideas were developed together as partners prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 5th idea which was originally to be developed in a community consultation process became an idea related to the COVID-19 situation.
2020 REAL Cohort
Lanre Ajayi, Danielle Whyte, Bob Davis, Bethany Yon, Scott Carey , Ken, Pillipow, Col Cseke, Geraldine Ysselstein (facilitator), Nicole Mion, Stephanie Pahl, Lisa Mackay
The REAL final presentations offer the participants an opportunity to define a complex issue, connect more deeply with another REAL participant, see a complex issue from a different perspective, dream big, practice concepts learned in the REAL program, and share ideas with the arts community. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing a written summary of their 5 BOLD Ideas, a video recording of their presentation, and a graphic recording that was captured during their presentation by Sam Hester.
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Each of the presentations began with a welcome, an overview, and a land acknowledgement video that acknowledges that “together we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the people of Treaty 7 region, which includes the Blackfoot First Nation tribes of Siksika, Kainai and Piikani, the Tsuut’ina, the lyarhe Nakoda First Nation tribes of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley and the Region 3 Métis Nation of Alberta”.
2020 REAL 5 BOLD IDEAS Final Presentations:
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Presentation 1: Stephanie Pahl & Bob Davis
How do we create and share art locally, regionally, and nationally that is connected back to Calgary?
How can the arts re-imagine and respond to the changing political and economic landscape?
Presentation 3: Danielle Whyte & Lanre Ajayi
How do we use our networks to expand our reach in a way that also respects artists and arts professionals?
Presentation 4: Lisa Mackay & Bethany Yon
How can the arts sector actively (rather than passively) respond to the changing political and economic landscape?
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Presentation 5: Col Cseke and Scott Carey
How are we better support the mental health of Calgary's artists and arts workers?
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Presentation 1: Stephanie Pahl and Bob Davis
How do we create and share art locally, regionally, and nationally that is connected back to Calgary?
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Our first presenters were Stephanie Pahl, the Chief of Staff at the National Music Centre (NMC) and Bob Davis, the General Manager at Old Trout Puppet Workshop.
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Stephanie Pahl is a born and raised Calgarian and a passionate patron of arts and culture who grew up in a musical family. Since completing her education in Arts and Cultural Management at MacEwan University in 2014, she has worked at NMC in a variety of roles. NMC is a museum, presenter, and incubator that preserves and celebrates Canada’s music story inside its home at Studio Bell in Calgary’s East Village. In her current role as Chief of Staff to the President & CEO, Stephanie works to increase operational efficiency, enhance work-place culture, cultivate and steward partnerships, manage special projects, and represent the executive office.
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Bob Davis has over the last 20 years engaged the diverse landscape of the arts, rural communities, and non-profit organizations as an administration professional and volunteer. Bob currently lives in Strathmore where he is the General Manager for the Old Trout Puppet Workshop (Old Trouts), a company of artists dedicated to re-imagining the art of puppetry. Since 1999 they have made puppet shows for both children and adults that tour the world, written and illustrated several books, crafted immense sculptures, taught eager young apprentices the secrets of their mystical art, made some award-winning films and even tried their hand at opera.
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Presentation 1 Illustration by Sam Hester
Presentation 1 Synopsis
Presentation 1 Slide Deck
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Presentation 2: Nicole Mion
How can the arts re-imagine and respond to the changing political and economic landscape?
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Our second presenter was Nicole Mion, Artistic Director & Executive Producer for Springboard Performance.
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Nicole Mion is an artist and curator whose practice focuses on creating space that supports the making and experience of live performance. She is also the Artistic Director & Executive Producer for Springboard Performance, an arts company that is passionate about designing space for art creation and the systems that support a cultural ecosystem which amplifies the careers of boundary-pushing artists. They produce the Fluid Movement Festival, Interrarium creation workshops and residencies, the creation and dissemination of new performance works, and design and activate the containR Art Park for cultural place-making.
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Presentation 2
Synopsis
Presentation 2
Slide Deck
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Presentation 3: Lanre Ajayi & Danielle Whyte
How do we use our networks to expand our reach in a way that also respects artists and arts professionals?
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Relationships, connections, networks, and community matter. In the second session of the Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) program, we explored networking and community building with our guest faculty Jenna Rogers. Networking, it was discussed can seem uncomfortable for arts professionals because it evokes feelings of forced conversations and a fake performance. Community building may seem more desirable but can appear vague and a catch-all for everything. Jenna helped us to understand that communities are already built, but they need networks.
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In part 3 of our 5 BOLD IDEAS series, our REAL participants Lanre Ajayi (Artistic and Creative Director, Ethnik Festivals) and Danielle Whyte (Managing Director, Downstage Performance Society) explore networks through the question: “how do we use our networks to expand our reach in a way that also respects artists and arts professionals?” Their presentation has been captured through a written summary, a video recording, and the following graphic recording by Sam Hester.
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Presentation 3
Synopsis
Presentation 3
Slide Deck
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Presentation 4: Lisa Mackay & Bethany Yon
How can the arts sector actively (rather than passively) respond to the changing economic and political landscape?
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The arts sector in Calgary and across this country has seen a lot of change, disruption, and evolution in the last couple of months. We are learning to engage with audiences in an online platform; lean into the discomfort of listening to artists and arts managers who are black, indigenous, and people of colour; strategize and plan for an unknown future; adapt to changing financial realities; and re-consider the value that the arts has in society when it is not physically accessible.
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When we began the Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) program in January of this year, we like everyone else had no idea the snowball effect that COVID-19 would have on the world. In our final Rozsa Executive Arts Leadership (REAL) presentation sharing on 5 BOLD IDEAS which was presented on April 15th, 2020, our REAL participants Lisa Mackay (Marketing & Communications Manager) and Bethany Yon (past Executive Director, Cowtown Opera Company) ask the question: “How can the arts sector actively (rather than passively) respond to the changing economic and political landscape?” Their presentation has been captured through a written summary (below), a video recording (create a link), and a graphic recording by Sam Hester.
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Presentation 4
Synopsis
Presentation 4
Slide Deck