Vancouver Arts Summit: Thursday afternoon

Unfortunately, I was so busy helping get things set up and running smoothly yesterday that there was no time to report on the afternoon of the Summit. I was helping out at the Facilities session moderated by the tireless Jacquie Gijssen from the City of Vancouver's Cultural Services department. There was an excellent sneak peak into the Woodward's project, including a lowdown on W2. There were also a few updates and discussion about the Coal Harbour Performing Arts Complex and the York Theatre on Commercial Drive. The session was informative and an excellent overview of some of the many ways the City is moving forward on the Culture Plan. It is also worth noting that our Executive Director, Amir Ali Alibhai, has been named the chair of the Cultural Facilities Implementation Team, an ad hoc advisory group that will meet with city planners on a regular basis.

I was extremely sad to have missed the lively discussion that ensued at the New Media session in the Van Dusen room. I was told there was a great deal of discussion about the relative merits of web-based arts reporting and the uncertain future of traditional print media. Charles Campbell, who chaired the session, also made a presentation at the Alliance's Annual General Meeting about the Vancouver Arts Website. For more information on this proposal, check out the blog post about it. Speaking of the AGM (which was the best attended AGM in the Alliance's recent history - although the free drinks may have had something to do with that!) we are extremely pleased to welcome four new board members to the Alliance: Cory Philley, Trevor Battye, Sandy Garissino, and Paul Gravett. Also, special thanks to all our existing board members who stayed on. We are currently getting ready to hear from our Federal Culture Minister, James Moore, who declined to participate in the Summit but is using the opportunity to make a funding announcement. We'll keep you posted.