This Is What We Do

One of Ontario's first community arts councils, Guelph Arts Council has been in existence now for almost thirty years. It functions as an umbrella organization, working to stimulate and co-ordinate the development of the visual, heritage, literary and performing arts so as to enrich the cultural life of this community and to encourage widespread appreciation of, support for and involvement in the arts. The programs offered are many and diverse.

Guelph Arts Council plays an important role in community facilitation, helping to identify community cultural needs and, where appropriate and possible, serving as a catalyst or initiator of new ideas or programs. Recent such involvements include the AGOG Visual and Media Arts Celebration, Gateway to Arts and Heritage website, Feasibility Study for a Guelph Visual Arts Community Centre, and Guelph Visitor & Convention Services. Over the years, the Council has helped seed many community organizations/projects such as Royal City Musical Productions, Guelph Youth Singers and Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, to name only a few.

Guelph Arts Council also participates regularly as a representative of the arts in many community undertakings, ranging from various City of Guelph strategic planning processes to Communities in Bloom, Guelph Visitor & Convention Services and the Grants Review Committee. In these and other community involvements, Guelph Arts Council helps to ensure that arts, culture and heritage are "on the table."

Community services are central to Guelph Arts Council's role. The Resource Centre provides key support for local artists and member groups as well as the community at large. It consists of:

• reference materials such as directories, funding information, artists guides and many booklets on heritage as well as the literary, performing and visual arts
• a library of arts-related periodicals not readily available elsewhere in the community
• resource files on area artists and arts-related topics and organizations
• computerized Arts Directory listings of local artists and arts organizations
• display racks for information brochures on local and provincial events

Another important Guelph Arts Council service is the Master Events Calendar which assists community groups in planning their events, especially to help avoid scheduling conflicts. All groups are therefore encouraged to contact the Arts Council office as soon as an event or activity is scheduled.

The materials collected for both the Resource Centre and the Master Events Calendar are also essential to the production of Guelph Arts Council's newsletter, Arts in Guelph. Published bi-monthly, it features a comprehensive calendar of area events, exhibitions and courses as well as timely articles on arts and cultural activities and issues. Some of the newsletter information is also excerpted here.

One of Guelph Arts Council's newest roles is as site administrator for the guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca website which serves as a Gateway to Arts and Heritage for Guelph and Wellington County. This innovative site is both a comprehensive community resource and a service to artists, arts groups and arts-related businesses who can set up their own sub-sites and posts news and events listings.

Local artists and arts groups can also make use of various office services provided by Guelph Arts Council -- for example, photocopier, mailing machine, fax, folding and binding machines, scanner, digital camera and other office equipment, as well as meeting or workshop space and the mailing of flyers with the Council's newsletter.

In addition to these many services, Guelph Arts Council offers several popular community programs. Historical Walking Tours on spring and fall Sundays attract many visitors and local residents and inspire an interest in Guelph's heritage. There are five different tours and accompanying tour booklets, as well as a series of Notecards featuring some of the buildings included in the booklets. A Walking Tour Slide Show is also available for presentation to community groups.

Other programs include Doors Open Guelph, first introduced as a Guelph 175th-anniversary project; and Arts Schmoozefests networking sessions when artists/arts groups can promote themselves and share information about the Guelph arts scene.

Guelph Arts Council is managed by an elected Board of Directors consisting of volunteers representing all sectors of the community. A full-time executive director as well as two part-time staff members assist the Board in implementing its programs and services. Financial support comes from the City of Guelph and the provincial government through the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Local businesses and corporations also provide much-valued sponsorship assistance.

Every year, Guelph Arts Council undertakes a major fundraising event - Fête Romantique - for which tickets are sold for a chance to win a gourmet dinner for six at a heritage home, complete with chauffeured limousine to escort the winners. Over thirty other prizes are also available.

For more information on any of Guelph Arts Council's programs or services, contact us.