Arts Nova Scotia & Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council

November 3, 2012

Since late March, 2012, I have been working with Arts Nova Scotia as a volunteer Board member, including as Vice-Chair of the Board. This has meant some long hours of strategic planning, detailed external relations planning, and other committee work towards the building of a new infrastructure to support the program directions and decision-making priorities for arts funding in the province. Partnerships, relationships and collaborations are my priorities as Chair of External Relations, including with the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council. Most importantly, though, it’s great to be involved in conversations about what the arts in Nova Scotia could be, and what it will take to generate the profile and resources needed to realize a comprehensive vision for the arts here.

Most recently, ANS advertised for submissions to be considered for the lead staff position for ANS. Looking forward to seeing someone with vision and inspiration take this on!

And not long before that, I had the privilege of moderating an afternoon of presentations and conversation with the Nova Scotia culture sector about the status of research in the province, in the national and a global context for arts and culture. You can find one of the presentations at the Hill Strategies website. Later that night, CNSLC hosted the annual Arts Awards, a celebration of art and culture in the province.

Though ANS and CNSLC take up more than a few hours a week, they’re the perfect place to exercise leadership skills and community connections around culture, education, art, creative economy, think-tanking and generally making a difference. In the meantime, the provincial government has outlined the ANS funding program basics (individuals, organizations, some more organizations, the art bank and several awards), and supports the events and strategic focus of CNSLC.