The goal of Face the Music is to hold up to ten workshops with touring artists, who, along with coming to the City to play concerts, will also attend the workshops that will help grow interest, education, professional development, business investment and overall community involvement in the arts.  They also want to build media attention towards the project with the idea of building business support and increasing tourism in the City.  In addition to this they wish to further enhance the visibility of Fort St. John as the Music Capital of the North.

The free conference takes place this Friday and Saturday at the Civic Centre and is being sponsored by the Prince George and District Community Arts Council and the 2010 Legacies Now program.

Why wait?  Visit our online “living program” at:

http://www.museumsassn.bc.ca/Content/Conference/Welcome.asp

Download your Registration Form, register today and SAVE by taking advantage of Early Bird Discount rates until October 1, 2010. (Regular rates apply after that date. Online registration available SOON!)

This year, Program Committee chair, Caroline Posynick, her committee members and BCMA partners have done a superb job working through over 50 workshop and session proposals to assemble an excellent program of the most practial, timely & benficial best practices content–all for the perfect & picturesque setting of the new Nanaimo Museum, the VICC, and the colourful & historic environs of downtown Nanaimo, “The Harbour City”.

WHAT: Two days in which YOU design the programme and set the discussion topics which matter to you.
WHERE: W2, 151 W. Cordova St, Vancouver BC (the old Storyeum space)
WHEN: Friday November 26 & Saturday November 27, 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (PLUS special party/reception from 5:30 – 8:30pm on Friday night)
WHO: For anyone who cares about theatre! Whatever your connection to theatre; on stage, back stage, off stage, on a board, in the audience – you are invited. All sectors and genres; Fringe, Regional, Indy, Commercial, Large, Small, Community, Touring, TYA, etc. You are ALL invited.
WHY: Because the really juicy part of any conference happens in the coffee breaks! So, if there are things you are passionate about or things you are ticked off about, projects or proposals you need support on, or if you simply want to connect with your community, all are possible – because at this event you set the agenda. Nothing is off limits. If you feel that the issues that affect you or your sector never get discussed so what’s the point of turning up? This is the event for you.

Registration fees have been kept deliberately low ($50- $75 for two full days!) so EVERYONE can participate: http://www.gvpta.ca/conference-registration

On your own? Moving in together? What do you need to know about buying buildings and sharing spaces? Join a diverse gathering of not-for-profits, funders, investors, government and real estate professionals working together to find solutions that provide quality, secure, mission-enhancing workspace for community organizations.

Registration Opens September 2010  - only 200 seats available

Sessions include:
– Real Estate Planning Fundamentals: Learn about the planning process for acquiring and developing a facility
- Financing your Project: Explore financing options and what you need to prepare for and to access financing
- Readiness for Co-Location: Top 10 strategic questions to consider
- Finding Partners and Building Intentional Communities: How to identify the right partners and tenants for co-location
- Sharing Programming and Services…or not: The benefits and challenges of shared services
- A dynamic “Investors Forum” where investors, funders and experienced not-for-profit leaders assess and advise on actual projects currently underway.

Who should come?
- Not-for-profits who want to acquire and control their facilities or co-locate and share services with other not-for-profits
- Foundations, philanthropists, and government funders interested in generating not-for-profit equity with real estate grants or loans and learning about innovative land use partnerships underway in Vancouver, Denver, Calgary, and Toronto
- Lenders and real estate professionals interested in a potential new customer segment and the value gained by partnering in not-for-profit real estate ventures.

Bursary Opportunity – Apply before September 20, 2010
The City of Vancouver is offering up to ten bursaries to assist individuals in attending both days of the conference, November 8 & 9, 2010 in Vancouver. The OUR SPACES, OUR PLACES! Bursary is open to Vancouver-based professional artist /creators, individuals representing Vancouver arts and culture organizations, and others involved in creative space development. For more information on bursary eligibility and the application process visit: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/gasp/grants/facilities/SPRE.htm

Presenting Organizations
Our goal is to build community assets through unique partnerships and investments that create a blend of real social, environmental and financial returns.

Vancity, Central City Foundation, The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, City of Vancouver, Tides Canada, Renewal Partners, Presented in Partnership with The NonprofitCenters Network

Watch for upcoming announcements on Registration and Program information, along with Sponsorship opportunities.

Everybody seems to have written a screenplay. And odds are they’ve picked up Syd Field’s book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, to find out just exactly how it’s done.

More than a million copies of the book have been sold since it was released in 1979.

“I think in the first five months we went through three printings,” said Field, 64. “The publisher, Dell, was astounded. Since that time, I think the book has gone through 40 printings. We’re in 42 languages around the world, [and] it’s used in 400-some-odd colleges and universities around the U.S.

“It literally took off, because people wanted to know how to, and what they have to do, in order to write a screenplay.”

On Saturday and Sunday, they’ll be able to get his advice in person. Field will be joining fellow screenwriting gurus Linda Seger, John Truby and Michael Hauge for a “Screenwriting Summit” in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Hotel.

This exceptional 2-day event takes place at the Simon Fraser University, with instructors Animator Andrew Gordon and Story Artist Matthew Luhn, both of Pixar. This masterclass has toured the world, this being one of only two North American stops in 2010.

Geared toward experienced and enthusiast animators and storytellers, it offers a rare opportunity to learn from the industry’s top talent, providing participants with the tools to help create their own stories and feature-quality animation.

And Vancouver Island School of Art director Wendy Welch is collaborating with Pacific Design Academy director Oliver Drew to launch a new program to take advantage of the trend.

“The idea is to take one year at VISA to gain the fundamentals of drawing, painting, colour theory and two- and three-dimensional design,” said Welch, and then follow up with two years at the academy where students focus on graphic media, interior architectural and landscape design. The result? A diploma in visual arts and graphic design.

“Many graphic designers are caught up in computer effects and don’t have a creative background,” explained Welch, who added the new program will give students a strong base in visual fundamentals and manual skills, combined with a willingness to experiment and try new things.

With about 200 people in attendance, including over 40 panelists, there were four days of workshops, and live music each night.

Workshops about radio, songwriting, producing, touring, music laws, and everything in between, were filled with aspiring artists, young and old, picking the brains of industry professionals. Song critique sessions also happened periodically throughout the weekend, where songwriters could get advice on their songs.

Susie McGregor, event co-ordinator for VIMBC, said this conference is the only one on the West Coast of B.C., since Music West stopped happening in Vancouver this year.

Take a ride through Hille’s eccentric and beautiful world. Drawing on a range of musical projects accomplished over the past few years, indie songwriter Hille’s solo show, Modern, takes on 100-year-old hymns, an opera about pine trees, a musical based on Craigslist ads, and songs about her young son.

Prepare for a wild and tender journey. The performance takes place at the Denman Island Community Hall on Tuesday, July 6 at 8 p.m.

Singer Susie McGregor and her partner, former Prism guitarist Andy Lorimer, put the VIMBC together.

“It’s where music meets business and business meets music,” says McGregor. “It’s where we come together to discuss the present state of the music business; how it’s changing, how the Net is affecting things and more.

Once he has completed his roster of performers, Rampen indulges himself in one of his favourite aspects of the job – selecting performers for specific workshops.

Ultimately, it seems to be something many of the artists, almost always performing together for the first time, seem to enjoy too.

Rampen has put together two special workshops this year.

The most frustrating aspect for a creator is spending days and weeks on a painting, story or film and then launch into the world only to hear the sounds of crickets chirping on the receiving end.

Jason Thibault, small press publisher and online marketer has been using social media and online marketing to gain advantage in the competetive publishing field since founding Optimum Wound Comics back in 2005. Using online marketing and social networks they were able to generate 500,000 pageviews to a relatively obscure and long out of print black and white comic in a matter of months. This enabled them to sell 1000 units of the book in a short period of time.

For more information visit http://optimumwound.com/

“It’s what kind of a sustainable cultural future do we want in B.C.? What are our B.C. residents’ right to culture?” Catherine Murray, codirector of SFU’s Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities, told the Straight. “I think we need to look at cultural issues in different ways, and a cultural policy allows you to actually do that,” she added.

Murray, B.C. Arts Council acting director Gillian Wood, and B.C. Federation of Labour director of campaigns, community and social action Jessie Uppal are set to discuss the issue on June 25.

The panel discussion, moderated by Mark Marissen, a lobbyist and consultant, is part of the Alliance for Arts and Culture’s Arts Summit 2010.