Upcoming conference encourages artists to ThinkBIG

 

yorkregion.com
Sept. 22, 2014
By Chris Traber

If you have a stake in arts and culture as an artist, educator, student, municipal planner, festival, gallery, museum or arts organization manager, ink Oct. 24 in your calendar.

The 4th annual Arts Exposed Conference takes place that Friday at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Vaughan and early bird registration is now open.

Arts Exposed will surprise and delight attendees, steering committee chairperson Nancy Bodi said, adding attendee feedback from the past three years has been “positively remarkable”.

Themed ThinkBIG, Arts Exposed 2014 will feature four interactive segments - Creating and Growing the Vision, Arts, Business and Community, Meet Your Funders and Mentors and The Big Pitch. Attendees can mingle and meet government agencies and funders during the lunch networking session.

Yannick Spierkel, company manager of the infamous KURIOS show and 20-year veteran at Cirque du Soleil, will kick off the event with an insider’s view of Cirque du Soleil’s road to success from its humble origins as a team of street performers in Quebec.

Award-winning broadcaster Gill Deacon, host of CBC Radio One’s Here and Now is emcee of the event.

New this year are 10 pre-qualified participants will make a two-minute live pitch at Arts Exposed to earn cash to support their arts and culture project. Artists, arts organizations, educators, students or general members of the public are encouraged to apply to be a pitch presenter. Deadline for applications is Sept. 28, 11:59 p.m. All details regarding the pitch can be found at artsexposed.ca.

Arts Exposed is presented by a collaborative that includes economic development and cultural planners from Vaughan, Georgina, Richmond Hill, and Markham, as well as a group of local arts councils; the York Region Arts Council, Markham Arts Council, Arts Society King, Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery and Arts Richmond Hill.

This annual event is supported by the region, Central Counties Tourism, Metroland Media Group and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Cosmo Music and the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Vaughan are sponsoring the event, which has been integrated into Vaughan Small Business Week. Students enrolled in the Seneca Event Marketing as well as Seneca exhibit and design programs are assisting with the event administration and decor.