This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
The New year will have a big change regarding Orillia’s arts landscape. The name Orillia and District Arts Council, still a legal entity – for now, is dead and North Simcoe Arts will become more visible in its place.
We are getting our own NSA.
In one sense the parallel is good because our version will, at least at first, function as an information gathering hub. The organization will be sorting out where all the venues, or potential venues are and building partnerships with other groups, some they have partnered with before. Finding new ones, and building a membership base beyond the 73 members they currently have is also a priority
This change happened in the October at ODAC’s annual general meeting resulting from an almost year long series of meetings, survey’s and public meetings.
“The board decided if we were going to do anything, we needed to start fresh and we needed to have a good strategic plan to follow,” said Mike Bailey who is the chair of NSA.
They strategic plan is done, and it will be available on their new website soon. Until then the old website is still functioning.
“Originally ODAC was Orillia and District, but everybody but referred to it as Orillia District. There is nothing north of Barrie. There is no real organization that looks out for all of the artists in North Simcoe, and that’s how we developed the name North Simcoe Arts. We didn’t want to be a council, we’re trying to get away from that, we didn’t want to carry on ODAC’s name. We felt North Simcoe Arts takes care of the north part of Simcoe, we’re trying to be inclusive of everybody.”
When he says they are trying to get away from being a council, according to the plan, that means being less involved in doing the work of running events (like Culture Days) and more of a coordinating function between other existing groups (like the City, the chamber, Lake Country, MAT, any of the festivals and performing groups, etc.), and advocacy.
On one hand the group is on a mission to be the glue between all the players, or maybe the magnet bringing them together.
Mike gave an example of a function NSA could serve; they could create an inventory of performance spaces, some existing, some potential, and work out a deal with those venue owners guaranteeing a number of events/shows over a given time. The NSA would then put the word out to the membership of the opportunities and connect performers with venue operators.
You could think of it as being an agent with a talent pool looking for places for the talent to work in, and the venues don’t have to be in Orillia. This also gives artists a bit of relief from organizing their shows.
I’ve always thought ODAC was undervalued and under-utilized, and this new direction has the ability to become central to growth for everybody, which, as it plays out means income.
The old group was often thought of as a group for visual artists, and it was; it still is. I’ve often said to truly be an arts council it needs musicians, actors, writers, magicians, jugglers, and whatever you can imagine to become members.
Think of it, Is the Mariposa Folk Festival just about music. Heck no, there are all kinds of performances besides music, they have artistic vendors, food, more food, and food, many community groups – artistic and otherwise – are represented at the festival.
Most other events, big and small, could be the same. Come to think of it, Roots North is pretty close to Mariposa for including other arts. Why shouldn’t MAT have live music playing in the Green Room before shows and at intermissions (but wait until the City puts the tables back in).
Why couldn’t a concert with an opening act have poetry or prose reading between sets, or even a comic?
If those types of artists joined the NSA it could be they only have more opportunity to do what they do.
“Our mission is to try and bring all of the arts together and be an umbrella organization that has resources we help all these different groups,” Mike said.
Another example Mike gave was if a community or property owner had a need for a mural, they could get in touch with NSA and have access to a list of artists capable of doing murals. Not all visual artists can do murals, or want to do murals. There is a skill set and knowledge of materials useful to making murals one needs to know about – if a mural is to survive outdoors.
One of the things that plagued ODAC was funding. They were getting by from grant to grant, with some long gaps in time between those grants. They want to establish more reliable and consistent funding.
One of the things that will come from reliable funding is insurance. While they do have a group liability insurance, group health insurance is something Mike doesn’t see happening until the funding is sorted out and membership increases. For now liability insurance is something most artists don’t think about until a venue asks about it.
“As long as something is sponsored by ODAC/North Simcoe Arts, say you had a band and you were going to perform at a restaurant downtown, we can say as long as it is indicated you are sponsored by North Simcoe Arts – you would have to have our logo on your posters to prove we are sponsoring you – then your band could fall under out liability insurance. You wouldn’t have to go get your own. That’s one of the bonuses of being a member.”
Of course you would have to be a NSA member, and arrange for it well ahead of time.
Two things are happening right now. One is you can join NSA free of charge until March.
The other is NSA has some openings on the board they’d like to fill. NSA intends to serve the communities of Coldwater, Midland, Orillia, Penetang, Rama, Ramara, Severn, Tay and Tiny Townships.
They are looking for someone to be the treasurer and representatives from each of the communities, and representation from the various types of art, ( music, photography, sculpture, etc.)
If you are interested email communications@northsimcoearts.ca.
Onward and Upward
This year has been challenging in many ways. Today marks the 309th arts column since the SUNonline/Orillia website went live. 364 since this thing launched Dec. 16, 2017 on Facebook.
Seven years have passed. In August 2023 Facebook went nuts and our original page was stripped of everything cross-posted there. We started a new page, Friends of SUNonline/Orillia, which many found, but still has not reached the liked or followed levels of the old page.. You can always sign up for emails when new stories are posted too.
We worried what the Facebook ban on news sites would do to SUNonline/Orillia. At the time of the ban there was an average of 100,000 pages sent from our server every month.
I was loathe to get into the back end and find the new stat and didn’t for a year until Google made some changes to how we connect. That was at the end of June. I dreaded looking at the number. I assumed it would be down about 25% since that was about how much website traffic was generated from Facebook.
To my surprise, our numbers went up to 160,000 pages average per month. I can’t explain it (other than more of you like what we do here), and I have a higher webhosting bill to back up the increased traffic. Thank you all for finding your way in despite the obstacle. I guess the lesson is, even though things don’t look good, there can still be a bouquet of roses to be found.
So I hope your 2025 brings a few roses your way, even if things don’t look so good, force yourself to find them. Happy New Year
The Shorts
- New Years Eve Even Steven is playing at Lake Country Grill; ODAS Park has their annual dance with DJ Scott Stanton; Samantha Windover is at Couchiching Craft Brewing in the afternoon.; Mil and the Thrills are at the legion.
- The City of Orillia has a New Year’s party at the Orillia Recreation Centre from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Activities include; face painting, crafts, open swim, and a variety of bouncy castles. they will also have popcorn and cotton candy and a photo wall. Bring something to donate to the food bank, There is also free skating at Rotary Place Tuesday from 1 to 1:50 p.m. and 2 to 2:50 p.m. You don’t have to drive, transit service is free from 4:45 p.m. to the last full run at 1:15 a.m
(Images Supplied)
