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CAO Annual Report 2002 - 2003
PRESIDENT'S REPORTOn behalf of the Board of Directors for the CAO, I would like to thank our funding partners: the City of Ottawa, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council. While the Council has again been successful in increasing its funds raised through events and memberships, without the support of the funding partners, the Council would be a very different organization. The Council also thanks Gowling Lafleur Henderson for their continued support of the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award. Most recently we have received a positive response for acceptance into the Culture Sector Youth Wage Subsidy Program, made possible through Cultural Careers Council Ontario, and the Government of Canada. As it is, this has been a year of great excitement, but also one of re-grouping. The excitement around the "Join the Crowd!" campaign lasted for months and the wonder will continue as the Council moves into its new partnership with the City around this year's campaign. More excitement was generated when City of Ottawa Council adopted the Arts and Heritage Plan which will become part of the City's 2020 vision. An organizational regrouping was required due to the completion of the Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant at the end of 2002. This was our first time working with Trillium and the Council looks forward to future partnerships that will benefit the arts in Ottawa. The CAO depends on the dedication of the many volunteers, including the Board of Directors, and the very talented and professional staff, who give the Council and the Arts Community their all. And this past year was no exception, as more services were provided to more members and the public with a reduction in staff. Think what we could do with increased, stable funding! The Board of Directors, with its full complement, has met nine (9) times since the last Annual Meeting, attaining quorum each time. The Board carried out its duties with due care and stewardship of funders' and members' monies. During each meeting, the Treasurer presented financial statements that were considered by the Board. During this past year, the Board has entered into a strategic plan process to assist the Council in its work over the next five (5) years. There has been strong work at the Committee level, with updates and reports provided to the Board monthly. The Committees, the Board, and the Strategic Plan, with input and direction from the membership will enhance the strengths and effectiveness of the Council's work in the Community. With the upcoming elections, Provincial, Municipal, and Federal, it is essential that the Council and its members be visible and promoting arts, arts funding, and arts facilities; reminding all our representatives and candidates of the value and importance of the arts in making our City a liveable and vibrant community. During this year's Sweetheart Lunch, Mayor Bob Chiarelli committed to increasing the per capita arts funding to the level of other major cities in Canada. We need to obtain this commitment from the other municipal candidates, from the Provincial Parties, and the Federal Parties. In closing, I would like to thank the Board, the membership, and staff for giving me the opportunity to serve the Council as President. The support and contributions of all are tremendous. Marie Keasey, President EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORTDuring the past year the CAO has experienced great opportunities, increased activity, new projects and partnerships. We have had the privilege to work with artists and arts organizations on a number of collaborative initiatives. The Join the Crowd! arts awareness campaign brought together the creative talents of a number of individuals. The Gloucester Arts Council and the City of Ottawa partnered with the CAO on this first time project. The CAO's Administrative Assistant, Zoë Ashby, took on additional duties and acted as our campaign coordinator. Her attention to detail and enthusiasm benefited everyone involved. Working in a small office often means pitching in to meet deadlines in addition to your regular duties. Our Communications Director, Jean Fortier, was always willing to tackle any task that needed to be done. Suki Lee joined us as Campaign Publicist for a six month period and made an enormous contribution. Catherine O'Neill of Emerging Design, calmly provided graphic design services on impossibly short deadlines. On the technical front, Lynn Cox organized our technical needs and lent her creative energy to the set and lighting design for the media launch and Applause event. The technical crews, volunteers and artists gave much to the success of this event. My thanks go to all of you. The Board of Directors took a number of actions to strengthen committees and clarify work plans. The creation of a strategic plan has been an important learning exercise for everyone involved. A special thank you is due to the members of the Executive Committee who have kept the organization on track as we move forward. The CAO strives to maintain a broad based perspective on the arts in our community and provide programs and services that improve the position of the arts in Ottawa. I would like to thank the members for giving us feedback and comments on our activities. Its great to hear your praise for a job well done, and equally welcome, are your ideas for future improvements. Member participation levels have never been higher. The CAO truly is your organization! I encourage you to stay involved as we address the challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. Peter Honeywell COMMITTEE REPORTSAdvocacyExtensive community consultation took place in the past year, as the City of Ottawa moved forward on the development and approval of the Ottawa 20/20 - Arts and Heritage Plan. The CAO staff and Board participated in numerous focus groups and provided feedback and comment throughout the process. City staff and in particular, Cathy Shepertycki, Cultural Planner, Arts Development, deserves our thanks for taking on such a detailed and inclusive project. The information gathered through this process will be invaluable in our advocacy efforts in the coming years. The advocacy committee's priority concerns relate to arts funding, cultural facilities, marketing and promotion. The Ottawa 20/20 consultations confirm that these issues are shared throughout the city. The strategic planning sessions held by the CAO in the past year helped to strengthen the future plans for the committee and a Terms of Reference has been approved. Over the course of the year members of the committee met with arts groups, consultants, city staff and politicians to address the most pressing concerns. A presentation was made to City Council during the annual budget deliberations to encourage increased per capita arts funding and facilities development. The CAO participated in Ontario Arts Council consultations in preparation for their new strategic plan, and also co-hosted an Inter-agency Partners meeting in April, in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Culture. Among the arts groups meetings, we attended the three-day Future Search held by Arts Court. Plans are underway to highlight future support for the arts over the course of the municipal election campaign to take place this fall. We expect there will be some lively debate about the city's role and levels of support to the cultural community. We look forward to keeping you involved and building on the optimism of the past year. Peter Honeywell OutreachIt was a year of action and a year of vision for the CAO and these themes saw themselves mirrored in the activities of the CAO. Thanks to the Join the Crowd! Campaign launched in September 2002, the city and the media were abuzz with local arts stories and activity. The Council and the local arts community benefited from the knowledge and experience of Suki Lee who worked out of the CAO offices as the Join the Crowd! publicist and acted as in-house marketer to advise artists and artistic organizations on how to best promote themselves. The success of both the Join the Crowd! event and the in-house marketing advisor lead the Outreach Committee to recommend to the board that these activities should be repeated in the future. Other Outreach highlights included:
The Committee's annual awards programs involved presentation to the following recipients:
Strong groundwork was laid for the future and direction of this committee including:
We would like to sincerely thank the many individuals who contributed to all of our activities this year, most notably the CAO staff and its contractors: Jean Fortier, Zoë Ashby, Suki Lee and Peter Honeywell. We have many new initiatives for the coming year – particularly with the Web and with our other communications vehicles. We welcome your input and participation. Nichole McGill and Jane Sadler MEMBERSHIP/FUNDRAISING EVENTSMembershipThe CAO's membership growth continues to be a success story. We are experiencing a high rate of renewal with our existing membership showing that we continue to provide relevant support and services. We welcomed 10 new group members to the CAO in the past year bringing our group membership total to 78. Many of these new groups have already availed themselves of our most popular member's benefits, use of the Micaela Fitch Boardroom and the inclusion of flyers and information in our Mailouts. Crichton Cultural Community Centre and Hintonburg Community Association Inc. are two new group members who value the kind of information and advice the CAO is available to provide. Our new Membership brochure was designed, printed and distributed to much acclaim. It offers a concise introduction to the CAO complete with our Mission, a Brief History, Membership Benefits, Events and Services and quotes of support. These brochures have been distributed to all current members; those interested in membership and to attendees at fundraising events and workshops. Our workshops have continued to attract many members who have been enthusiastic about the help they have received from attending. More detailed information regarding the scope of these workshops is provided in the Outreach report. Our Members Open House was held during our 2nd Annual Holiday Wreath Silent Auction and we were pleased to see so many of you who joined us on such a cold day for some hot apple cider, sushi and our office space filled with festive finds. Based on such positive comments from our members we will continue to hold our Members' Open House during our Holiday Wreath event and urge you all to attend and bring some potential new members with you! Fundraising EventsWe had some fresh faces around our committee table this past year. Their input invigorated the meetings and afforded new approaches to our event planning. The committee focused on two events this past year, our lead fundraising event, the Mayor's Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts and the increasingly popular Holiday Wreath Silent Auction. The 14th Annual Mayor's Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts continued to be a pivotal success for the CAO. Mayor Chiarelli distinguished the event again this year which was covered by a live feed broadcast on the New RO. Highlights of the event were Eleanor Crowder's acceptance of the Victor Tolgesy Award, our Annual Business Recognition Award recipients, Eagle Professional Resources and Alcatel Canada, the delicious meal provided by Thyme and Again Creative Catering, music by Nacascol, and artwork on the tables exhibited by Margaret Boyle, Eliany, Jennifer Gibbs, Karena Kraenzle, Cynthia O'Brien and Marie-France Sabourin, all members of the Centretown Ottawa Artists Tour. Once again, thanks go to all the donors, sponsors and volunteers who helped to make this event unique, upbeat and unrivalled in its continual appeal as the place to be every Valentines Day. Over 50 businesses, arts organizations and artists contributed to the success of our 2nd Annual Holiday Wreath Silent Auction held early last December. The creative offerings, in an exceptional variety of mediums, were a testament to the inventive minds of the artists who put their talents to help us make this such a unique fundraising event. Please look out for the announcement for this year's Holiday Wreath Silent Auction that will include ways that you can contribute. The Fundraising Events Committee is planning a new event for spring 2004, if you have any ideas or if you would like to sit on this committee please get in touch with us. The Membership/Fundraising Events Committee holds meetings approximately once a month. Committee members for the past year include Lisa Albuquerque-Pai, Zoë Ashby, Line Dezainde, Shuh-Kuen Chen, Jean Fortier, Peter Honeywell, Marie Keasey and Victoria Steele. They would like to thank all the volunteers, sponsors and donors who helped the CAO surpass its budgeted fundraising goals. Lisa Albuquerque-Pai and Line Dezainde
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