Installation view of "Stand" by Adrian Göllner at the
Shenkman Arts Centre

What's up with the Shenkman Arts Centre?

The CAO's Zoë Ashby recently sat down with Caroline Obeid to talk about the new Shenkman Arts Centre slated to open June 18 to 24, 2009.

CAO - What's your connection with the Shenkman Arts Centre?

Caroline Obeid - I'm the Portfolio Manager for the Shenkman Arts Centre, managing the day-to-day operation of the facility and facilitating the programming and services that will be offered out of there.

CAO – The Shenkman Arts Centre is opening next month, what new elements will the centre bring to the city.

Caroline - It's a unique facility in that it is a multi-disciplinary bilingual arts centre, supporting the entire artistic continuum. Art schools such as the Gloucester Pottery School, the Ottawa School of Art and the Orleans Young Players Theatre School will offer courses for those just starting out or trying to hone their craft. There are also four exhibition spaces presenting local, national and international artists. And two theatre presentation spaces, one is a 100-seat flexible black-box theatre that can be used for smaller community groups and more risky programming; the other is a 505-seat theatre for larger professional performances.

CAO - What organizations will be taking up residence in the centre?

Caroline - We have five community partners Arts Ottawa East, MIFO, Gloucester Pottery School, the Orleans Young Players Theatre School and the Ottawa School of Art who is expanding into an Orleans campus.

CAO - How did the Ottawa School of Art get involved?

Caroline - We were originally working with the Visual Arts Centre Orleans (VACO) and in spring 2008 VACO decided to take a step back to take a look at refocusing their organization with a new vision. As a result they just felt that with the pending move to the Shenkman Arts Centre they weren't solid enough to take that leap. During that time they were working closely with the Ottawa School of Art in developing a diploma visual arts program and when they realized that they were unable to make the move on their own, they folded their organization into the Ottawa School of Art who then took over their operations and residency space at SAC. I believe some of the VACO board members are now on the Ottawa School of Art Board so their vision and their voice are part of the new SAC programming.

CAO - With the introduction of the Ottawa School of Art, did this affect any other partnerships at the Centre?

Caroline - No, only in that it was later in the game, it was only announced in January. The OSA simply needed to get caught up, and the partners needed to get to know each other so they could start to look for ways to collaborate. And it has worked out really well.

CAO - Can you describe the visual arts galleries? You said that there were four of them what type of galleries are there?

Caroline - Currently at 255 Centrum we have the Gloucester and Cumberland Galleries, two City Community galleries which are moving to the Shenkman Art Centre into a new space called the Trinity Art Gallery, Salon A and B. We also have the Ottawa School of Art opening a gallery space there for visual art exhibitions, and Arteast which is an east end group of artists who will have an exhibition wall called Promenade Arteast. I should also mention the Gloucester Pottery school is working on a display space so I guess you could call that the fifth exhibition space.

CAO - What is the process for artists to exhibit in the galleries, are they open to everybody?

Caroline - I can only really speak about the City galleries, the others are arms-length so they will need to determine what kind of gallery space they will be programming.

For the community galleries the process will be an annual call to artists, people can submit their work, it's a juried process, and it is the SAC Arts Programmer, Mike Taylor, who facilitates the process.

CAO - So is it the Trinity Art Gallery that is the community gallery for the City?

Caroline - That's right, it's a big space so it has been split into two galleries, Salon A and B, so there will be two exhibitions in the same gallery space but split by a dividing wall.

CAO - Are CARFAC artist fees being paid to the artists exhibiting at the Trinity Art Gallery?

Caroline - No, as part of our community gallery policy, these galleries are meant to enhance public awareness of the region's visual artists and artists can promote the sale of their work.

CAO - How did the Trinity Art Gallery get its name?

Caroline - Arts Ottawa East is responsible for the Articipate campaign which is an endowment fund in support of sustaining activities at SAC. They have been really successful and are approximately 90% of the way to their target, which is $5 million dollars. Trinity Development Foundation donated $250,000 for the naming rights of the gallery space.

CAO - Regarding the performance spaces, how many local groups have expressed interest in renting the performance hall and black box theatre?

Caroline - Several, we are booked into 2010 already. Our thinking was the black-box theatre would be more active but we're actually getting more interest in the 500-seat theatre, so the community is definitely interested in getting into a full-service, purpose-built, state-of-the art space with great equipment, great seating, excellent acoustics, and it will give them a chance to step it up a bit from the former Council Chambers they were using.

CAO - Are there any highlights you can talk about?

Caroline - Yes, I can tell you about programming in June. On the 5th we open the building for the first time and we have the surreal stand-up comedian, Sean Cullen as part of our Front + Centre programming. On June 6th we are host to Ontario Pop which is a singer/songwriter competition presented by MIFO. Just to give you a little information, MIFO will be programming the main stage 25% of the time with excellent Francophone programming. Then Les Chansonniers d'Ottawa, a huge choir of over 70 singers, have a three-day run starting June 11. On June 16 we have the CMT on Tour, which is yet another Front + Centre presentation. And then we have our grand opening June 18th to the 21st. We are opening with an inaugural ceremony, with evening presentations in English and French then a full open house on Saturday and Sunday with over a thousand artists taking part.

CAO - Are there any restrictions on use of the performance spaces? Any guidelines if somebody wants to rent the space?

Caroline – Not really, we work within our city policies and national safety standards. I would say the 500-seat theatre is a set proscenium theatre but has many acoustical treatments to play with, where the black-box is a more flexible space in that it has several configurations with high ceilings, so people can go into that space and transform it to their needs.

CAO - Is there an affiliation between the Shenkman Arts Centre and Centrepointe Theatre?

Caroline - There is, in the Culture Division at the City of Ottawa there is the Theatres Unit which includes SAC and the Centrepointe Theatre led by Charles McFarland. Charles is also programming Front + Centre presentations for the Shenkman Arts Centre, much like Centrepointe Theatre. He is looking at the spaces as a continuum for the professional presenting program, the smaller Front + Centre shows will be at the 500-seat theatre at SAC and the larger Front + Centre presentations will be at the 1000-seat theatre at Centrepointe. It's a very exciting professional presenting program that attracts audiences city-wide.

CAO - What is MIFO's involvement in the Shenkman Centre, we understand that they are continuing to run their current centre. Why is that?

Caroline - They do more than just arts and culture through their centre on rue Carriere, they have a daycare, offer seniors services and are a forum for the Francophone community.

The relationship we have at SAC with MIFO is that they are programming up to 25% of the main-stage presentations in French. They are using SAC to bring in larger productions that require a professional, state-of-the-art space. They are also very interested in developing Francophone instructional programming, so we will be offering in the Fall music, dance, and new media programs all in French.

CAO - Will all the art instructional programming be provided through the Ottawa School of Art?

Caroline - There is a combination of visual arts in the centre. Yes, the Ottawa School of Art will program the majority but there is the Gloucester Pottery School that will be teaching pottery so everyone has their niche. The Ottawa School of Art will be offering woodworking, photography, digital art, sculpture, drawing, painting, and a myriad of other things much like they do at their George Street location. The pottery school will be doing hand building, wheel turning, and Raku — which is new for them.

CAO - If an arts instructor wanted to rent space to give art classes is that an option or not?

Caroline - That's not really our model. The resident arts partners deliver the instructional programming. Where the City will step in, is to do some instructional gap programming for what's not being delivered by our community partners. That would be music, dance and new media and some literary. We will be working with arts instructors who are interested in working through the City to deliver these art classes.

CAO - What opportunities do you see for local artists and arts groups at this centre?

Caroline - For professional artists and arts groups there's the opportunity of teaching through the resident organizations, the City or MIFO. There's obviously the opportunity to exhibit their work through the galleries. They can rent the Harold Shenkman Hall or the Black-Box theatre to present their work. There is also a dance and music rehearsal hall where they can come and rehearse or even present smaller productions. There are meeting spaces, event space in both the upper and lower lobbies, an outdoor agora, and there's a new media centre with a recording studio. Lots of different opportunities to create and present!

CAO - Are there any office spaces available for arts groups in the centre?

Caroline - Unfortunately not at this time, everything is full with the five resident partners. Arts Ottawa East has a couple of extra cubicles and is working with some of their member organizations to provide some space for them. But it is not a building like Arts Court where there are several office spaces; we are quite limited in that capacity. Down the road, if we expand, office space may be available, but that's not the direction we are going in now.

CAO - The City of Ottawa's website says, “The OTCP (Orleans Town Centre Partnership) will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Shenkman Arts Centre facility.” What does this mean regarding the operations and maintenance of the centre?

Caroline - The OTCP is involved in a much larger P3 agreement than simply SAC, there agreement also includes the Orleans Town Centre which is the lands and building adjacent to SAC, so they are involved in that whole piece. They are responsible to design, construct, finance and maintain SAC. The City is responsible for the programming operations and is paying an annual lease over 30 years at which time SAC will revert back to the City. The SAC will be maintained by BLJC, one of the partnership organizations of OTCP, including interior and exterior maintenance and janitorial services.

CAO - How does the finished centre match the vision that was originally put forward?

Caroline – For the five residents groups, aside from the Ottawa School of Art who took over from VACO, the space was always going to be a home for them. It's always been about the performance space -- a state-of-the-art facility, an opportunity to get out of the old Council Chamber at Centrum and have a real performing space as well as rehearsal space which is needed across the city. But also because the east-end never had a centre, a focal point for any of the arts, it was always to be a place for everybody to come together, to be able to showcase their work, for artistic collaboration and for audiences to take in the arts in their own neighbourhood.

For more information about the Shenkman Arts Centre, visit www.shenkmanarts.ca or call 613-580-ARTS (2787).