Looking Back and Looking Forward

With just three months left in our fiscal year, the CCF/FCMA has wrapped a lot of projects and initiatives, while also making plans for the future. As we round the corner to another new year, we’re highlighting our accomplishments and planning for 2019, and beyond:

Accomplished:

  • Citizens of Craft: The Podcast: Season One of this series was released, featuring some of Canada’s best and most influential craft artists, educators, curators, and appreciators. In our latest podcast report, we celebrate the first season’s 2,100+ listens (and counting)!
  • Placemaking Conference: Our 13th national craft conference, Placemaking: The Unique Connection Between Craft, Community + Tourism, took place October 10th – 15th, 2018, with three distinctive sessions across Nova Scotia, including a pre-conference tour of Cape Breton, sessions in Halifax in partnership with NSCAD University and the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective, and closing with presentations in the beautiful town of Lunenburg. Stay tuned for our full conference report, coming soon!
  • Robert Jekyll Award for Leadership in Craft: The 2018 award recipients, Tom McFall and Ann Manuel, have each spent long careers supporting the Canadian craft community. Their awards were presented on October 12th in Halifax, NS, during our Craft Social at the Mary E Black Gallery, hosted by Craft Nova Scotia.
  • New Staff: In August 2018, the CCF/FCMA hired Digital Content Developer, Vena Carr. She has taken the lead on our regularly scheduled content, such as our bi-weekly enews and social media channels, as well as coordination of Citizens of Craft: The Podcast, conference promotions, and more. We are delighted to have Vena on board!
  • Advocacy: One of the main goals of the CCF/FCMA is to act as the voice of craft in an advocacy capacity. On October 2nd in Saint John, NB, CCF Director, Maegen Black, and CCF First Vice President, Kim Bent, presented a cultural brief to the Federal government’s Standing Committee on Finance. On this same day, Sandra Dupret, CCF President, and Gilles Latour, CCF Past President, represented craft in Ottawa longside the Canadian Arts Coalition for Arts Day on the Hill.

Upcoming:

  • Citizens of Craft: The Podcast: Season Two is scheduled to be released in Spring 2019 with a new line-up of guest speakers and special segments. We are currently seeking sponsorships for these next 5 episodes. If you work with a company who is interested in partnering, please contact us today.
  • Digital Funding: The CCF/FCMA has applied for funding to develop new digital literacy programming to support the craft community and build a more digitally engaged future for the sector as a whole. More details will be released in March 2019.
  • Craft Year 2020: The countdown has begun! The third iteration of Craft Year is less than 12 months away. If you work with an arts organization, museum, gallery, or guild, we encourage you to start planning special events with a craft-specific focus. Push your own boundaries, try something new, develop new partnerships, because we will be working hard to promote Craft Year 2020 as a full year of craft action clear across Canada. More information coming soon.

As we move into the last two years of our current strategic plan, our focus will remain on uniting, supporting, and celebrating the craft sector. Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter to stay in the know.Thank you to all our volunteers, members, and affiliate members, who make this work possible! Interested in helping? Volunteers are welcome! Help us help the entire craft sector, learn more and contact us with your interest today.

Banner image, left to right: ‘Citizens of Craft: The Podcast’ Season One Speaker, Peter Powning, Parliament Hill photographed on ‘Arts Day on the Hill’ by CCF/FCMA Past President, Gilles Latour, and Robert Jekyll posing with one of two 2018 Robert Jekyll Award recipients, Tom McFall.