This Digital Gathering, in partnership with Arts Consultants Canada (ACCA), took place live on Zoom on April 20, 2020.
TOPIC: What does the future of organizational planning look like now?
IN CONVERSATION: Umair Jaffar, Gracia Dyer Jalea, Robin Sokoloski and Clayton Windatt
SUMMARY: Mass Culture is offering a series of virtual working sessions examining our ever changing landscape as we collectively plan and prepare for the future. These sessions will explore the shifting climate in the arts and how changes to practices, working cycles, models and priorities could enable a more equitable, innovative and resilient arts & culture sector.
Working with a group of Arts Advocates, Executive Directors and Industry Innovators, we will introduce subjects that shape our environments and weigh on our minds as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. These topics will be examined in detail in virtual participatory “breakout rooms” to generate new insights and connections. Attendees will then come back together to identify directions for research, action and future partnerships.
About the Conversation Starters
Umair Jaffar
Umair Jaffar is the Executive Director of Small World Music; Board Member, CAPACOA; Board Member, North York Arts; Faculty Member, Arts Management Post-Graduate Programme, Centennial College; 2017 TAC Cultural Leaders Lab Fellow. Umair will look at financial / funding models.
Gracia Dyer Jalea
Gracia Dyer Jalea is the Founding Executive Director of the Toronto Ward Museum; previously Programming Director for Friends of the Pan Am Path; 2017 June Callwood Award, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration; 2018 Promising Leadership Award, Ontario Museum Association. Gracia will develop the question of professional development for staff, including mental health / self-care.
Robin Sokoloski
Robin Sokoloski is the Executive Director of the Playwrights Guild of Canada; Co-Founder & Board Member, Mass Culture; President, East End Arts; Advisory Committee Member, Centre for Free Expression, Ryerson University. Robin will interrogate the future of networks and membership-based organizational models.
Clayton Windatt
Clayton Windatt is the ex-Executive Director of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective/ Collectif des commissaires autochtones; Co-Founder & Board Member, Mass Culture; Trustee, National Gallery of Canada; Director, Zakide Artist-Run. Clayton will examine organizational hierarchies and staffing structures.