Arts Service Organizations
Positioning a Future Forward
It is time to bring the ASO community together to investigate the challenges our sector faces, and to advance our ideas for addressing such challenges.
In spring 2021, Mass Culture hosted a crowdsourcing campaign, receiving 40 challenges from the arts sector. We clustered these challenges into themes, hosted an upvote, and a final decision-making panel to determine the five topics for the Solution Pathways. As part of this initiative, 140 people gathered during ASO Convergence Conference in January 2023. We’ve now reached a point for action.
Current Phase: From infographic to action
Online session exploring a sector-wide agenda
March 22nd 12 to 2pm EST
About
We invite you to join a future-oriented exploration – one we believe will lead to better lives for artists and arts workers, and greater access to arts experiences for all, and greater equity for under-represented and marginalized voices.
We understand that success in this exploration depends on centering under-represented voices, while also recognizing how power, money and status has driven, and continues to drive decision-making and allocations of resources.
Through this work, we commit to prioritizing equity not only as our own challenge we must find solutions for, but for prioritizing the actions we will focus on through an equity-based decision-making process.
As the first step, we invite you to take part in conversations that…
ASOs can work on together to think through solutions;
the arts sector is challenged by; OR
that arts either intersect with or is working through internally; AND
Lead to more equitable outcomes.
A paper that documents the initiative’s process will be shared soon.
Mass Culture worked in consultation to develop the initial stages of Positioning a Future Forward. This process is an experiment. We encourage you to reach out to us at robin@massculture.ca at any time to discuss this process.
Robin Sokoloski, Mass Culture
Jamie Gamble, Developmental Evaluator, Imprint Consulting
Nadine Medawar, Regroupement québécois de la danse
Karla Etienne, Canadian Dance Assembly
Christina Loewen, Association for Opera in Canada
Jacoba Knaapen, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts – TAPA
Sandy Crawley, Book and Periodical Council
Katherine Carleton, C.M., Orchestras Canada/Orchestres Canada
Frédéric Julien, CAPACOA
Diane Davy, WorkInCulture
Em Ironstar, Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
Members of the Decision-Making panel for Solution Pathway Topics
Tau Bui, Diversité artistique Montréal (Decision-Making Panel)
Kristin Cheung, Community Arts Council of Vancouver (Decision-Making Panel)
Swati Khanna, ELAN – English Language Arts Network, (Decision-Making Panel)
ASO Convergence Conference Team
Robin Sokoloski, Co-Producer
Jacoba Knaapen, Co-Producer
Shawn Newman, Creative Director
Kathryn Geertsema, Communications
Gillian Cade, Logistics
Charissa Wilcox, Stage Manager
Bridget MacIntosh, Hybrid Stage Manager
Made possible through the support of
