CNCAC board members hold a meeting for new Canadians interested in working in the arts.
Ottawa’s arts and culture can only benefit when new Canadians get involved, say the staff of a newly launched non-profit organization that supports emerging artists.
The Coalition of New Canadians for Arts and Culture promotes employment opportunities in the arts sector for new Canadians, immigrants and refugees.
It also seeks to engage youth in diversified cultural activities, says JP Melville, a coalition consultant.
The coalition, which gained official non-profit status in April 2008, grew out of community development work at the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization.
It was there that Melville, who had worked overseas for 10 years in international development, established a network to inject new Canadians into the culture sector and give their work exposure.
“I knew none of these people when I came back, much like an immigrant,” he says.
Called the “heart and soul of the project” by his coworkers, Melville negotiates contracts and helps write grant applications to funding agencies.
“We’ve been receiving a fair bit of community support for what we do,” he says.
The coalition is largely volunteer-supported, but receives some funding from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
Melville says that, aside from the usual issues all newcomers face, immigrant artists share all artists’ challenges in trying to make a living.
In 2005, the average salary for arts occupations was about $28,000 a year, according to the 2008 Ottawa Vital Signs report.
Breaking into the city’s cultural scene requires overcoming language barriers and learning what opportunities are available.
This is where the coalition comes in, Melville says, by providing information and facilitating person-to-person connections.
“There is an invisible gap between demand for that culture and those who are best able to provide it, who are a minority,” he says.
Silvia Alfaro, originally from Colombia and the coalition’s coordinator, contacts potential partner organizations and seeks out mentors. Her background as a publisher includes promoting Latin-American art, and publishing a magazine and three books.
“The whole idea is to let more people know what’s happening and connects artists with mentors,” says Alfaro.
She organized the coalition’s official launch on Nov. 5, which attracted over 100 local artists and their supporters.
“It went absolutely amazing. A hundred people came out, most of them newcomers,” says coalition board member Maria Cristina Serje.She says that the 40 new people signed up bringing up membership up to 204.
Serje, moved to Ottawa six years ago after working in Columbia.
She says she finds similarities in her capacity as coalition board member creating intercultural dialogue and promoting local artists among urban, rural, aboriginal dwellers.
“The community resource can play a role at the local level.”
Serje says she hopes partnerships with groups like the Council for the Arts in Ottawa and SAW Video will expand to other arts organizations.
“Most have expressed their absolute interest,” she says.
Coalition members receive weekly e-bulletins and information on job offers, training and funding. On Nov. 14, Ontario Arts Council officials came to the OCISO’s premises to explain the grant application process.
The coalition is also joining with the Portrait Gallery of Canada on a project in which 10 new immigrant families from countries such as Afghanistan, Cameroon, India and Poland will produce artwork demonstrating their path to Canada.
Known as “Portraits of Identity,” the project has received a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration but is awaiting further funding. The arts council in Halifax is also involved.
Fernando Rebollo, a photographer and videographer, is documenting the making of the portraits.
“The coalition gave me the first opportunity to work in my field”, he says, since coming to Canada in 2004 after working for 20 years in TV commercials in his native Colombia.
He says the coalition is fulfilling a real need.
“It’s about time people look after immigrants.”
The portraits will be displayed in Ottawa in February 2009.