ELAN Portfolio Days: Oct. 14-16 – Registration Open

The English-Language Arts Network (ELAN) invites artists of all backgrounds and disciplines to register for Portfolio Days. This 3-day workshop for visual artists will provide personalized  evaluations by leading artists.  The event includes a panel discussion about grant-writing, budgets, timelines, and the concerns of arts presenters like curators and galleries. Evaluations will offer direct feedback on your portfolio, artist statements, CVs, etc.  This excellent panel is available at a remarkably affordable price.  Places are limited so register today.

Panelists: Monika Majewski (YES’ Artists’ Program Coordinator)  and Annie Gauthier (consultant, instructor, founder of The Arts and The Odds)
Evaluators: Donna Akrey (installation), Natalie Olanick (painting), Kelly Thompson (textile/fibres), Marie-Josée Parent (Gallerie Les Territoires), Michael Rattray (Red Bird Gallery), Julie Tremble (articule)

ELAN’S PORTFOLIO DAYS
October 14-16
Cost: $35
Registration deadline: October 10
Limited slots available. Register today!
Location: 372 Ste-Catherine West, suite 123 (Belgo Building)

Contact portfoliodays@quebec-elan.org, 514 935.3312.

For more info, click here

Cool Music Notes – An Interview with Dave Cool!

1.       Can you tell me a little bit about yourself: what do you do? What motivated you to do what you do today?

Currently I’m the Director of Member Services for the Canadian Independent Recording Artists’ Association (CIRAA), as well as the Blogger-in-residence for Bandzoogle, a website builder for musicians. I’ve been involved with music since I can remember. When I was 5, my Dad needed a drummer for his rock n’ roll cover band, so he trained me like a monkey to play a few beats and I went from there, going on to play drums and bass in punk bands, to working in recording studios, running a record label and booking venues.

2.       Can you give me some insight on how the music world works? This would be for someone who has an outsider perspective (non-music person  or for someone from a different arts background  ex. visual arts, theatre, etc)  to better understand this artistic practice and perhaps demystify the idea of the artist who is immediately discovered, like an epiphany, and on their way to stardom? Or does it work like that?

Because of reality television and mainstream media, often the perception is that musicians and bands can become instant successes. But the reality is that many of the artists and bands who are successfully making a living took many years to get there. Even The Beatles spent years performing 8-hour sets, 7 days a week in Germany before breaking into the American market. It doesn’t happen overnight, and there are no shortcuts. It’s like any other profession; it takes years of practice to hone your craft as a songwriter, performer, and often times, a business person too.

3.       Can you tell me what emerging musicians  need to know in order to make it in the music business? Where do you start if you live in Quebec? What resources could they seek? What are some music-based organizations out there to help a musician?

ELANews: May 2011

Director’s Message Election 2011. Voting Day. Most people vote for their top two or three personal issues. For ELAN members, arts and culture are right at the top along with education and health. Arts can and should play a major role in education; teaching creativity, resourcefulness, critical thinking and transmitting the vast cultural heritage that has inspired generations. Arts and culture also have therapeutics effects on mind and body, which hard-nosed number-crunchers dismiss as difficult to quantify, therefore not of serious importance. Nothing could be less true. Tolerance, civility, compassion, freedom and democracy are all difficult to quantify, and harder to monetize, but are nonetheless essential to our quality of life. The business model for arts and culture is perfectly sound. We generate $85 billion a year in revenues: just over seven per cent of Canada’s GDP, the Conference Board of Canada noted in 2008. We also bring in a lot of tax money: about $25 billion a year to Ottawa, the provinces and municipalities, more than three times what those governments invest in the sector. And Canadians spend twice as much on live performing arts ($1.4 billion) as they do on sports, Statistics Canada reported in 2005. We are also a big employer: 600,000 people, twice as many as in forestry or in banking. It is our duty to vote for the things we believe in. Encourage your friends to join you at the ballot box Guy Rodgers Executive Director

Special invite: RAEV.ca Launch Party & April ELANews Deadline Reminder

RAEV.ca Launch Party
+March Schmoozer
March 31, 6pm-10pm

Eastern Bloc, 7240 Clark
Next to Métro Castelnau - View Map
Free Entry + Complementary Drinks & Snacks
Open to all. You don’t need to be an ELAN member to attend.

ELANews: January 2011

Director’s Message

ELAN wishes all the best for 2011 to all of our members and friends. We all have projects dear to our hearts that we’ll be pursuing this year, and ELAN will continue to make every effort to spread the news of your creations in 2011  through our website, Facebook, Twitter and ELANLinks blog.

With this issue of ELANews we encourage you to also take a look back at some of the highlights of 2010 (see the Year in Review articles listed below). In the midst of this creative explosion we must remember to pay tribute to pioneers who blazed a trail during years when the English-language arts scene was smaller, more fragile and less visible. 2010-11 has seen a number of important anniversaries for leading members of our community: Black Theatre Workshop (40 years), Geordie Theatre and Teesri Duniya (30 years), the Fringe Festival, The Other Theatre and Choeur Maha (20 years), and Pop Montreal, Expozine and Porte Paroles (10 years).

If you know of other trail blazers marking key milestones, please let us know. In March, ELAN will be holding an anniversary party to celebrate these fine organizations, and you’re all invited!

Guy Rodgers
Executive Director

Director’s Message, Dec 2010

by English Language Arts Network on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 6:16pm

The English-language arts community in Quebec has never been so busy. The music scene is a phenomenon with new bands forming and new CDs being released. Last week Rover Arts and Infinitheatre staged Imagining Montreal: a city in fiction, excerpts from 24 novels and short story collections published since 2000 that are set in Montreal.  Next week the Quebec Drama Federation launches its Winter Theatre Calendar at the Segal Centre with short performances from 14 upcoming productions. All of this creativity is cause for celebration.Not everyone agrees. There are still people who see any resurgence of English-language culture as a threat to ‘’québécois’’ culture, as if the two are mutually exclusive.  It is a constant challenge to present the “new face” of English-language culture – fluently bilingual, proud to be Quebeckers – and to get across the message that we are friends and allies who do more to promote Quebec than a multi-million dollar PR campaign.

The important question is whether the government of Quebec values its English-language minority.  We know that CALQ has an exemplary record of providing support for English-language artists. We get mixed messages from the Ministries of Culture and Education. ELAN has been speaking to the Ministry of Culture (MCCCF) about funding a showcase celebrating English-language artists next year.  So far the answer is no because of technicalities concerning the way events and organizations are funded.  In the New Year ELAN will seek a meeting with the Minister of Culture to ask about the official position of the provincial government toward English-language artists. We hope to encounter Santa Claus rather than Scrooge.  Stay tuned.  And happy holidays!

Guy Rodgers
Executive Director

ELANews — Secret Santa Schmoozer, News, Videos, and more… [December 2010]

ELANews — Secret Santa Schmoozer, News, Videos, and more… [December 2010]

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Secret Santa Schmoozer
• Legal Advice for Artists
• ELAN at HOWL!
• New Telefilm Grant
• Community News
• Job Opportunities
• Volunteer Opportunity
• Calls for Submissions
• Workshops
• ELAN Classifieds
• Featured RAEV Artist of the Month:Anna Fuerstenberg
• *VIDEOS*
  - Little Scream in Germany
  - Mark Bérubé in France
  - Cat Kidd at New City Gas