Supporting Performing Arts in Rural & Remote Communities

Dance • Film/Media Arts • Music • Theatre

Join SPARC's Member Network. || Rejoignez le réseau des membres de la SPARC.

Connect with rural arts creators, producers, performers and animateurs throughout Ontario and beyond.

How SPARC evolves and grows is up to you: The amazing people who make the performing arts happen in our communities.

Établissez des liens avec des créateurs, des producteurs, des interprètes et des animateurs d’arts ruraux de l’Ontario et d’ailleurs.

La façon dont SPARC évolue et grandit dépend de vous : les gens extraordinaires qui font des arts de la scène une réalité dans nos communautés.

Membership Benefits || Avantages de l’adhésion :

Access to our directory of members & member map | Accédez à notre répertoire des membres et à la carte des membres.

Access to our members only Facebook Group | Accès à notre groupe Facebook réservé aux membres.

Member's discount on your Symposium Registration Fee | Rabais aux membres sur les frais d’inscription au symposium

Access to SPARC services – including our Collaborative Community Initiatives Program | Accès aux services de la SPARC — y compris notre Programme d’initiatives communautaires collaboratif

Access to valuable resources | Accès à des ressources précieuses

Membership Cost: FREE! || Coût de l’adhésion : GRATUIT !

Click here to visit the SPARC Member Network

Cliquez ici pour visiter le réseau des membres de la SPARC

Annual General Meeting/Special Meeting of Members

Join us online on Tuesday March 2, 2021 from 6:30pm for our first AGM/Special Meeting. There will be entertainment, presentation of the slate for Board of Directors, an Open Mic and more!

Registration is required. Register here.

Doing the Real Work Towards Truth and Reconciliation

Presentation and Question & Answer Series

Join Janis Monture, Samantha Brennan and Dr. Darrel Manitowabi as they discuss ways that communities and arts organizations can begin doing the real work towards truth and reconciliation.

All presentations have been posted on the SPARC Member Network group Facebook page and the SPARC YouTube channel. Janis Monture's Question & Answer session is also posted on the SPARC YouTube channel.

Dr. Darrel Manitowabi's Question & Answer session is open to members to participate in on the SPARC Member Network Group Facebook page on the last Wednesday of February (February 24, 2021) at 7pm. This session, like ht previous two, will be posted for viewing on the SPARC Youtube channel 1 week after the live date.

Not a member? Not a problem! Membership is free and quick, just follow this link!

Questions for Eric on this topic can be sent to Rachel ahead of time at: rachel@sparcperformingarts.com

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Advocacy Starter Guide - Community Presenters Network

The Community Presenters' Network (CPN) was formed in January 2017 as a direct result of the efforts of venue managers in small facilities and rural communities across Ontario coming together to build a network that met their needs. The CPN is now taking the next step in its development: forging a collective response to the individual challenges of making the case for arts and culture in small communities.

The Starter Guide is based on research into advocacy and debates on cultural value, as well as interviews with 20 individuals in Ontario, Yukon and Atlantic Canada — all involved in different ways in the rural cultural ecology — to better understand the opportunities and obstacles that CPN members could collaborate to tackle.

Please take a look and let us know what you think.

CPN_ADVOCACY STARTER GUIDE-February 2020

SPARC Has a new CALENDAR feature!

We have a new Calendar and we'd love you to use it! Send Rachel an email (rachel@sparcperformingarts.com) with your event/show/livestream date, time, link, a visual and any other info you'd like listed and we'll add you to our calendar and our social media.

Let us help you to get the word out!

Need a "Pro" Zoom account so you can host a meeting or show for longer than 40 minutes? Want to host up to 250 people? Let us help you! We have a member dedicated Zoom line that can be booked for meetings and events. Simply email Rachel (rachel@sparcperformingarts.com) to reserve today!

Rural Arts Space: How Theatres Can Go the Distance

Posted on April 5, 2021 // Leave a Comment

Scrabble tiles spell Social Distancing on a brown background

By Guest Blogger Rebecca Anne Bloom “But there wasn't the merest whiff about of the kind of magic that comes when the theatre darkens, the bottom of the curtain glows, the punters settle down, you take a deep breath... none of the … [Read more]

Hello and Bonjour from Carousel Players!

Posted on March 10, 2021 // Leave a Comment

Hi there. My name is Samantha and I’m writing from St Catharines, Ontario, the traditional land of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnaabe, the Neutral and Wendat peoples. I am very grateful to the original caretakers of this land. In Niagara, I grew up … [Read more]

uprooted

Posted on December 15, 2020 // Leave a Comment

The Grinch is peeking out from a green face mask. The words 'Six Feet People" are to the left of his face. Only his eyes, part of his nose and one hand are shown.

The final blog in a series by SPARC Guest Blogger Denise Lysak. I will start my last blog, by raising a glass to writers everywhere. storytellers playwrights songwriters i am simply taking on a role that was not assigned to … [Read more]

Creative Spaces – a Photo Essay

Posted on October 15, 2020 // Leave a Comment

black & white photo - the outdoor stage for the Moose & Fiddle Festival, a wooden structure with a roof and no floor or sides

Our Guest Blog this month is a photographic essay with text by Dee Lysak and photos by Wanda Kabel-Easton. The still images are shared in black and white. They represent a mapping of cultural spaces – up and down the King’s Highway #71, … [Read more]