Unearthing SPARCs of Creativity!
Call for Proposals: Workshops
Réseau SPARC Network is excited to announce the 2026 Symposium!! Present your workshop, research, creativity and knowledge at Symposium 2026 in Sudbury from May 21-24, 2026!!
SPARC (Supporting Performing Arts in Rural & Remote Communities) is a network of artists, creators, presenters, producers, and community animators whose purpose is to ignite and help sustain performing arts in rural and remote communities across Ontario. The SPARC Symposium is a biennial gathering that provides an opportunity for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, networking, and laying the groundwork for future collaborations.
The intent of the SPARC Symposium is to attract a broad spectrum of rural and remote performing arts creators, producers, presenters, arts practitioners, community animators and funders from a wide mix of art forms (dance, media arts, theatre, music, circus, storytelling, puppetry and more!) with a variety of skill sets. The goal is to expand, enhance, and improve upon the collective and collaborative experience.
The Symposium is structured in a way that allows for exchange, discussion and informal networking; it encourages peer to peer knowledge sharing in workshop sessions and facilitated group activities; and there is a focus on participant engagement throughout. It is important to us that the SPARC Symposium provides attendees with a wide range of tools and information that will SPARK the performing arts in their own communities.
Workshop Info:
Workshops/presentations to take place over two and a half days of Symposium
Workshops will be one hour long; please leave time for discussion within your one hour time limit
Workshops can include elements of your artistic practice, or be presentation style, or even hands on!
Workshops should inspire your fellow attendees - Symposium is a peer to peer event
Workshops can be in either English or French
Share success stories
Share challenges and how you overcame them
Share ideas that address the changing landscape of the performing arts
Share areas of expertise
Share anything that you think others will benefit from knowing
We like to focus on what we (as rural and remote artists, creators, presenters, community animators) do best - igniting passion, change, joy, thoughts, careers, ideas - the arts!
Workshops can be in any format - slides, presentation, participation etc. - be creative!
Workshops should discuss/address the unique challenges and thrills of creating within our communities.
Workshop prompts:
We have created the following list of prompts that may help guide you in your workshop proposal submission (your workshop should not be limited to only these ideas - think outside of the box!):
Environmental- for, about, and within, the environment (site specific art and/ or art for climate change)
Changing the landscape - creating rural and remote performing art that is reflective of rural and remote communities; diversification and inclusion of all in rural and remote arts
Making art - out of nothing at all: how do we hang on when funding disappears?
Funding/Fundraising opportunities - where does the money come from/how have you been successful?
Creative Collaborations
Back to basics - informative looks at the less-exciting “need to knows” of arts admin, besides funding, think box office, marketing, social media, volunteer management, dealing with agents, putting in an offer, securing rights etc.).
Getting bums in seats - marketing, outreach, branding, graphic design, audience growth, copy writing etc.
Putting on a show 101 - lights, sound, plots, designs and more!
AI - is it as scary as Rachel thinks?
CanCon - where to find Canadian content and how to promote it
Accessibility in the arts
What the North does best
The rocky road to success - share your success story with us!
What to include in your proposal:
Name, position, organization (if applicable), address, phone and e-mail
A statement of how your community/work is rural
Title of the session
Proposed format (ie. powerpoint presentation, movement based, storytelling etc.)
A description of the session (max 500 words) that describes how you will use your experience to explore the topic. This should be suitable for inclusion in the Symposium program (may be edited for style and clarity by SPARC staff)
Your best guess at what three things in your presentation participants are most likely to find useful
Brief biographical sketch (100 words maximum) of the lead speaker, and names, e-mail address and equally brief bios of co-presenters
A list of audio-visual equipment needed (speakers are asked to bring their own laptops and any other supplies required)
What not to include in your proposal:
• A sales pitch for any company, product, or project. Feel free to promote yourself, your company, your show, etc., but make sure the focus of your workshop is on sharing knowledge with colleagues, not customers
The SPARC Symposium Program committee will select submissions using the following criteria:
Clear, specific, informative content that supports Symposium goals
An approach to the subject material that is engaging
Achieving a balance among the presentations as a whole
Reflecting the diversity and richness of performing arts practice in rural and remote areas - we welcome proposals from members of all communities including but not limited to Indigenous, Franco-Ontarian, Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA++, Deaf and Disabled, Newcomers etc.
• All decisions made by the SPARC Symposium Committee are final
What will you receive:
$300 for a 1 hour presentation
One full (3 day) registration to Symposium for each workshop facilitator/presenter in your group
Limited subsidies towards travel and accommodation may be available
Submission deadline:
September 15th, 2025
Notification date:
November 1, 2025 - all applicants will be notified by this date
How to submit:
Submissions should be emailed to Rachel Marks, Executive Director, at rachel@sparcperformingarts.com in Word, Pages or PDF format.
If video and audio clips are referenced in your proposal they should be uploaded to: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ 1Z_ZfPpvc5LydR2sHFi1b_dtlZdULWc9G?usp=sharing (this is a shared folder, it is recommended that you create a sub-folder with your name on it for clarity) or your own YouTube account with links and timings clearly noted in your submission.
**All workshop sessions will be recorded and uploaded to a private SPARC YouTube channel post-Symposium and shared with registered attendees for a limited amount of time.
