Past Programs
Past Programs
We're currently working on archiving our past programs. Here's a quick look at some of our past programming.
The REFLECT pilot program (Radical Empathy for Leaders: Equity, Connection, and Time) is a cohort-based, funded learning experience launched in 2023 to support, develop and enhance leadership within the cultural sector.
REFLECT is a joint initiative between The Cultch and the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (GVPTA), in collaboration with the City of Vancouver Arts Culture and Tourism.
The application process took place in Summer 2023, and in September 2023, the selected participants began a year-long process of learning, sharing, building, rethinking, and leading alongside a community of peers.
A two-hour webinar was hosted on January 20, 2025 as the cohort and leadership team shared their experience and key insights from the program.
Learn about what worked, and how we navigated challenges programmatically, and hear directly from the cohort through a series of peer-conversations. Whether you’re thinking about developing a cohort-based program, or want to be a ‘fly on the wall’ to witness conversations on the theme of ‘leadership’, this session will offer some insights relevant to our sector.
Watch the webinar recording on YouTube here, and learn more about the REFLECT program here.
Monthly GVPTA Member Roundtable meetings provided an opportunity for GVPTA to share updates about advocacy, programming, resources and activities, and what we're hearing from community, as well as creating a space for our members to share information and ask questions with their peers. In-person industry roundtables in past years have included:
Building Relationships, Building Sales Roundtable - for those responsible for box office and marketing strategies in large and small performing arts organizations.
Theatre Management Roundtable - for general managers, artistic directors, and others that are focused in the management of a theatre company.
Theatre Venue Rental Roundtable - for booking managers and coordinators of venues and facilities.
Are you worried about potential cyber-attacks? Do you and your team have the expertise needed to deal with one?
GVPTA was pleased to partner with 7 other arts service organizations around Canada to present a robust instructor-led training on Cyber Security Best Practices. Led by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, this training ran online for two half-days in February 2024.
This training introduced cyber security threats you may encounter at work and in your personal life. Participants learned behaviours and strategies that you can implement to mitigate these risks whenever you are connected.
Instruction language: English. However, slides were shared in French as well, and the instructors can answer your questions in French.
Project partners: Orchestras Canada, Réseau SPARC Network, Playwrights Guild of Canada, Canadian Dance Assembly, Canadian Live Music Association, Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, CAPACOA.
Image Description: The image features a vibrant and engaging promotional graphic of a lock with text details about the upcoming Cyber Security Best Practices training. The background is light blue, and the information is presented in a clear and organized manner. The event details, including our partnership with seven arts service organizations, event dates and times, and language instructions, are prominently displayed. The overall design is professional and encourages viewers to participate in the training.
This workshop was part of the and open to anyone in the arts, culture, heritage sector.
Facilitator: Kingsley Strudwick
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Understanding of gender diversity is growing day by day. At the same time, transgender, non-binary, and other gender diverse people still experience many challenges, including barriers to safe workplaces, artistic spaces, educational experiences, and community spaces.
In this workshop, Ambit will introduce frameworks for understanding gender diversity beyond the binary, work through nuanced scenarios, offer examples of gender-affirming practices and explore strategies for applying these learnings on a personal, relational, and systemic level.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Kingsley Strudwick is a facilitator and speaker with 15+ years of experience, exploring topics such as gender diversity, intersectionality, bystander intervention, microaggressions, and systemic changes in workplace culture. In 2016, Kingsley founded Ambit Gender Diversity, a company dedicated to improving experiences for transgender, non-binary, and other gender diverse individuals, families, and communities.
Kingsley has delivered over 350 professional development workshops to universities and colleges, municipal and provincial governments, and the non-profit and business sectors. Kingsley’s professional practice is dedicated to creating environments for self-reflection, building bridges across differences, and fostering relationships as the foundation for social change.
On March 2, 2023, GVPTA presented a free community webinar, sharing highlights of the report's findings by Kenji Maeda, GVPTA Executive Director, followed by a conversation with Allison Bottomley, Acting Executive Director of Arts & Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport and Dr. Sae-Hoon Stan Chung, Chair of the BC Arts Council. Allison and Stan responded to questions from attendees, and shared how feedback has informed changes made by the BC Arts Council as it continues with its Extending Foundations Action Plan 2022-2024. The BC Arts Council has shared an Activity Tracker to provide an overview of the actions to be implemented over the next two years, and includes lists activities and initiatives as they are confirmed, developed and completed.
View the Extending Foundations Action Plan Activity Tracker by clicking here.
GVPTA has released results of a survey conducted province-wide to help us better understand, advocate, and inform government, funders, and other stakeholders on the current state of the sector. The Fall 2023 B.C. Arts, Culture, & Heritage Sector Insights Report is based on survey responses collected from November 3 through 22, 2023, from individual artists, arts, cultural workers, and representatives of arts, culture, and heritage organizations. The survey and report were led by GVPTA, on behalf of and in collaboration with a coalition of B.C.-based arts, culture, and heritage service organizations that represent thousands of organizations and individuals across BC, in every community and region. This includes hundreds of cultural businesses, venues, festivals, consultants, and independent practitioners, as well as thousands of professional artists, cultural practitioners, and volunteers throughout the province.
GVPTA’s Hello program provided an online platform for local theatre hiring personnel to learn about theatre performers, designers, stage managers, production managers, and technical directors currently seeking employment in the industry. Individuals selected to participate in the program were invited to submit an introduction video and related pitch materials to accompany their resumé, all viewable through an online platform by registered directors, producers, production managers, and other theatre hiring personnel from across the province. The Hello Program has now evolved into our Membership Directory.
Based on anecdotal input from members of B.C.’s arts and culture community about changes to the application process, GVPTA, in collaboration with a group of B.C. arts service organizations (Arts BC, BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, BC Museums Association, BC Touring Council, CADA/West, Craft Council of BC, Le Conseil culturel et artistique francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, and Heritage BC), developed and disseminated a survey in October 2022 to better understand and identify common experiences with the BC Arts Council’s Operating Assistance grant program with the September 15, 2022 application deadline.
The final report with recommendations was shared in January 2023 with the BC Arts Council, and Dr. Sae-Hoon Stan Chung, Chair of the BCAC, provided GVPTA with a response letter which you can view at this link. The objective of the survey was to convey to the BC Arts Council community feedback about the most recent application process to consider as they continue to make updates to their programs to align with BC Arts Council's Extending Foundations: Action Plan 2022-2024, which holds Reconciliation, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Access as core components of their strategic vision. The resulting report is an offer to BCAC, and potentially other interested grant makers, as one opportunity to hear from the arts, culture, and heritage sector, to reflect on and strengthen their programs moving forward. Download the full report in PDF format here.
In 2021 and 2022 GVPTA invited a number of B.C. theatre practitioners and arts workers to help inspire us all to look forward to live theatre by sharing a few words about what theatre means to them. An archive of the participants and articles can be viewed here.
In November of 2021, GVPTA and arts service organizations across the province invited individual artists, arts workers, and arts, culture and heritage organizations throughout British Columbia and across all disciplines to help convey a better understanding of where they are at now by completing the Fall 2021 edition of the COVID-19 B.C. Arts & Culture Impact Survey. On November 30, GVPTA has released its fourth summary report on COVID-19's profound impact on the arts and culture sector across the province, based on survey responses collected between November 9 and 25, 2021.
To read reflections by Digital Connections program coordinator Davey Calderon upon the completion of the 2021-22 program, click here. GVPTA's Digital Connections Program offered underrepresented theatre artists a paid opportunity for training on effective communication and promotion of their digital or hybrid projects through online platforms and will connect them with regional, national, and international presenters. This program provided participants with the opportunity for peer learning, to forge connections, to gain new skills, and to learn how to effectively share and communicate their artistic work in the industry. Participating artists will get the chance to level up and access greater opportunities for the presentation of their new or in-development works.
The Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (GVPTA) Technical Mentorship Pilot Program (TMPP) sought to build capacity and strengthen the theatre industry and community by creating a network for new and emerging workers in the field of technical direction. TMPP provides opportunities for the next generation of leaders in technical roles within the theatre community to learn from experts in their fields as well as from their peers. "A pilot project for 2020, the TMPP is a free program designed to facilitate support, guidance, and learning opportunities for emerging technicians and prospective technical directors in the theatre industry by providing one-on-one mentorship sessions with senior-level individuals in the industry over a six-month period. Additionally, the program will offer opportunities for participants to attend networking events and access additional training or professional development.
Recognizing that both mentors and mentees have valuable experience, insight, and skills to offer each other, they worked together to:
• Build an understanding of the mentee’s profession/industry from the mentor’s unique perspective;
• Help build an understanding of workplace culture;
• Build occupationally specific professional networks to achieve their career goals;
• Enhance their leadership, communication, and cultural competency skills.
In partnership with artScene Vancouver, GVPTA hosted boardLink 2018, a networking event designed to connect young professionals interested in applying their business or leadership skills on an arts board with local arts organizations seeking new board or committee members. The event took place on December 4 at the VSO School of Music's Pyatt Hall.
B.C. Patron Insights was a decentralized data strategy to better understand arts and culture patron sentiment in order to assist in our sector’s COVID-19 recovery efforts.
We provided organizations with access to an individualized survey to learn more about their patrons' arts and culture activities, readiness to return, level of interest in types of programming, health and safety considerations, and demographic information.
A series of core standardized questions were developed to be used broadly in surveys across the sector in order to best learn about the impact of COVID-19 on arts organizations and to understand audience attendance patterns and intentions.
We recognize that not all organizations have the capacity or experience to build their own survey; GVPTA's strategy is take some of this administrative burden off of organizations by managing the survey for them.
We also recognize the importance and power of a collaborative data strategy where we can aggregate answers from multiple surveys into a comprehensive dataset in order to share valuable information on the arts and culture sector with government, funders, stakeholders, and our community.