The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning is poised to expand its successful digital mapping project nationally thanks to a grant from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s (CIRA) Community Investment Program. Canada’s Map of Arts & Learning launched two years ago with the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and already features more than 2000 artist-educators, arts organizations and schools in Ontario. With the funding from CIRA, The Network will be able to widen its focus to include select communities in every Canadian province and territory.
“The Network’s ultimate goal is to cultivate a more creative, innovative and prosperous Canada through equitable access to high quality learning opportunities across all artistic disciplines,” said Larry O’Farrell, Chair of The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning. “Throughout our mapping research, countless arts professionals have told us that they place a great deal of value in the map. We are grateful for the support of CIRA that allows us to include more communities across Canada.”
Canada’s Map of Arts & Learning is a tool to support the work of individuals and organizations teaching the arts in both community and school settings. The map provides arts practitioners with a platform to raise awareness of the learning opportunities they offer within their own communities, as well as to connect with the broader arts and learning sector across the country. The map also enables learners to find the kinds of arts and learning programs they are interested in within their own region. Moreover, the map can be used as a platform to promote local initiatives, share best practices, connect arts education professional seeking partnerships, increase artist employment and more.
Through the support of the CIRA Community Investment Program grant, The Network will host six Eduarts Hubs in select communities across the country to contribute to research for the map. Each Hub includes a professional development session, time for networking and a focus group session where participants give feedback and help guide the creation of the map. In addition to the Hub events, a targeted internet research campaign will result in 5000 new contacts being documented on the map.
“Supporting online initiatives that provide learning opportunities for Canadians is one of the reasons CIRA’s Community Investment Program exists,” says David Fowler, vice-president of marketing and communications at CIRA. “Canada’s Map of Arts & Learning is an excellent example of a project that is making Canada’s internet better and we are proud to support it.”
The dates and locations of the national Eduarts Hubs series will be announced in September, with events planned for Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Montreal and Fredericton. Arts education professionals and organizations can be added to the map through an online form on The Network’s website at eduarts.ca.
For more information contact:
Jennifer Petrilli, Managing Director, The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning
info @ eduarts . ca
The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning
The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning (Le Réseau canadien pour les arts et l’apprentissage) envisions a world in which the arts and creativity are recognized as integral to the learning process, both at school and throughout life. By connecting Canada’s diverse arts and learning communities, we will shift mindsets about arts education and increase access to meaningful arts experiences for all Canadians, laying the foundation for social, economic and cultural transformation. Our mission is to unite local, regional and national arts and learning communities in a network for exchange, research and collaboration, cultivating a more creative, innovative and prosperous Canada.
CIRA's Community Investment Program
CIRA is building a better online Canada through the Community Investment Program by funding charities, not-for-profits and members of the academic community who are making the internet better for all Canadians. CIRA is best known for our role managing the .CA domain on behalf of all Canadians. While this remains our primary mandate, as a member-based not-for-profit ourselves, we have a much broader goal to strengthen Canada's internet. The Community Investment Program is one of our most valuable contributions toward this goal and funds projects in digital literacy, online services, research and infrastructure. Every .CA domain name registered or renewed contributes to this program. To date CIRA has contributed $5.45 million in Community Investment Program grants.