Region of Waterloo Arts Fund
150 Frederick Street, 2nd Flr N2G 4J3 Kitchener, ON, Canada

Right now with COVID we are surrounded by our walls, and we can see walls around us as barriers. I wanted to write something about seeing past those barriers at a time when people are feeling discouraged. - Paul Roorda Checkout Waterloo Region Record's feature of Fall 2020 grantee Paul Roorda's mail art project "Somewhere Anywhere Postcards". To learn more about Paul's work, please visit https://buff.ly/3iUf0xl.

Advance your skills and career through knowledge-sharing and development opportunities: The Professional Development for Arts Professionals component of Suppo...rting Artistic Practice supports the career growth of Canadian arts professionals. The next cut-off date for applications is February 3rd. If you miss a cut-off date, your application will be processed at the next one.

For this week’s #MakeArtHappen, we get a behind-the-scenes peek into Richard Watts’ and Kai Reimer-Watts’ Reconnection. Presented by Laurier Library and the Robert Langen Art Gallery, this two-person online mixed-media exhibition shares work that centres around the urgent need for facing our deepest compounding human-made crises, including climate change, inequality and a global pandemic, through Reconnection. These intersections are explored in Earth Etching sculptures whic...h honour the earth, poetry, and video stories. People emerge to share stories and catalyze action, while the voice of the earth grounds us in the reminder that we are inseparable, calling us home to action. View Reconnection until February 14th https://library.wlu.ca/services/reconnections

We caught up with violinist Lance Ouellette about Four Corners Collective’s upcoming online concert this Saturday, January 23rd at 3pm with Kitchener Public Library. Four Corners Collective’s mission is to present accessible and inclusive music concerts for people of all ages and abilities. As audio and sound editor for the upcoming recorded concert, Lance shares some tips on how he helps make videos more accessible. Tell us a bit about yourself! I am the Associate Concertma...ster of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony having been a member for the past 18 years, enjoy teaching violin both online and for the University of Waterloo, and have begun producing virtual concerts for various organizations since the time of the pandemic. I am developing an educational program utilizing the electric violin along with various synthesis techniques creating a bridge between the "old" music and the "new" ways of producing sound. What elements have you found can help make a video accessible? I approach these concerts in 2 parts - Audio, and Video. For the audio, I try to decrease the overall track volume so it is in a safe volume range. This concert is BEST viewed with HEADPHONES for the added stereo effect, so you will hear horn in the left, and harp in the right, as seen on screen. The upper and lower frequencies are balanced and I try to keep the audio clips interchanging in a smooth way, no sudden volume spikes. For the video, I used longer shot lengths, with smooth/slow transitions. This concert was filmed with a giant barrier between the players distanced 15 feet apart. To create the illusion of viewing the concert live, all microphones and cameras have been edited out of frame to lessen any visual distractions. There was careful planning to ensure the order of the concert and all titles were matched. For these projects we had fun filming an introductory video to prepare the listeners for the concert giving them a chance to meet the players and hear a bit of the sound. Why is it important to you to perform accessible concerts? Music is the universal language. I feel that it allows for emotions to be felt and communicated without the restrictions of conventional words allowing the imagination to be free. To be able to share a safe space, even virtually, and enjoy the music together is a fundamental part of the human experience. Register for Saturday's concert: https://buff.ly/3bIDbxo Learn more about Four Corners Collective: https://buff.ly/3qHeANG

Four Corners Collective presents Horn and Harp Melodies, a free virtual sensory friendly children's concert, this Saturday January 23, 2021 at 3pm EST with Kitchener Public Library. Please register with the Kitchener Public Library at https://buff.ly/3bIDbxo. Registrants will be emailed the link to view the pre-recorded concert (unlisted on YouTube). The concert will be available for registrants to view on-demand and multiple times if they wish. This delivery format is helpf...ul for all families, but particularly for those affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Learn more about Four Corners Collective by visiting https://buff.ly/3oUv6cG. For a brief introductory video of the concert, please visit https://buff.ly/2LGga3u

Taken up doodling? Knit a cozy sweater? Inspired to take wintery photos of snow? How have you been making art happen in your free time? Share a photo of your latest creation and be sure to tag us @rwartsfund so we can share your work!

#Kitchener based Tara Butler talks contemporary dance and shares an excerpt of her latest project Dance Takes Berlin for this week’s #MakeArtHappen. Tara began her career with The National Ballet of Canada after graduating from the National Ballet School. She then danced for The Alberta Ballet and was Principal dancer for Canada's Ballet Jorgen for 16 years. She has had the opportunity to guest perform internationally and has worked with many of Canada’s most sought after c...Continue reading

Join Arts Awards Waterloo Region next Friday, November 27th at 7pm to celebrate the arts, artists, and arts organizations that continue to contribute to the vibrancy of the Arts and Culture community throughout the Region of Waterloo.

Belmont Village Bestival joins this week’s #WhereAreTheyNow to talk about their history and how they adjusted to become an online festival. Nestled between Kitchener and Waterloo, Bestival is a European-style street festival in Belmont Village that features a variety of local artists performing and staging a range of art in various settings such as parks, stages, restaurants and cafes. Two main stages and several ground-level spaces come to life with a variety of musical ente...Continue reading

Here's a recap of the exciting new arts funding opportunities by Pat the Dog Theatre Creation and Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation. Available to artists and arts organizations in the Region of Waterloo, application deadlines are soon! To learn more about these exciting opportunities visit: Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation's Arts Sustainability and Recovery Fund https://buff.ly/32OQdEl... Pat the Dog Theatre Creation's Microgrants for Waterloo Region Artists https://buff.ly/2H2sZTl

Missing live performances? CreateWaterloo's Lumen Festival at Home is still available online until the end of November!

Stay tuned for Eduardo Soto-Falcon's Region of Waterloo Arts Fund- supported audio drama series Y2K Redux!

Band Leader Tim Moher joined us for this week’s #WhereAreTheyNow to discuss Clefs of Moher’s latest self-titled CD. The Clefs of Moher was formed in 2014 specifically to perform for an annual series of Multiple Sclerosis Fundraisers at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts in Kitchener, Ontario. The Clefs of Moher’s Celtic Jazz catalogue of compositions was co-written by Tim Moher, Paul Stouffer, and Rick Hutt. " "? The inaugural, Clefs... of Moher CD, was made possible through the amazing support of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund. The CD is a very personal story of me forging a musical connection of my passion (jazz) to my Irish heritage. Before this CD, I played many gigs in a variety of settings performing jazz standards. This CD has allowed me to connect my passion for jazz to my growing appreciation and love of my heritage. Through the creation of this CD, I feel more wholly connected to my heritage while continuing to live my life as a jazz artist. ? The work of this CD was produced over years of experimentation compositionally. I slowly began to realize that my more appealing pieces were influenced by my Irish heritage and had a really nice energy to them. I still remember tentatively bringing my first Celtic melody to my co-writer and studio engineer, Rick Hutt. It was this ‘ditty’ that propelled me to continue on the journey of experimenting with other Celtic Jazz pieces. I cannot thank Rick Hutt enough for putting his time into arranging and recording these pieces. ? In March of 2020, our second of two performances at Knox Presbyterian Church had to be cancelled due to Covid19. Happily, though, we were able to record a video this summer that was part of Belmont Village Bestival’s 2020 virtual festival. If you haven’t seen this performance you can check it out on the home page of the Bestival website: https://buff.ly/2OiFpoE. I have also hired an orchestrator to make some of my pieces ready to perform with an orchestra! Everyone can dream a little, right? Stay tuned! ? The role that arts funding has in our Regional community is huge, especially during these difficult times. There are so many artists who are presently in crisis mode. It is my hope that the RWAF will continue to be THE impetus for ALL artists in our community. We are a richer community for it. ? I am hoping that we can perform some of the material from my CD with a local orchestra. Only time will tell if this is going to happen though. As you probably know, a project like that can be quite expensive. In the meantime, I’m feeling the itch to have a ‘Ceilidh’ of sorts with the band in my kitchen. : https://buff.ly/3llIzZf : : https://bit.ly/3eVxpbh : @timmoher

Pat the Dog Theatre Creation announces $10,000 in micro-grants for individual artists in the Region of Waterloo. Each $500 micro-grant is geared specifically to support artists in their creation process, helping #MakeArtHappen in tangible ways. Application deadline is December 3rd, 2020 at 5pm EST. Details on how to apply available at: https://patthedog.org/microgrant/