Tony Eetak, a Winnipeg-based youth artist, is one of the team members traveling across the city to meet with and engage different organizations, gaining insights into their work and best practices to strengthen arts programming in local communities.
As arts organizations across the country—especially in rural, northern, and small communities—struggle to sustain capacity and engagement in a post-pandemic world, a long-running initiative is helping to restore hope and direction. The Incubator for Digital Arts and Cultural Entrepreneurship, originally launched in 2021-2022 with strategic innovation funding from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse, is making a return to its roots this fall and winter. The highly-successful pilot program, which laid the foundation for exploring innovation and resilience in the arts sector, is now using lessons learned to guide organizations through the complex challenges of today’s cultural landscape.
“The pandemic has inflamed structural challenges that were already difficult to address,” said Jamie Bell, founding member of the incubator. “Talent retention, shrinking resources, and the unique cultural and economic contexts that rural and northern organizations face require more than surface-level fixes. This is where curriculum design for arts training becomes transformative.”
For many smaller arts organizations, particularly those in rural areas, the pandemic has exacerbated existing struggles. With the crisis still affecting capacity and engagement, arts leaders are now looking for long-term, sustainable solutions that not only address immediate challenges but also lay the groundwork for future success.
Bell said, “This year, we’re focusing on a number of key components that are essential to the future of arts programming—Virtual Reality, curation, communication, understanding data impacting the arts sector, experiential design, and emergent design. These elements are vital to creating innovative, resilient arts experiences that are both forward-thinking and deeply aligned with the needs of our communities.”
At the heart of this effort is updating both old and and new curriculum design that goes beyond technical training. A strong curriculum integrates cultural storytelling and interdisciplinary practices, ensuring that arts programs remain relevant and impactful even in the most resource-challenged communities. Bell believes that when these frameworks align the goals of staff, participants, and funders, organizations can achieve greater sustainability, even in times of uncertainty.
Bell explained how some the projects they will be looking at involves exploring how data is collected and used, and to communicate the insights and issues through different artistic media. “We’re actually looking at building a virtual gallery to help facilitate some of this,” he said. “Using VR and storytelling is one way that is fun, it’s engaging, and we can bring together a lot of different disciplines and approaches.”
“We’re not just focusing on skills development for individuals; we’re building frameworks that can empower an entire organization,” said Bell. “A solid curriculum creates a shared foundation that can withstand the test of time, ensuring that everyone involved—whether it’s a participant, staff member, or funder—is aligned toward the same mission.”
This year, the incubator’s efforts are focused on rebuilding the capacity for self-determination, self-reliance, and organizational resilience in the arts. As with each season—fall, winter, spring, and summer—activities focus on specific themes designed to address key aspects of arts capacity-building. The fall and winter months, in particular, are centered on reflecting inward, revisiting the lessons learned from past projects, and new ones, with a focus on understanding, iterating and applying those insights to help organizations and individuals rebuild in ways that can fuel long-term sustainability.
“It’s not just about surviving—it’s about thriving,” said Bell. “We’re looking at the ways in which we can use the skills and experiences we’ve gathered to build resilience in our communities and in the arts. That’s what will sustain us for years to come.”
Looking Back to Move Forward
As organizations continue to rebuild, there is an increasing emphasis on learning from past experiences and refining the systems that support resilience. This winter’s incubator is encouraging arts programs to draw upon some of the best practices from around the world, but more importantly, to return to the lessons that resonate deeply within their own communities.
Bell adds, “This year, we’re returning to the principles that shaped our incubator. We’ve learned from the best in the world, but it’s the local and regional lessons—those are most often the ones that have resonated most deeply with our communities and participating artists—and that is what’s going to drive the next phase of growth.”
Through this renewed focus on curriculum design that fosters local capacity, the incubator is equipping arts programs and organizations to meet the complex challenges of the post-pandemic world. These efforts are crucial not only for the arts themselves but for the communities they serve, ensuring that the future of arts organizations in rural and northern areas remains vibrant and resilient.
“The work we’re doing right now is not just essential for arts organizations—it’s essential for the communities that depend on them,” said Bell.
