2019 Huron County Cultural Plan Final Report

Huron County Art Bank:Country Road by William Creighton

1. Invest in our People

2. Foster Partnerships and Collaborations

3. Implement a Communications Strategy

4. Leverage Existing Cultural Resources

5. Advance the Municipality’s Role in Cultural Development

6. Preserve and Promote our Cultural Heritage

BackgroundDevelopment of the Huron County Cultural Plan covered a fourteen month period from March, 2013 to April 2014. The completed Huron County Cultural Plan was approved by Huron County Council in May, 2014.

Guiding Principles• Recognition that culture encompasses the traditions, customs, activities and expression of ourselves as

individuals and communities and as such culture affects and impacts the lives of all people• Increase economic prosperity for those within the cultural sector and contribute to the prosperity of all

Huron County residents• Integrate culture into the municipal decision making process• Improve access to cultural activities for all• Provide opportunities for residents to apply their creative talents• Appreciation for the role that culture and built heritage has in determining community identity

stakeholders

Strategic Directions and Recommended Actions

Members of the Cultural Collective perform at the Goderich Night Market

“99.5% of Canadians participated in the arts, culture, and heritage in

some way in 2016”Canadians’ Arts, Culture, and Heritage Participation in 2016,

Hill Strategies, (2019)

ImplementationThe 51 recommendations in the Cultural Plan were to be implemented over a four year span beginning in 2014 and continuing until the end of 2018.

Who is the County of Huron Cultural Services?

Statistics above based on 2018 data unless otherwise stated

White Pine Dancers perform at the Huron Multicultural Festival

“In Ontario, the GDP of culture industries ($27.5 billion) is larger

than the value added of agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting

industries combined ($6.4 billion).”StatsCan, Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators, 2016 (2018)

Huron County Cultural Services is comprised of Library, Museum, a National Historic Site, Cultural Programs, Archives, Art Bank, Huron Heritage Fund as well as a variety of on-line resources.

18 Lending

WiFi Hubs

134,801 Digitized

Newspaper Pages

3,650 Artifacts onPast Perfect

7Historic & Cultural

Videos

1,257 Historic Photos

on Flickr

Archives

The Huron County Archives and Reading Room are located at the Huron County Museum. Staff is available to assist researchers

110 Annual research visits

Huron County Art Bank

49Installations in the

Huron County Art Bank

The Huron County Art Bank collection features contemporary works depicting Huron County produced by local artists.

Heritage Fund

The purpose of the Huron Heritage Fund is to encourage the preservation of heritage assets and activities of heritage importance to the County of Huron and its residents.

Since 2014, 32 projects have received over $100,000 from the Huron Heritage Fund.

Digital Resources

Cultural Programs

Huron County Cultural Programming is responsible for the Huron Multicultural Festival, Huron County Cultural Awards, Culture Days, Haunted Huron, and many more exciting and diverse programs!

1Full-time staff

35Volunteers

Huron County Library

12Locations

383,931Lending items

18,370Active

card holders

14Full-time staff

26Part-time staff

70Volunteers

Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol

31,947Visitors

81Members

7Full-time staff

5Part-time staff

5Seasonal staff

79Volunteers

Strategic Priority: Invest in our peopleExpand Huron County’s human capital by providing professional development opportunities locally, engaging more youth in local culture and recognizing the importance of volunteers to the cultural sector and the community.

Outcomes:Youth

• The Imago program was open to youth aged 14-19 who worked with 5 professional filmmakers from Huron County.

• The Deep Roots documentary project had 6 paid intern positions that provided opportunity for young film makers.

• HAHN and the Blyth Centre for the Arts partner on an annual $1000 Scholarship that is presented to a graduating Huron County secondary school student who is going on to post-secondary studies in any arts discipline.

• Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story engages youth with its short story writing contest. 197 youth story writing submissions have been received since 2015.

Volunteers

• Cultural Services staff participated in the development of iVolunteer Perth-Huron volunteer portal.• iVolunteer Perth-Huron web portal was promoted to to secondary school students.• Volunteer appreciation events were held in 2017 and 2018, recognizing Huron Cultural Services’ more than

120 volunteers.• Since 2014, the Behind the Bars program at the Huron Historic Gaol has utilized volunteer actors of all ages

including youth aged 10-18.

Arts

• The Test Drive Your Creative Side program ran in 2015 and 2016. Over two years 34 artistic classes were offered employing 20 Huron County artists of various disciplines, and saw a total registration of over 300.

• Since 2014, 10 new artworks were purchased for the Huron County Art Bank.

Volunteer opportunities for youth at the Behind the Bars program at the Huron Historic Gaol.

Behind the Bars at the Huron Historic Gaol

“Arts and culture tourists outspend typical overnight

tourists in Ontario at a rate of almost two-to-one. On average

they spent $667 per trip in Ontario, compared to $374 spent by the typical overnight tourist.”

Ontario Arts and Culture Tourism Profile, Research Resolutions & Consulting for Ontario Arts Council (2012)

Strategic Priority: Foster Partnerships and CollaborationsIncrease the sector’s capacity by bringing different partners together to share resources and expertise.

Outcomes:Funding Applications

Cultural Services staff assisted or prepared successful funding applications for many cultural organizations including: Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story / Blyth 14/19 / Cultural Collective / Huron Art & Heritage Network / 2017 IPM / Kingsbridge Centre

Business for the Arts

Huron County was chosen by Business for the Arts as an ArtsVest program community. As part of the yearlong program five Huron arts organizations: HAHN, Bach Music Festival of Canada, Goderich Little Theatre, Blyth Festival and Art aRound Town, received 28 hours of capacity building and mentorship training on corporate sponsorship.

Through the program the five arts organizations were able to realize $20,158 in corporate sponsorship funds from 16 local companies. ArtsVest Ontario provide matching funds of $13,654 creating an influx of new corporate sponsorship to the arts community of Huron County $33,812 in 2015.

Diversity

Cultural Service staff worked with the Local Immigration Partnership Council and other partners to include more diversity in cultural programs including:• Huron Multicultural Festival• Day of the Dead event at the Exeter Library• Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story programming• Working with neighbouring First Nations communities on a Land

Acknowledgment Statement and cross cultural programming

Margaret Atwood attends the Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story

“Spending in Ontario by arts and culture tourists reached

$4.1 Billion, or 36% of spending by all overnight tourists in the

province.”Ontario Arts and Culture Tourism Profile, Research Resolutions

& Consulting for Ontario Arts Council (2012)

Mexico deNocheHuron Multicultural Festival 2015

“Heritage Institutions in Canada generated over

$2.5 Billion in revenue in 2015, an approximate 23%

increase over 2011.”Government of Canada Survey of Heritage Institutions:

2017 Report (2018)

Strategic Priority: Implement a Communications StrategyDevelop and implement a comprehensive communications strategy to share our stories, promote our creative industries and cultural programming and build visibility and appreciation for local culture.

Outcomes:Online Communications

• Websites managed include: HuronCountyMuseum.ca / CreativeHuron.ca / HuronCounty.ca/library• A Cultural Services newsletter was developed in 2018. The newsletter currently has 629 subscribers.• 9 social media pages are maintained including: 3-Facebook, 2-Twitter, 1-Instagram, 2-TripAdvisor, and

1-Youtube.• The Huron County Library is the highest trafficked page on HuronCounty.ca.

Working with the school board to provide programming that aligns with the school curriculum

• The Cultural Passport program ran in 2015 & 2016. 200 cultural passports were distributed to host families of international students in the Avon Maitland District School Board. The passport offered discounts & incentives to students and their host families.

• Takeover Day was an exhibit and event created and promoted by the students in the Avon Maitland District School Board’s S.O.A.R. program in conjunction with the Huron County Museum. 28 students from across the county participated. (2018)

Takeover Day at the Huron County Museum

Website “Visits” (data from Siteimprove)

HuronCountyMuseum.ca HuronCounty.ca/library CreativeHuron.ca

2014 n/a 73,905 25,087

2015 n/a 63,927 25,308

2016 15,340 54,616 24,058

2017 25,000 (estimate) 47,210 14,277

2018 27,657 48,374 11,598

This archival photograph of the Goderich Square was the Museum’s most shared and liked image on social media in 2018

Strategic Priority: Leverage Existing Cultural ResourcesBuild on or adapt some of our existing cultural resources to meet new community needs.

Outcomes:Taking the lead on collaborative marketing initiatives

• Taste of Huron: Promotes 33 producers/growers, 10 wineries and breweries and 37 restaurants in Huron County

• Huron County Doors Open: 44 local artists provided programming at 38 sites across the county. 154 volunteers assisted with the event and 3200 visitors attended the sites (2014)

• Culture Days: 25 arts activities cross promoted (2018)• Haunted Huron: 17 Halloween themed activities cross promoted (2018)

Huron County Library Makerspace

The Library has been acquiring Maker technology including a 3D printer, Ozobots, KANO computers, Cubelets and more to expand the range of technology that is available to residents. The Makerspace technology launched at the IPM in 2017 where there were 4000 interactions with the public.

Connecting BIAs/Chambers/Community Organizations

Cultural Services is a connector. We work with representatives from over a 100 different Huron County community organizations and groups on a regular basis.

Huron County Cultural Awards

Huron County Cultural Awards recognizes the exceptional achievements of Huron County residents, businesses, and organizations in the following categories: Cultural Event/Organization, Individual Artist, Community Contribution, Heritage, Innovation, and Warden’s Award. Since 2009, 51 individuals, organizations, and businesses have been recognized with a Huron County Cultural Award.

Huron County Cultural Awards: Marianne Hogan, Kingsbridge Centre and Aaron Neeb, chair HAHN

“90% of Ontarians strongly or somewhat agree that

an active arts scene helps make a community a better place to live”

Impressions of the Impact of the Arts on Quality of Life and Well-Being in Ontario: Ontario Arts Council Survey Findings, by Nanos

Research for the Ontario Arts Council, March 2017.

Huron County Library Test Drive Your Creative SideEncaustic with Linda Weibe

Strategic Priority: Advance the Municipality’s Role in Cultural DevelopmentContinue to support the County of Huron’s leadership role in ways that are of benefit to the entire sector and community at large.

Outcomes:2017 International Plowing Match

Huron County celebrated Canada’s Sesquicentennial by hosting the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo - a five-day celebration of agriculture and the rural lifestyle. The Cultural Development Officer acted as one of the leads for the Huron County Showcase and took on the role of Entertainment Chair for the event coordinating 65 acts on 6 stages over the five-day event. The Huron County Showcase attendance (over 4 days) was 31,707.

Libraries Transforming Communities

Through the Libraries Transforming Communities program staff turn outward in their communities to better understand local aspirations, main concerns and specific issues and how we can address them through our daily work and with local partners. As of early 2019, over 40 community conversations and 220 street interviews have been conducted.

Culture Days

Cultural Services and HAHN have worked together to create cooperative marketing materials to promote all of the activities happening in Huron County on Culture Days weekend (last weekend in September) including 25 events in 2018.The Huron County Library participated in Culture Days @The Library with programs in several branches.

Continued Support to Core Programming

• Huron Heritage Fund - Since 2014, 32 projects have received over $100,000. • Huron County Art Bank - Since 2014, the County has purchased 10 installations.• Summer Reading Program - In 2018 there were 15 school visits with 2,437

students and 128 library programs with 892 participants. • Internet Access Training - Since 2014, technology training from library staff has

been provided to 2,104 people.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the International Plowing Match, 2017

Huron County Showcase Tent at the International Plowing Match, 2017

“Reading for as little as 6 minutes is sufficient to

reduce stress levels by 60%, slowing heart beat, easing

muscle tension and altering state of mind”

Galaxy Stress Research, Mindlab International, Sussex University (2009)

Strategic Priority: Preserve and Promote our Cultural HeritagePreserve our cultural heritage for future generations and build appreciation and respect for our individual and shared histories.

Outcomes:Digitization

Cultural Services staff have worked to increase the number of Huron County cultural resources available on-line including:• Digitized Newspaper Project - over 134, 800 pages from 24 distinct newspapers• Past Perfect - 3,650 artifacts now searchable on-line• Historic Photographs - 1,257 photographs available on Flickr• Deep Roots Documentary• Huron Heritage Moments and Huron County World War Commemorations Videos• Henderson Digitization Project• New Horizons Virtual Gaol Project• 18 WiFi Hubs available for loan at the Library

Connecting the Arts & Heritage Sector

• Huron Historic Book Fair (2018): 25 local history authors and speakers participated• Doors Open (2014): 44 local artist provided programming at 38 sites across the county. 154 volunteers

assisted with the event and 3200 visitors attended the sites. • 161st Battalion Remembrance (2016): 551 ceramic poppies filled Courthouse Square Park.

Free admission to the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol

Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol offer free admission to all Huron County rate payers through their Huron County Library card (2018).

Ontario Heritage Conference

Staff providing support to the Bluewater Advisory Committee and Goderich Municipal and Marine Heritage Committee in hosting the Ontario Heritage Conference (2019).

551 ceramic poppies were placed in front of the Goderich cenotaph. Each poppy represented a Huron County soldier who did not return home from the First World War.

“Ontario’s arts and culture sector represents $27.5 billion or 3.5%

of the province’s GDP and almost 269,000 jobs or 3.8% of total

Ontario employment.”StatsCan, Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators, 2016

(2018)

Poppy designed by Ruth Anne Merner

This booklet provides samples of some of the outcomes of the 2014 Cultural Plan. Of that plan, 46 of the 51 recommended actions saw implementation or progress. For the full report visit: www.CreativeHuron.ca

There’s more work to be doneThree recommended actions from the cultural plan will be moved forward for consideration as part of the new cultural plan. 3.1 Prepare a report that gathers and analyzes quantitative data to measure the economic and social impact of local arts, culture and heritage in Huron County as the basis for making the case for support and appreciation for the local cultural sector.

Identifying and collecting credible statistics on the economic impacts of arts, culture and heritage is challenging. There is currently a lot of work being done on how to measure the positive economic and social impacts of arts and culture to a community. We hope to adopt some of these data collection models to better inform what the contributions are of arts and culture in Huron County. 5.1 Investigate a Huron County funding program that provides seed funding for arts and culture initiatives similar to the Huron Heritage Fund

Staff reviewed arts & culture funding programs from eight comparable municipalities. Local Economic Development and Huron Heritage Fund programs are supporting some of the sector’s funding needs currently. 5.2 Explore the development of a Huron County public art policy that includes a review of possible funding options for commissioning public arts projects

Staff reviewed a number of comparable municipal public art master plans. Challenges we face in Huron County is identifying best funding model for public art and how to introduce and implement a public art policy in a two-tier municipal structure.

“Ontario public libraries have more cardholders than VISA, handle more items

than FedEx, and have more outlets than McDonald’s. Each year, 72.3 million visits are

made in person to Ontario public libraries, which is 3 times the annual attendance at all

North American NHL hockey games.”

Ontario Public Libraries 2011 Annual Report (2012)

Huron County Library: Goderich BranchHuron Historic Gaol

46 of 51 actions saw implementation or progress

Huron County Cultural Services

Huron County Library Admin 77722B London Rd, Highway 4 South

Clinton, ON N0M 1L0519.482.5457

www.HuronCounty.ca/library

Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol110 North St.,

Goderich, ON N7A 2T8519.524.2686

www.HuronCountyMuseum.ca