New Cultural Plan to Promote Arts and Culture in Greater Sudbury

For immediate release                                                                         Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The new community-led Greater Sudbury Cultural Plan was introduced at tonight’s City Council meeting. The development of the plan was led by a 19-member steering committee, the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, as well as local arts and culture stakeholders.

“Our vibrant arts and culture sector is important to the well-being of our community,” said Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger. “Through this citizen led plan, we will help grow the arts and culture sector and ultimately improve access to the variety of unique projects in the City.”

Greater Sudbury’s Cultural Plan 2015-2020 supports the community’s creative identity and sense of belonging, fosters and promotes local talent, supports the growth of beautiful environments and infrastructure, and builds awareness and public engagement in cultural activities.  

Greater Sudbury residents and stakeholders actively contributed to the development of the Cultural Plan. Over 1,600 people from the community provided input through one-on-one interviews, online and paper surveys, forums, focus groups and art submissions. Research conducted during these consultations shows that 87 per cent of the public agrees that the City of Greater Sudbury should support local arts, culture and heritage organizations.

The creation of the plan began in September 2013 after a tremendous growth in the sector was identified since the release of the 2006 Arts and Culture Strategy. Public events rose to over 852 in 2013, an Arts and Culture Grant Program was created, a booming film industry was established, and a thriving arts and culture community was developed.  The volunteer Cultural Plan Steering Committee was formed and has worked diligently alongside Co-Chairs, Michael Penwarden and Gisèle Chrétien, to build the community-led Greater Sudbury Cultural Plan. 

“Arts and culture contribute to attracting and retaining people in our community” said Cultural Plan Steering Committee Co-Chair Gisèle Chrétien. “Sudbury was recently named one of the happiest cities in Canada and by promoting our already lively arts and culture sector as a community, we will only nurture this happiness.”

The plan is shaped around the four pillars of Creative People, Creative Identity, Creative Places and Creative Economy. These pillars provide the framework to ensure that the implementation of the Action Plan is on target with short and long-term goals spanning from 2015 to 2020. 

The Cultural Action Plan includes many projects and goals, including:

• increasing participation rates in cultural activities, such as a cultural tourism strategy

• developing an online inventory of the city’s private and public spaces available for individuals and organizations to incubate creativity

• making Greater Sudbury a “film-friendly” regional hub by providing easily accessible information on local filming recourses 

• investing in cultural infrastructure

• developing a public art policy and program

The vision of the Greater Sudbury Cultural Plan: 
Greater Sudbury is a Northern cultural capital celebrated from coast to coast to coast for its artistic excellence, vibrancy and creativity.  A diverse cultural sector breathes life into our entire community through a range of programs and events which showcase the immense talent of local artists who draw inspiration from the land and the rich multicultural heritage of the region.

Residents are invited to a public launch event for the Greater Sudbury Cultural Plan on Monday, May 4, at 4 p.m. at the Sudbury Theatre Centre.  

The next steps for the Cultural Plan include forming a Cultural Action Committee and creating a communication plan that will engage the private sector and all levels of government. Information on how to get involved will be available at the public launch event on May 4.

To apply to be part of the Cultural Action Plan Committee, to view the full Cultural Plan, or for more information, visit www.greatersudburyculture.ca or www.facebook.com/sudburyculture. 

-30-