The Open Sky Creative Society (OSCS) is a community arts organization that was founded as an artists’ collective in 1999 and registered as a not for profit in 2001.

“The Open Sky Creative Society (OSCS) is based in Ft. Simpson (Liidlii   Kue) in the Dehcho, a multi-cultural region composed of a dozen or so villages & aboriginal settlements located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The OSCS was formed in 1999 by local artists & arts supporters who saw a need for an arts & cultural service organization as well as presentation & artist outreach opportunities in the Dehcho. The society’s presence in our region is vital as extreme distances to the nearest urban centres result in few opportunities for audiences & artist alike. ” (web)

Local artists & arts supporters including Tonya Cazon, John Sabourin, Stephen Rowan, Barb Tsetso, Heather and Doug Tate came together to address this gap in arts. Their first activity was to set up artist vending tables during Canada Day celebrations in Fort Simpson so that local contemporary & traditional crafts artists could sell their artwork, this was the first Open Sky Festival. They began as a festival society and grew from there into a community arts organization. The OSCS mandate is to maintain a healthy Dehcho arts community.

Theirrented artist run centre is their base for the gallery, office space and arts workshops. Participants register for workshops. A minimal fee for workshops is charged, however, the Society will occasionally subsidize the cost. Past workshops include drawing, oil pastels, porcupine quilling, acrylic painting, wax crayon, professional pencil crayon, birch bark basketry, spruce root basketry, carving, rug hooking, moose hide tanning, tipi painting, animation, photography, quilting, felting, silver jewellery and moose hair tufting. Some of the workshops are led by elders. The OSCS also offers art as healing workshops. Tracy expounded “art is a tool to heal, build self esteem, it’s all about the medicine wheel.”

The Open Sky Creative Society’s gallery is in its second year of operation. There are six art exhibits held throughout the year, each lasting eight weeks. There is currently a regional Dehcho artist exhibit going on, the opening was a resounding success. Throughout the year they invite emerging National artists, First Nations and regional artists to submit their original work to exhibit. CARFAC exhibit rates are paid to the artists. They also have an annual art exhibit for the local high school, which includes their best work of the year.

The main catchment area is the Dehcho region (est. population 8000) of the Northwest Territories, & the artist-run centre is based in Ft. Simpson ( population 1,400). Although the OSCS is grassroots, the organization reached a national level when word got out about their festival and work throughout the year. The language of service is primarily English, some arts workshops are conducted in Slavey as well. The societyworks with all ages.

The Open Sky Creative Society is really good at and known for The Open Sky Festival. This year is the festival’s 10th anniversary. The festival opens with a community feast and drum dance which is a tradition in the Dene communities in the NWT. Each year the festival hosts a special project which includes the exhibition, dissemination & participation of National guest artists around a specific festival theme. Most festival events are free for participants, with the exception of the annual concert/dance Open Sky Festival fundraiser.

Its challenges this year are to: 1. identify & acquire administrative core funding, so that they can spend more time on programming; 2. write a staff succession plan and a manual for each position, a significant challenge is retaining staff due to the draw of higher wages in local government jobs.

The Open Sky Creative Society is interested in partnering or doing outreach with other community arts projects/programs/organizations/resources. They can offer their experiences and advice on operating an artist run society in the North. They aim to partner with other festivals & arts presenters in Canada’s North including Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit, Nunavut & the Northern Arts & Culture Centre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Staff recently attended the Northern Nano Network Presenters Gathering, which was a first-of-its-kind conference for arts presenters from the territories and Nunavut.

The number of participants are: 60 official members, approximately 400 audience members for the festival, an average of 20 attendees to gallery receptions, & 10 participants per workshop. Their festival season lasts from April until September (with pre-festival & post-festival activities planning & reporting). The festival occurs in late June/ early July. October through March is considered the winter season when the OSCS focuses on capacity building, organizational improvement, special projects, performance coffee houses & workshops in the community.

The Open Sky Creative Society (OSCS) has on the average, 2 part-time/full-time staff and 7 board members. During the Open Sky Festival they have approximately 50 volunteers. The festival’s success is dependent on community involvement. Its annual budget range is around $200,000. Its annual value of donations-in-kind is about $50,000. The organization is funded by 80% gov’t (project grants).

ArtBridges interview with Tracy Kovalench, Programming Coordinator, on April 19th.

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