History
In 2015, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent was one of the few areas of Ontario without a community- wide Arts Council. That year, a small group of arts, culture and heritage-minded individuals came together with the aim of establishing a community-based network to promote and support arts and culture activities within Chatham-Kent. Their plans laid the groundwork for the CKACN. In April 2019, the Municipality of Chatham- Kent launched a new Arts and Culture section within its Community Human Services division, bringing the operations of the Chatham Capitol Theatre and the Chatham Cultural Centre under joint management. This created the potential for new opportunities for community-based arts and culture activities, promotions and events, anchored by the municipal theatres, galleries and museums. With a desire to unite arts and culture stakeholders around the development of a local cultural economy, to ensure community representation in municipal programming, and to grow a stable and engaged audience base for a strong future, discussions around the CKACN resumed in June 2020.
The following services will be provided as the CKACN matures and funds permit:
Assistance with planning, organizing, promoting and seeking resources, including grant funding and sponsorship, to support and promote Arts and Culture activities, including but not limited to:
- Activities by local artists/arts leaders/arts educators
- Art and/or heritage preservation
- Arts workshop opportunities for children, youth and adults
- Professional development opportunities for artists and arts groups
- Community activities to promote arts and culture
- Public Art
- Advocating for the arts and increasing financial support for Arts and Culture throughout CK as a whole
- Marketing and promoting the economic value and job-creation potential of the arts and culture community to CK
- Enlisting public interest and promoting public understanding of Arts and Culture within Chatham-Kent
About the Chatham-Kent Arts and Culture Network
The CK Arts and Culture Network was incorporated by Letters Patent issued on the 4th day of January, 2021, for the purpose of:
- Encouraging public participation in the arts by providing arts and cultural services and information resources for arts organizations, artists, arts groups and the broader community of Chatham-Kent, and by increasing awareness of the positive contributions that arts and culture make to the community and citizens of Chatham-Kent.
- Providing opportunities for the citizens of Chatham-Kent to experience the arts, and supporting Chatham-Kent artists and arts organizations by initiating, facilitating and/or participating in the development of arts and cultural endeavours, including artistic exhibitions, presentations and performances, and by providing educational arts and culture programs to the Chatham-Kent public.
Mission
The CK Arts and Culture Network (CKACN) is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization that supports arts and culture in Chatham-Kent. The CKACN nurtures, sustains and advocates for cultural activities, artists and arts organizations throughout Chatham-Kent, and endeavours to increase community connection to and engagement in the arts.
Vision
To cultivate a vibrant and sustainable arts and culture community throughout the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Our Board of Directors
Dan White, Chair
Born and raised in Sarnia-Lambton, Dan White has resided in Wallaceburg since 2017. Dan studied music at Western University, and taught music and dramatic arts in Sarnia for 31 years. He has been involved in more than 100 theatrical productions in all facets of production, working with Theatre Sarnia, Petrolia Community Players, Theatre Kent, his own production company and improv troupe as well as the secondary school program at Sarnia Collegiate where, among other shows, he directed and produced the annual SCITS Revue for 19 years.
After moving to Wallaceburg he became a member of the Wallaceburg Concert Band, formed the Wallaceburg Brass Quintet and has been writing a bi-weekly arts column in Wallaceburg since 2018.
He has previously served on the board of directors of Huron House Boys’ Home, Theatre Sarnia, Wallaceburg and District Council for the Arts and currently sits on the board of the Alliance of Arts Councils of Ontario.
Laurie Langford, Vice Chair
Writer and exhibiting artist Laurie Langford has been actively involved with arts and culture since moving to Chatham-Kent in 1996. Her background is in marketing, communications, graphic design and project management. Laurie has served as Chair of the Historic Downtown Committee, the Thames Art Gallery Advisory Committee, and the ARTspace Advisory Board. Laurie has worked with and for the Municipality on various arts and culture projects over the past 25 years.
Christie Coatsworth, Secretary
Christie Coatsworth resides near Blenheim, in farm country. She began her career in music in grade six, when her cousin asked her to play organ for a family wedding. Decades later, Christie is still assembling “volun-told” choirs in that little country church outside Port Alma, and she was the piano teacher for kids in the community. Christie enjoyed her time as a storyteller and as an organizer of parents fighting to preserve small schools. She has a day job in social work, where it is her privilege to support those facing their final days. Board experience with the CK Public Library and CK Women’s Centre were assets that she brought to her work with Create CK, visioning for our region’s cultural future. She believes in this place.
Karleigh Gore, Treasurer
Karleigh Gore is a Chartered Professional Accountant based in Chatham. She received a Master of Accountancy degree from Brock University in 2017 and moved to Chatham to work in public accounting the same year. Karleigh works with clients from across many industries, including non-profit and charitable organizations. She was involved with Junior Achievement for a number of years as an advisor to their after-school youth Company Program, teaching high-school students about entrepreneurship and running their own business. In her free time, Karleigh enjoys taking local dance classes with Ascension Dance and frequenting local theatre and concerts. Karleigh looks forward to pairing her accounting background and interest in the arts while she works with CKACN.
James Snyder, Past Chair
James Snyder has served in numerous leadership roles in the areas of community development, non-profit housing, social planning, strategic planning, sustainable cultural, recreational and community building/facility development, and governance. He has developed proposals for development/expansion for multiple agencies, boards, non-profit and private corporations, and, as a volunteer, he has formed and chaired more than 30 non-profit organizations since 1975. A resident of downtown Chatham, James Snyder is currently semi-retired.
Chris Ford
Chris Ford has established several art galleries throughout Southwestern Ontario over the past 30 years, making artist promotion her life’s work. She also developed and ran eight seasons of Art in the Park in Morpeth and Ridgetown, as well as one season in Chatham. She has served on several arts and culture boards and was a contributor to the municipal strategic plan for Arts and Culture. Chris loves to work with youth, instilling in them a love for the arts. Her art these days consists of photosculpting and writing, having published two fast-selling books of poetry. The Art and Heirloom Shoppe, where she partners with Sue Rumball, is home to fifty local and regional artists, many of them emerging and looking for direction. Chris looks forward to her work on the CKACN board as an opportunity to continue her passion for promoting local art and artists.
Pamela Smith
A native of Chatham-Kent, Pamela Smith returned to her roots after completing a three-year degree in Graphic Design at George Brown College in Toronto. Pamela has worked in print media with many of our community newspapers, and was part of the core group that developed a new in-house design and advertising department with RM Classic Cars/RM Auctions in Blenheim. In 2007, she partnered with her husband in the development of Classic Restoration and Design, a local historical restoration business. Pamela has been involved with Rotary, The Mary Webb Centre for the Arts, Dresden Shines, Dresden Community Healthcare Foundation, Dresden Kinsmen Club, and Chatham-Kent Big Sisters. She developed her skills as a graphic designer, artist, marketer, entrepreneur, and community advocate, networking in and around her community of Dresden. She is passionate about promoting music, art and community events, and looks forward to working with CKACN supporting arts and cultural activities in our community.
Troy Brooks
Troy Brooks is a contemporary painter. His eccentric images of elongated female subjects in film noir settings have been globally recognized as signature works in the modern pop surrealist movement, with exhibitions in New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Australia, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2018 he relocated from Toronto and purchased the oldest commercial building in Wallaceburg, originally a Bank Of Montreal, turning it into his studio work space.