MESSAGES FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Statement From the Co-Chairs of Ed Video’s Board of Directors
By Adam A. Donaldson and Jordan Jocius
Tonight marks the end of another exciting year at Ed Video Media Arts Centre, as well as marking the beginning of a new one. It was a year of change, remarkable achievement and occasional adversity. But through it all Ed Video stands proudly not just as Guelph’s only artist-run centre, but as one of the most recognizable names on the forefront of multimedia and video art in Canada.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: The Theft Yes it hurt us where we lived, and caused us more than a few headaches, but if the theft last fall taught us anything (or perhaps re-educated us), it was that Ed Video has friends, and they are a generous and caring bunch. As a Board, and working with staff, we did our best to turn a frown upside down, and in our dealings with local media have tried to remain positive and upbeat.
Now, almost a year later, Ed Video is re-equipped, re-invested, and still providing local artists with the services they’ve come to expect from us because we refused to let the incident makes us more cynical or jaded. In our financial report, the monetary impact will be covered in more detail.
Now on to things more positive. Around this time about 35 years ago a bunch of pioneers got together and formally made Ed Video a non-profit artist-run centre operating in Downtown Guelph. It not only makes Ed Video one of the oldest arts organizations in the Royal City, but one of the oldest of its kind in the province, if not the entire country. To celebrate we have developed a number of activities, some of which you might know about, some of which you might not know about.
First, members who were at our Regular General Meeting in December will recall our amendment to the Centre’s policy to allow for the new status of Honorary Lifetime Member. Over the last few months, we’ve collected nominations for the first class of this new group, and the Board will adjourn this summer to develop a final list of recipients, who will be invited to the official awards ceremony in September.
Additionally, the gallery will feature a retrospective of Ed Video’s archival material: posters, video work, knick-knacks, all of which will also be recorded, with bonus material, in an official commemorative book. Both the exhibit and the book will be launched as Ed Video’s contribution to the Nuit Blanche program of Guelph Jazz Festival.
And it is thanks to festivals, like the Jazz Festival, that Ed Video’s gallery space is become an important destination on the Guelph arts scene. Aside from our own curated shows and special events, Ed Video’s gallery is also a main site for many of our city’s important cultural events.
This year, the City of Guelph launched "The Fab 5,” a tourism initiative meant to highlight five major Guelph festivals – Hillside, Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Festival of Moving Media, Eden Mills Writers Festival and the aforementioned Guelph Jazz Festival. In the last year, Ed Video’s been used as a venue for four out of five of those events (including workshop space for Hillside Inside), and had a partnership at the fifth: The Eden Mills Writers Festival. Additionally, Ed Video’s been home to major new upstart festivals, like Kazoofest, which just wrapped its fifth highly successful year under the guidance of Ed Video Board member Brad McInerney.
Overall, the Gallery has continued to add prestige to Ed Video and allowed us a forum to hold events that attract audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with the Centre. It is a consistently in-demand venue and our Programming Director Scott McGovern has been doing an exemplary job of making sure that the Gallery has put on the best, the brightest, and the most innovative of arts events.
Speaking of staff, Ed Video added another face to the roster this year: Philip Carrer, who’s taken up the new position of Workshop Co-ordinator. Phil brings with him a wealth of experience in filmmaking and has hit the ground running by developing a number of new workshops, programs and initiatives like a movie poster design workshop, an intro to the lesser known Sony Vegas Pro editing software and an appreciative class for grindhouse cinema. These and other new offerings have expanded the Centre’s reservoir of knowledge and programming, and there are still exciting new developments to come.
The addition of Phil to the staff has allowed Technical Director Angus McLellan to focus more on what he does best:, offering cool headed advice and practical knowledge to our members about the equipment and software involved in media art creation. He’s also done an excellent job in engaging members by administering the beloved 24 Hour Filmmaking Challenge, and trying out new activities like the weekend long screenwriting challenge this past February.
But any discussion about the accomplishments of the staff of the Centre isn’t done until we’ve shown a huge debt of gratitude to Executive Director Elizabeth Dent. Without Liz’s perseverance and administrative savvy, none of the things we do on an annual basis at the Centre would be possible. Although the results of her good work are only visible through how others act on it, it’s safe to say that the current state of a smoothly run Ed Video would not be possible without her.
We salute Liz, Angus, Phil and Scott for making 2011 one of the most exciting years for Ed Video in recent memory, and I hope they stay and help us grow for a long time to come.
Moving on after tonight, the new Board of Directors will continue to focus on the long term financial stability of the Centre by looking for new fundraising avenues. We’ll continue in efforts of preparation for September’s 35th anniversary activities (and the input of any interested members would be greatly appreciated). And we’ll continue to do everything we can to ensure that there’ll be an Ed Video, right here in Guelph, and available to our members, for years to come.
On behalf of the Board, thank you for all your support, and invite you stay involved with Ed Video in any and every capacity.