COMMUNITY
ARTS
COUNCIL OF
VANCOUVER

The Story

The Downtown Eastside is the historic heart of our city. It is a neighbourhood challenged by gentrification, illegal drugs, and poverty – yet it has a history of overcoming challenges.

The members of the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network believe the arts are a powerful resource in the development of the community and a highly accessible means for people with limited resources to expand their knowledge, skills and talents.

The Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network facilitates and supports accessible opportunities for participation, creative expression, and experience through arts and cultural activities for all in the community who are interested.

Downtown Eastside CAN consists of individuals, groups, and organizations who collaborate to plan, organize, and create arts programs in the Downtown Eastside and facilitate cooperation among groups within and beyond the community. CAN is open to all who subscribe to the interests and ideas that guide participants in the Network.

The interests of the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network are to

• contribute through the arts to the social, cultural, and economic renewal of the Downtown Eastside
• create a healthy, artistically vibrant, and culturally rich community
• build a neighborhood where people from predominately low incomes with diverse life styles, abilities, and financial means feel at home
• support individuals and groups in determining their own futures

Downtown Eastside CAN does this by

creating opportunities for residents of the Downtown Eastside to experience the arts as an audience

creating opportunities for people to acquire skills and knowledge to encourage personal growth and expression as aspiring and practicing artists

developing the community from the knowledge, skills, and talents each participant brings ensuring participation stays open to all with similar interests and ideas providing individual and collective voices for advocacy on issues affecting the community

creating a locally-led sustainable economic and social renewal collaboration with local resident, community and business organizations.

building bridges with people and organizations within and beyond the Downtown Eastside that strengthen understanding and appreciation for the people of this community and their accomplishments.

To pursue the interests of the Network and the Downtown Eastside, CAN will

• Undertake joint communications, promotion and media activities
• Collaborate in raising funds and in-kind resources
• Develop joint arts programs
• Bring arts programs and arts experiences to the community
• Share resources
• Provide training and work-experience opportunities in the arts and in activities that support arts programs
• Provide volunteer and employment opportunities in the arts
• Enable emerging and professional artists to work together and to learn from one another

Guiding Ideas

The Downtown Eastside CAN is guided by ideas of inclusiveness, respect, and transparency. CAN appreciates that diversity is a source of creativity and encourages communications that foster understanding, appreciation and respect. CAN respects the relationships that organizations have established with their patrons and funders and works to strengthen the individual identity of each. CAN communicates information and decision making openly.

The CAN Project

CAN is a project sponsored by the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.

Founding Organizations

The organizations working most closely to establish the Community Arts Network are Carnegie Community Centre, Central City Mission Foundation, desmedia, Firehall Arts Centre, Gallery Gachet, and Vancouver Moving Theatre. Others who are in agreement with the interests and ideas of the network are equally welcome.

CAN´s focus is to encourage cooperation between groups and provide opportunities for the development of economic self-reliance in the arts across a range of sectors including performing, visual, media, and design arts.

CAN´s initiatives include the Fearless Media Project. This includes the publication of Fearless Magazine, Fearless TV productions and the organizing of Fearless Festival, a street-level community arts festival  in the Downtown Eastside.

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