The City of Calgary, working with Calgary Arts Development, is updating the Civic Arts Policy for the first time since 2004 to better align best practices for supporting the arts community in Calgary.

The ideas in the new Policy will draw on the concepts in the existing policy, focusing on clarifying, simplifying and streamlining the content to ensure it aligns with current best practices. The policy is also being updated to better reflect Truth and Reconciliation, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) principles.

The 2004 version of the Policy was the result of two years of consultation and research to improve leadership and communication structures, resourcing and accountability. One result of the 2004 Policy was the creation of Calgary Arts Development as a Civic Partner, to deliver arts granting and programming on behalf of the municipality. The Civic Arts Policy guides and governs all groups and individuals receiving arts funding from The City of Calgary, including the Arts & Culture division at The City, Civic Partners, and arts organizations and individuals receiving municipal funding through Civic Partners.

The updated Civic Arts Policy outlines two main areas that guide municipal investment in the arts community: policy statements for The City and guiding principles for those in the arts sector receiving municipal funding. The Civic Arts Policy is a guide to ensure value for the money invested in Calgary’s arts sector but does not direct day-to-day funding decisions for individuals or organizations.

We are seeking your input to help shape the updated Civic Arts Policy. Your ideas and feedback will be organized into key themes and shared in a What We Heard Report, which will inform the development of the updated policy. Engagement is one of several factors that will be considered, alongside research on best practices and other policies.

There will be two phases of engagement. Phase 1, in October and November 2024, will focus on gathering initial feedback to understand priorities and ideas from the community. Phase 2, in January and February 2025, will share how this feedback was used and refine the draft policy. The updated policy is expected to be presented to City Council in June 2025.

Phase 1: Inspire is now complete. In this phase, we asked participants to share their thoughts and priorities about the guiding principles for supporting artists, promoting collaboration, championing equity and anti-racism, promoting the arts, and building resiliency. Participants also rated how important these principles are to the arts community.

After each phase of engagement, we will publish a What We Heard report that summarizes the feedback. Please check this page for updates when the report is available.