Arts and Culture Estates General gathers for Estrie forum

The Eastern Townships cultural milieu and its partners from business, education, health, the municipal world, tourism, and the media will gather at the Cégep de Sherbrooke, Tuesday, January 12, to take part in the Estates States General of arts and culture in the Eastern Townships to develop elements of a cultural strategy for the region to guide cultural development actors in the coming years.

Consultations with the cultural community and other socio-economic sectors have taken place and have helped bring forward issues currently affecting the cultural community, such as recognition of the contribution of arts and culture by the business community and the municipal milieu, public and private funding of the arts and culture, consultation, the digital shift, and many others.

Inspired by a modern approach to the development of a society that incorporates culture as a vehicle for economic development, social cohesion and stability, the Eastern Townships Culture Council began in 2012 with a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary societal approach to equip the Eastern Townships with a cultural strategy that would enhance the credibility, visibility and the importance of arts and culture as a regional development vector.

The program begins at 9 a.m. with an opening hosted by independent journalist, host and author Ariane Émond, accompanied by Estates General Chair Angèle Séguin, Marie-France Bélanger, Executive Director of the Cégep de Sherbrooke, and• Hugues Grimard, President of the Table of Estrie MRCs.

This is followed at 9:15 by a conversation with Sherbrooke native Jim Corcoran, author, composer and performer. This exchange aims to stimulate reflection on the future of arts and culture, the main challenges facing the cultural sector in the coming years, and the most promising ways to proceed.

At 9:30, a panel will discuss the strategic challenges facing the world of arts and culture and the path to innovative solutions. The panel consists of business manger Francine Lalonde, Guillaume Déziel self-taught in the areas of studio recording, business law, entrepreneurship, management, and publishing, Serge Auray, CEO of Laboratoire M2 and M2 Poly Group and a director on the board of Sherbrooke Innopole, Maurice Bernier, manager, politician, former president of the regional conference of elected officials (CRE) Estrie, and former prefect of the MRC du Granit, and Pierre Mino, CEO of the Estrie Culture Council.

At 10:40, a presentation of a portrait of the arts and culture in the Eastern Townships and an overview of a draft cultural strategy and workshops will be offered.

Following a press briefing at 10:30, workshops will be held from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. with a break scheduled for noon.

The meeting will be held in the Salle Alfred-Desrochers in Pavilion 3 at the Cégep. Registration can be completed on the Estates General website at http://eg.cultureestrie.ca.