David C. Jones, 2017 Vancouver Culture Days Ambassador
BC Culture Days has announced their province-wide invitation to BC artists to apply to their annual Ambassador & Awards Program. Up to eight selected applicants from across BC will receive $1,000 each to act as a Culture Days spokesperson and to present an activity during the Culture Days weekend (September 28-30, 2018). Culture Days is a national celebration of arts, culture, and heritage inviting the public behind the scenes to discover their own creativity through free, hands-on activities for the whole family.
The BC Culture Days Ambassador program first began in 2013 with only one ambassador selected each year, but with the support of funders and sponsors, has since grown to allow for up to eight ambassadors, plus awards to help support their activities. Over the past five years, many ambassadors have had a profound impact on their arts and cultural community. "I believe that [Culture Days] instilled a sense of pride and created a unique framework for me to continue my mentorship with the youth in my community, continuing to build future leaders for tomorrow," said Roxanne Charles, one of the 2017 ambassadors from Semiahmoo First Nation.
To be eligible for the ambassador program, you must be: an individual artist (amateur or professional) residing in BC, active in your arts, culture, or heritage community, present and available to act as a spokesperson in your community during the months of May-September 2018, and prepared to register an activity to present during the Culture Days weekend.
Ambassadors are involved with reaching out to community members, such as individual artists, arts organizations, cultural organizations, heritage organizations, and businesses, encouraging them to offer activities during the Culture Days weekend.
They encourage public participation and discussion about Culture Days through in-person interviews with community members, blog posts, and social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. They may also be asked to help activate a local pop-up event or partner event leading up to the Culture Days weekend.
In collaboration with local community organizers and BC Culture Days staff, the ambassador may be asked to present an activity at a community planning session or participate in TV, radio, and newspaper interviews on behalf of BC Culture Days, so experience with public speaking and engaging audiences is an asset.
Interested applicants can visit BC.CultureDays.ca to complete the online application form. Submissions will be juried by members of the BC Culture Days Steering Committee and finalists will be called for an interview.
For more information, please contact Nazanin Shoja, BC Culture Days Manager at nazanin.shoja@culturedays.ca or 604-681-3535 ext. 214.
Source: BC Culture Days