Kingston Culture Plan
The Kingston Culture Plan (or KCP) is the City's first ever cultural master plan that was approved by Council in September 2010 and is intended to help shape Kingston's cultural development over the next decade. Download the approved plan.
"The recommendations in the plan are aimed at enhancing how we feature Kingston's many cultural gifts - our heritage, our artists, dancers and musicians, our excellent venues, and beautiful vistas," says Brian McCurdy, Director Cultural Services. "The Culture Plan is about more consciously celebrating our assets to enrich the experience of living and visiting here."
The Plan was developed with the benefit of extensive public and stakeholder input culminating in a total of 60 recommendations that speak to issues like the following:
- Cultural spaces: these recommendations include Kingston City Hall, the Grand Theatre and local museums as well as soon-to-be-built venues like the J.K. Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, along with other cultural spaces that include streets and heritage districts; community cultural hubs and arts blocks; and arts and cultural spaces in rural Kingston.
- Capacity: these recommendations directly relate to strengthening the cultural sector overall, including building stronger ties among diverse cultural stakeholders, identifying potential new funding sources for arts and heritage groups and building up cultural capital.
- Cultural Tourism: these recommendations focus on how various cultural tourism initiatives can benefit residents as well as visitors to the area by leveraging the cultural resources that exist and helping local stakeholders work together more effectively.
Cultural Services 2010/2011 Season Report
In 2011, Cultural Services began implementing the recommendations contained within the KCP while continuing to deliver and expand the annual programs offered through the Grand Theatre, MacLachlan Woodworking Museum, Pump House Steam Museum and Kingston City Hall National Historic Site.
Cultural Services also continued to work to establish the resources needed to meet baseline operations in relation to the cultural assets owned by the City and to facilitate the delivery of a number of special projects, including the redevelopment of the J.K. Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning and the relocation and restoration of "The Spirit of Sir John A."
As part of a larger communication strategy Cultural Services published a season report as a way to share what has been accomplished since the KCP was approved. Download a copy of the Cultural Services 2010/2011 Season Report.
Integrated Cultural Tourism and Cultural Heritage Strategy for the City of Kingston
Currently, the City of Kingston and Tourism Kingston are working together to develop an integrated cultural heritage and cultural tourism strategy, both to capitalize on the City's strengths in these areas and to address potential gaps and/or weaknesses in its cultural heritage and cultural tourism offerings. These strategies were recommended in the Kingston Culture Plan and are meant to guide the work of the City, as well as stakeholders within the broader community.
Cultural Heritage Strategy
The Cultural Heritage Strategy is intended to provide a tool with which to leverage Kingston's heritage resources and to ensure that Kingston's diverse range of heritage stakeholders-individuals, associations, organizations and institutions-all contribute to the city's identity in an inclusive and coherent manner. The Cultural Heritage Strategy is also intended to provide a framework within which to examine and develop new ways of understanding and interpreting Kingston's history and heritage, so as to provide the greatest public benefit for residents and visitors alike.
Cultural Tourism
Cultural tourism can be defined as "Visits by persons from outside the host community motivated wholly or in part by interest in the historical, artistic, scientific, or lifestyle/heritage offerings of a community, group or institution."
In general, it is understood that cultural tourists are motivated by:
- learning something new
- hoping to enrich their lives through their travel experiences
- education and enrichment
Goals of the Integrated Cultural heritage and Cultural Tourism Strategy
- Community engagement
- Economic development
- Sustainability and community identity
PROJECT TIMELINES |
|
|---|---|
October 2011 |
Kick off Meeting with consultants Lord Cultural Resources |
December 2011 |
Meetings with Working Groups |
February 2012 |
Development of Asset Assessment Report |
March 2012 |
Public Consultation Phase |
April 2012 |
Community Needs Report and Stakeholder Summary Paper |
May 2012 |
Draft Cultural Tourism and Cultural Heritage Strategy for Review |
May 2012 |
Final Cultural Tourism and Cultural Heritage Strategy |
June 2012 |
Completion of the Additional Scope of work to Develop a Strategy for Commemorative Events and Recognition for the Bicentennial Celebrations for Sir John A. Macdonald |
To learn more about the Kingston Culture Plan and how it will enhance the cultural vitality of Kingston, please contact Colin Wiginton, Manager, Cultural Services Department, City of Kingston, at 613-546-4291, ext. 1357 or cwiginton@cityofkingston.ca.
Sign up on the Kingston Culture Plan Mailing List to receive notice of opportunities related to building our city's cultural vitality.
The Purpose of the Kingston Culture Plan
The Kingston Culture Plan is informed by a number of City plans and priorities (see sidebar links) and is be guided by advice and feedback received from the public and key stakeholders. City staff and Canadian Urban Institute specialists worked with the community to identify a shared set of needs, aspirations and values that will continue to make Kingston an exciting and exceptional place to live.
The Kingston Culture Plan:
- Articulates a sustainable, authentic, long-term vision for cultural vitality in Kingston;
- Develops a list of strategic directions, initiatives and recommendations for action as well as a timeline for their implementation;
- Identifies possibilities for connections between cultural organizations and other stakeholders as well as opportunities for collaboration among City departments to achieve municipal/community strategic objectives.
