Position Status: 12 Month Contractual Position
Work Environment: Work flexibly out of a project office space and a home office setting with frequent travel throughout the municipality
Hours per Week: Averages 35 hours per week on flexible schedule (may require evening or weekend hours)
Salary:  $47,500.00, plus travel expense budget
Start Date: September 18, 2017

The Opportunity

Be part of the dynamic cultural and heritage community in Kawartha Lakes, a municipality that includes urban and rural communities set in a beautiful system of lakes, rivers and farmland. Cultural tourism is a growing industry in our region and over the past three years the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council (KLAC) and the Kawartha Lakes Heritage Network (KLHN) were established to celebrate, promote and encourage engagement in arts, culture and heritage. In 2017 the City of Kawartha Lakes, in partnership with KLAC and KLHN launched the new Arts & Heritage Trail. The incumbent will have the opportunity to shape our emerging cultural offerings by Arts & Heritage Trail participants, while being well supported by a team of knowledgeable Board Members from both organizations and the City’s Economic Development Officer – Arts, Culture and Heritage.

The Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the Kawartha Heritage Network

The Kawartha Lakes Arts Council is an incorporated not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the arts community in the Kawartha Lakes by encouraging, promoting, supporting and advocating for artists and the arts in all of its forms. The Arts Council facilitates collaborations and partnerships that will ensure a vibrant arts community, fosters professional development through workshops, forums and other educational activities and events, and encourages investment and support of the arts in our community. With members located throughout the Kawartha Lakes, KLAC helps to connect all of our communities with activities, events and opportunities that maximize the success of the arts sector and strengthens the creative economy throughout the Kawartha Lakes. Website: kawarthalakesartscouncil.com

The Kawartha Lakes Heritage Network is an incorporated not for profit organization that connects the numerous small museums and historical societies throughout Kawartha Lakes. It encourages innovation in the cultural heritage sector through collaboration and coordination, the sharing of knowledge, skills and resources, and supports its members in the conservation, preservation and showcasing of our local heritage.

The Kawartha Lakes Arts & Heritage Trail

The Arts & Heritage Trail was introduced in 2016 to showcase the numerous rich heritage and wide variety of museums, historic sites, artist’s studios and galleries located throughout the Kawartha Lakes. The Arts and Heritage Trail provides the opportunity for coordinated marketing and promotion of the many small independent cultural businesses and unique heritage sites. Visitors and residents can access information about the Arts and Heritage Trail online through an Arts and Heritage Trail webpage and interactive map

(artsandheritagetrail.com). Visitors can select multiple destinations to create tour experiences that reflect their own particular interests or that are located in specific localities within the Kawartha Lakes region.

The Role

Reporting to the A&H Trail Management Committee, the Arts & Heritage Trail Program Coordinator will engage with Kawartha Lakes cultural organizations, facilities, businesses on the Arts and Heritage Trail to facilitate partnerships and collaborative participation in programming activities. By building relationships and developing more effective programs and events across the arts and heritage sector, the profiles and business capacity of participants will be enhanced, tourism will increase and the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council (KLAC) and the Kawartha Lakes Heritage Network (KLHN) membership base will broaden.

Resources will available from both KLAC and KLHN and from the municipality through Economic Development – Arts, Culture and Heritage. Supervision will be provided by members of the Collaboration Project Committee (KLAC and KLHN) and the Economic Development Officer – Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Key Results and Position Responsibilities

Through creative engagement and relationship building with Trail destinations:

• Facilitate multi-stakeholder partnerships, advise, facilitate and assist in the development and

Implementation of cultural programs

• Create an inventory of the assets, programs, projects and events across the entire Arts & Heritage Trail
• Organize and facilitate meetings and workshops that enable each entity to get to know each other – to tell their story – who they are - share their core business, local knowledge and aspirations for future cultural projects
• Meet with individual stakeholders across the sector as needed
• Maintain communication with stakeholders to advise on program activities and opportunities
• Contact new destinations and encourage participation in the A&H Trail which will also grow memberships in KLAC and KLHN
• Bridge the Arts sector and the Heritage sector through collaborative programs and events developed with Trail participants that can continue on an ongoing basis
• Encourage year round events and Trail programs beyond seasonal programs and events
• Work in partnership with municipality’s Arts, Culture and Heritage staff who will deliver arts business support
• Convey the benefits of data collection and provide a template ( developed by Ec Dev – A,C&H)that can be utilized by Trail destinations
• Raise awareness of the Province’s efforts to develop experiential tourism and encourage participants to collaborate on new experiential initiatives
• Raise awareness of external funding available to support new and future initiatives
• Submit monthly written status reports to KLAC and KLHN
• Prepare a final project report at conclusion of project

Experience, Skills and Personal Qualities

The candidate must be able to work independently with a high level of diplomacy and initiative in order to nurture and build new partnerships and strong working relationships. The ideal candidate should possess:

• Experience in community outreach and engagement
• Experience in organizing and facilitating meetings and workshops
• Experience in working with stakeholders to develop new programs in the community or cultural sector

• Experience working with a variety of stakeholders such as volunteers, local politicians, small business

   owners and community groups with a commitment to good customer service
• Advanced computer competency in word processing, report writing, working on spreadsheets, social   

   media platforms, and website maintenance

• Knowledge / experience in cultural development or cultural tourism

• Excellent interpersonal, listening, oral and written communication skills
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to manage schedules

• Well organized with the ability to multi-task and maintain vigilant attention to details while meeting deadlines
• Enthusiastic and curiosity-driven

Please email resume and a cover letter to:

Dianne Lister, Chair, Kawartha Lakes Arts Council

Email: diannelister at gmail.com

Closing date for applications:  August 25, 2017 at 4:00 pm.

This position has been made possible through funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Kawartha Lakes Arts Council would like to thank all applicants for their interest in the position; however, only those candidates who meet all position requirements will be contacted for an interview.