A Celebration of the Arts

On Saturday I attended the Conference for the Arts, held at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Cobourg. (Added bonus: a long drive through the brilliant fall colours.) The organizers called their conference "Living the Arts: celebrating creativity in our lives." I came away thinking that there is much to celebrate.

Although there were few writers in attendance and the sessions were geared toward the visual and performing arts, I was still able to glean a lot that would be useful for those of us involved in literary art.

The keynote address was delivered by famed Canadian tenor, Michael Burgess, star of television, film, recording and performance. Along with his many entertaining anecdotes, Michael reminded us of the need for artists to keep challenging ourselves. Even on the toughest days, he said, we need to just show up, because nothing ever happens if we don't show up.

I attended a session on developing and teaching workshops, learned the things to consider when setting one's fee and how best to promote the event. Another interesting session was called "Marketing to a Moving Target." I know that the information on how to use social media to get the word out will be most useful to me.

The best thing about events like this conference is the opportunity they present to spend time with creative people. And I am always grateful that so many of them are willing to share contacts with me.