Tuesday, October 20th at 7pm, the HHACF will have its first ever Annual General Meeting (AGM). All are welcome to attend this online meeting, but must pre-register via info@hhartscentrefoundation.ca to receive the Zoom link to join.

We will be reviewing the previous fiscal year and going over plans for the future. We are also looking to grow our board with an interest in fundraising and legal skills, but anyone dedicated to the cause is encouraged to apply. If anyone intends to join the board of directors, please let us know in your email.

The Haliburton Highlands Arts Centre Foundation is pleased to announce that it has been successful in its LIP (Local Initiatives Program) funding application with the Haliburton County Development Corporation (HCDC).  Thanks to this funding, the HHACF will be moving ahead with the next phase of its research project.  It has engaged Melissa Johnston to produce a final synthesized report out of the Needs Assessment Reports (NARs) developed by students of Sir Sanford Fleming College (Lindsay campus) in partnership with ULinks Centre for Community Based Research out of Minden.

Melissa Johnston, a highly-recommended independent research consultant with experience in projects based in Haliburton County, will review and validate the information presented in the NARs.  Where there are gaps, she will supplement with her own research, which will include interviews with stakeholders within the arts community.  She will also be performing a high level evaluation of some potential or speculative sites for a future arts centre.

Her report is due by the end of October, 2020 and, so long as findings agree, will provide material, context and data to support the next phases of research, fundraising and community support.

The HHACF would also like to announce that it was not successful in this round of the SEED grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.  The foundation received valuable feedback on its application and looks forward to reapplying in 2021.

After a leave of absence, Brent Wootton has decided to resign from the board of the HHACF effective January 2020. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Brent for his leadership and experience as a founding board member. He was instrumental in establishing our first set of bylaws and brought much inspiration and insight through his work with Fleming College. We wish him the very best in his future endeavours.

We are pleased to announce that Michael Clipperton has decided to join the board effective February 2020. Michael brings a wealth of experience to the HHACF via his career in arts and education. In addition to sitting on boards of various organizations in Haliburton and Simcoe counties, Michael is a director, playwright, producer, university lecturer, and workshop leader. He also brings with him previous experience in arts centre development.