An event at Barrie’s MacLaren Art Centre this morning served as the perfect excuse to show off exactly how the downtown gallery put recent provincial funding to good use.
In 2022, the MacLaren received $150,000 in grant funding courtesy of the Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), which allowed staff to develop fundraising, marketing and communication strategic plans, a new website as well as hire an architect to complete drawings for a redesign of the administration and front reception spaces.
The funding has also increased the facility's technological capacity by adding two cameras, flush-mounted ceiling speakers, wireless microphones, a hearing assist system, and an interactive and integrated display system to the roster – enabling the MacLaren Art Centre to seamlessly present in-person, virtual, and hybrid programming separately or simultaneously.
Prior to Friday's official announcement, executive director Lisa Daniels explained how the funding ultimately set the centre up to put into place several different things that would position the downtown arts centre to move forward post-COVID.
“This allows us to run programs simultaneously online and in-person. Coming out of COVID, there is now that expectation that we can be fluid in the delivery of our programs, meetings, conferences, panel discussions … and this is the technology that will allow us to do that," she said.
"It’s a big game-changer for us."
The redesign of the front reception and administration areas will help better reflect the work that is being done and the professional capacity of the team, both administratively and creatively, Daniels added.
With rapidly changing demographics in the city, expectations are changing, she said.
“The demographic is shifting, so this has allowed us to look at our fundraising strategies and work with a consultant to develop a new strategic plan that will move us into the future. It really gave us enough funding to look at all of those key, critical areas in a way that would really position us to be sustainable post-COVID.”
Daniels is particularly excited about the upcoming launch of the centre’s more user-friendly website.
“We still had this old cumbersome website and, again, the expectations of our clients and our public is that this stuff should be clean (and) easy," she said. "Our old website was challenged. This grant is not about making it through COVID but rather how we are going to position ourselves to be effective moving forward.”
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall was among a few local politicians to attend today's event and, said given what a big role the MacLaren plays in the downtown and of the city as a whole, the fact the province and the city are both investing is “very important," he said.
“Every day, we are having conversations about how we can make our downtown a better place to live, and the MacLaren and the arts is a huge portion of that," the mayor said.
With these key changes now complete, Daniels said the centre is set to move forward into its new five- to 10-year strategic plan.
“We haven’t decided how far we want to go … but the community and the demographics have shifted, social shifts have happened, and now is the perfect time for the MacLaren to have those conversations with our community and really chart our way forward for the next five to 10 years,” she said.
Currently the centre is bursting at the seams.
“Our programs are full. We have wait-lists, our exhibition program is dynamic and our cafe is overflowing all the time," Daniels added. "We really want to celebrate our effectiveness and (ability) to rebound back so quickly, but we also need to recognize that we are growing.
"We are at a really exciting time for the MacLaren and for the community to re-imagine and take stock to really capture what are the core essence and successes … but also think about what the future is.”
