Introducing Our New Director of Development!

In 2009, fundraising became a focus for the Vancouver Fringe. As you already know, 100% of the regular ticket price of a Fringe show goes directly to the artist, which means the organizing body of the Festival relies on application fees, memberships, and government grants.

With the BC government’s announcement to cut funding to the arts, we know we have to spotlight on year round fundraising. That’s why we’re welcoming Gareth Duncan, our 2009 Fundraising Coordinator, back to the Fringe as our new Director of Development!

Gareth began a lot of great projects in 2009, including implementing the revamped Sweet on the Fringe campaign and successfully raising “$5,000 (and then some) in 5 Days” through a post Festival email campaign!

With Gareth on board year round, we hope to develop stability for the Fringe, decrease our reliance on the government for funding, and build new opportunities for artist development.

Gareth is currently at the Festival Au Desert near Timbuktu in Africa. Although it’s a far cry from his Dead Head days (let’s be honest, he still is one, and has gone to three concerts this past year) he keeps us posted about his trip via his blog.

You can expect to hear from him about upcoming fundraising plans for the Fringe soon after he returns.

Blogging About Her Win

Cara Yeates, the winner of the Fringe’s 2009 Joanna Maratta Award, has begun a blog about her year long mentorship with long time Fringe favourite, TJ Dawe. Named for the Fringe Festival’s founder, the Joanna Maratta Award is meant to honour the founding spirit of the Festival. Cara was chosen for the award because of her consistent artistic development as a writer and actor over the past several years, particularly her depth as an actor in Leah Bailey’s Some Reckless Abandon. Her strong potential as a community leader and her willingness to collaborate with others made her the ideal candidate for this award, which is intended to encourage artistic growth and community leadership in Vancouver.

Be sure the check out Cara’s blog regularly for updates on her progress. So far, it’s been decided that TJ will be directing Cara in Brendan McLeod’s first play, a one-woman show with the working title, The Lives of Children. The show will be workshopped at the Cultch at the end of February.

Helping the Arts, One Computer at a Time

Mac Station, the power behind the Fringe’s Box Office, celebrated its sweet 16th birthday this past year and the company has grown wise in its years. They are a great supporter of the arts in BC, and not just the Fringe! In addition to us, Mac Station supports Arts Umbrella, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Out On Screen, and the Whistler Film Festival among others (not to mention that TJ Dawe is learning how to make podcasts thanks to the seminars they sometimes offer).

Part of Mac Station’s desire to support the arts comes from being associated with Apple. Apple has a history of being the computer creative people use, due in part to their early desktop publishing program, PageMaker, and their infamous Super Bowl commercial, 1984 (view it here!).

The other reason behind Mac Station’s arts supporting ventures comes from the acknowledgment that the arts are under funded. “With a background in event management, I have always empathized with organizers who need to set up their pre- and post-production offices and facilitate their day to day logistics. This is traditionally a huge expense,” David Malboeuf, Mac Station’s General Manager says. With Mac Station’s line of used and traded in computers, they’re able to help out groups such as ourselves work more efficiently!

Fringe Flashback

Fringe Volunteers!

This was not a show. These are Fringe Festival volunteers!

We’re not sure what year this photo was taken. But everything points to the early ’90s. Check out the guy wearing the Batman shirt. That movie came out in 1989. And this is certainly Heritage Hall, which suggests that this photo was taken back in our Mount Pleasant days (prior to 1995).

Over the years our volunteer base has grown from a small group of 25 to about 450 during the 2009 Fringe. We certainly would not be able to put on a festival without their help. So thank you to all of you who’ve volunteered for the Fringe over the years!

Stay posted on more volunteer opportunities here and through the newsletters.

Are you in this photo? Tell us about it! Or tag yourself in it on our Facebook Fan page!

Larisa Fayad Memorial Award

On September 16, 2007, Larisa Fayad a well known lighting designer and technician who had previously worked for the Fringe, passed away in a plane crash in Thailand.

Now a new lighting design award has been created in her memory through the Vancouver International Dance Festival. The Larisa Fayad Memorial Award is a biennial award that will be presented to a student pursuing lighting design or to an emerging lighting designer.

Applications for the award are being accepted until January 31 and the recipient of the award will be announced during the Vancouver International Dance Festival’s 10th Anniversary Gala on March 11.

For more information on applying for the Larisa Fayad Memorial Award, download the application here.

Want a Giant Fringe Poster?

Last August, you may have noticed some bus stop posters promoting the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. They featured our cartoon mascot, Jimmy, in his little pedal plane against a hot pink background.

Now that the Festival is over and we had our large posters returned to us, we realized that we have more than we need. So if you’re a huge Fringe fan and want to commemorate your fandom in your living room, basement, or garage, then  contact us and we’ll put one aside for you!

Fringe Poster Update: We are overwhelmed at how many of you want a giant poster! We feel so warm and fuzzy inside! Sadly, we’ve had more requests for posters than posters themselves, so we’ve come up with a little contest…

But before I tell you the details of that, to answer some of your questions:

Yes, the posters are free, but now you have to jump through our contest hoop.

No, we cannot mail them to you unless you’re able to make a donation to cover the cost of shipping.

If you’re chosen to win a poster, you must arrange to pick it up from our office of Granville Island (Mon-Fri 9-5ish).

Ok, now for the contest details:  Please tell us in 25 words or less, why you want a giant 2009 Fringe Festival poster. We will chose our favourites at our next staff meeting (Tuesday, January 19) and you will be notified by Wednesday the 20th. All entries must be received by 10:00 am (PST) on Tuesday, January 19) to be eligible. We may use your quote on our Facebook page, Twitter feed, or newsletter (if you prefer that we do not use it, please us know). Please email us your entry!

Thanks! And we look forward to reading your entries!

Photo of poster and poster design by Jena Powell of Hatch Creative Group. Illustration of Jimmy by Zuzia Gandy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 4:42 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.