Culture pour tous

Experience Culture with Arrimages

Bridging arts and business for members of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal

In January 2009, thanks to the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal, an initial group of young professionals and business people embarked on a program of cultural outings and behind-the-scenes meetings as part of the Arrimages project designed to introduce them to the Montreal cultural scene and encourage new ties between business and the arts.

In the fall of 2008, L’Antichambre, the newsletter published by the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal (JCCM), invited its members to participate in Arrimages, an innovative new project for young professionals and entrepreneurs interested in making the great leap into culture. Those who volunteered had to make a commitment to whet their curiosity and learn about the Montreal arts scene by participating in at least four of the six activities in a program of cultural outings. For the price of admission to each activity, they would have the added benefit of meeting the artists and cultural workers behind the arts industry.

Bridging arts and business: a mediation initiative

Based on the principle that nobody is born an arts patron, volunteer, consultant or partner, but that they develop through their personal experiences, Natalie Chapdelaine created the Arrimages project to build ties between business people and the arts. As the Project Manager – Art-Business and Touring Programs for the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM), she believes in the value of such ties and works enthusiastically to develop them.

In considering her own experience, Natalie Chapdelaine says she gradually lost the few ties she had with the arts after her studies focused more on business and administration. As part of its mandate, the CAM supports numerous mediation initiatives with specific clients, which gave her the idea of approaching people like herself who in the long term could constitute a pool of external resources for the arts and culture community.

The Arrimages project thus grew out of this desire to provide an introduction or training, a sort of guided tour, that would give participants a better understanding of the cultural scene and possibly encourage them to become more involved in supporting the arts. The invitation to JCCM members even expressed the hope that the project would help them discover passions that would lead to philanthropic activities.

With its network of over 1,400 young executives, entrepreneurs, professionals and self-employed business people in all sectors of the economy, the JCCM is a natural partner for the arts. Its members, whose average age is 32, are actively involved in various committees that oversee and organize networking, representation and professional development activities. It’s easy to join, as an individual or corporate member, which encourages diversity in its membership.

Dario Iezzoni, Vice-President, Sustainable Development and Community Relations, is in charge of the Arrimages project for the JCCM. When asked about the trendiness of the arts-business equation, he admits that the current context did favour starting such a project. He says, “I joined the JCCM in order to build pillars for sustainable development, which includes culture. Culture is an essential part of sustainable development, just like research and scientific development. There was no disagreement about the JCCM supporting the project; it seemed the obvious thing to do. It might be trendy to speak of the arts and business being intertwined, but the problem comes when you want to transform this desire into concrete action, when it’s time to put up the money. Arrimages is a partial response to this problem, and young business people benefit from being exposed to some concepts of strategic philanthropy.”

The initial group

In January 2009, a pilot project was launched with an initial group of 20 participants—14 women and 6 men from economic sectors as varied as consultant services, communications, sales, graphic arts, education, medical support and legal services. Three of the candidates admitted to only minimal knowledge of the arts, while the others said they had some or significant knowledge.

This initial group of participants went to Macbeth put on by the Opéra de Montréal, La Chambre Blanche by the O Vertigo dance company, and Les pieds des anges at Espace Go. They also attended a Kino evening of short films, saw a documentary on art brut at the Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) and went to the Biennale de Montréal at École Bourget. Thanks to the program of behind‑the‑scenes meetings, these lucky guinea pigs got to rub elbows and chat with some of the artists, performers and heads of organizations, such as Nick Tedeschi, a noted patron of the arts and owner of the Parisian Laundry art gallery.

Similar comments were received from a number of the participants. Generally, they would like to meet people whose interests converge with theirs, closer contact with Montreal culture and a few discoveries, exposure to new art forms. One of the participants said there should be a better cost‑benefit assessment of the cultural activities, a very pertinent comment considering the objectives of Arrimages.

Concrete results

At the end of the pilot project, the participants in this initial group agreed that very little had been asked of them and they suggested upping the ante. It will therefore cost $50 per person to participate in the Arrimages program so as to constitute a $1,000 fund to be donated in the form of a grant to an arts organization chosen by the group. Arrimages will have two groups a year, one running from September to January and another from January to May. The enhanced program will include five cultural outings and more time for the group members to discuss their impressions and experience. Now that Arrimages has its first “alumni,” activities will be held at the rate two a year to maintain these ties, which is the proven method educational institutions have adopted with their graduates.

According to Natalie Chapdelaine, the express purpose of Arrimages is to raise awareness, to have the participants become “ambassadors for the arts.” This initial group has done just that: produced ambassadors who will be able to raise awareness in those around them and become more involved in a cultural organization’s development. One participant has already joined the board of an organization. Another three have expressed an interest in doing so and have met with Business Volunteers to arrange it.

The other participants will no doubt continue to attend cultural events and expose themselves to new artistic experiences. With a potential 40 new ambassadors a year, Arrimages is building a promising bridge between arts organizations and a new generation of business people.