Nuit Blanche Saskatoon 2017
Curator and Project Manager: Nuit Blanche Saskatoon (Sept 30, 2017)
My first year as Curator and Project Manager for Nuit Blanche Saskatoon (the festival's fourth annual event) saw the largest night to date, expanding from one neighbourhood to three and featuring 37 projects – almost double the number from the year before – created by 62 artists. While our focus remained local, we also brought in artists from France, New York, Montréal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver. The festival received an estimated 10,000 attendees.
To support the festival's growth, I led fundraising efforts that saw an increase of 64% over the previous year, writing and receiving grants from a number of funders for the first time – including Canada Council for the Arts – and developing new business sponsorships.
We formed partnerships with numerous community organizations so the festival built relationships with and became accessible to not only an arts audience but other cultural groups and communities. We also worked with artists to create a number of participatory projects, providing opportunities for more Saskatoon residents to become involved as makers contributing to the festival’s spectacle and impact.
I supported artists as they developed their projects for presentation outdoors to a large audience and found locations throughout our three neighbourhoods that were both suitable for the installations and worked within a site plan that maintained the festival's walkability during its expansion. I managed permissions with building owners for use of their spaces and worked with the City of Saskatoon through all festival logistics.