MOU to foster growth of community culture, arts, heritage

FORT MCMURRAY, AB, May 20, 2019

Wood Buffalo’s Multicultural Association and Arts Council Wood Buffalo sign agreement to work together to increase cultural capacity, celebrate creativity and inclusion

Addressing community cultural issues and providing joint opportunities to foster awareness of culture, arts and heritage in the community of Wood Buffalo is the focus of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Multicultural Association of Wood Buffalo (MCA) and the Arts Council Wood Buffalo (ACWB).

“We are excited to be working with the Arts Council, particularly following the RMWB’s recent adoption of a new Culture Plan for our region,” said Dango Gogo, President of the MCA. “Cultural diversity and inclusion is a major concern for both of our organizations. We are looking forward to collaborating on long-term sustainable approaches to celebrating and nurturing this important aspect of our region.”

“Signing this MOU makes it possible for us to work even more closely together on joint issues of importance,” said Dave Boutilier, President Board Chair of ACWB. “Formalizing our relationship with MCA is the first step in working even more closely together to foster culture, heritage, and arts awareness by building relationships and creating community connections for the short- and long-term benefit of our region.”

The signing of the MOU is the first step in creating a collaborative framework for addressing common issues, which include:

The building of collaborative, sustainable and long-term relationships that promote the growth of awareness of culture, heritage, and arts;
The building of institutional capacity with regard to awareness of culture, heritage, and arts;
Facilitating communication between individuals, groups, industry, businesses and government with respect to culture, heritage, and arts groups within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Working collaboratively and proactively to identify the appropriate resources, including but not limited to financial resources, required to address the need to foster awareness of culture, heritage, and arts in Wood Buffalo.

Among the next steps for the groups is to create a joint action plan and to work as members of the implementation committee for the RMWB’s Culture Plan.

For more information about the MOU, contact ACWB Executive Director Liana Wheeldon at liana@artscouncilwb.ca or (587) 674-1625 ext. 100.