Dogs of Creation
Gateway to Arts, Culture and Heritage
Our Challenge: In 2002, The Edward Johnson Music Foundation, Guelph Museums and Guelph Arts Council approached Barking Dog Studios with the concept of an arts portal to serve Guelph and Wellington County. Our challenge over the next 2 years would be to build it.
Our Solution: Working with input from over twenty community arts groups, we developed the sister sites guelpharts.ca and wellingtonarts.ca. The portal sites serve the member groups and the community at large, by providing information about arts, heritage and volunteerism. Key features of the site include: an extensive events calendar, artist directory, volunteer 'jobs' listing tool, and member subsites. Hands-on training for member groups was provided to enable the staff and volunteers in these groups to participate in the day-to-day maintenance of their subsite content.
Our Achievements: How a conversation in the street in downtown Guelph, can turn into something that allows an entire community to connect with the arts. This project has empowered the member organizations to create and manage their own web sites, and has stimulated conversation and collaboration as members share professional development resources.