Grants:Project/Rapid/Centre A: Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
centrea.org• director@centrea.org
Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.
Project Goal
editChoose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed. 1. Recruit new editors - YES 2. Increase skills for existing editors - YES 3. Add or improve content -YES
Project Plan
editActivities
editTell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:
1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?
- We are planning a series of 2 editathons over two weeks focused on improving and adding articles about women and non-binary artists of Asian descent.
2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.
- The project is supported by Art + Feminism (https://artandfeminism.org/) and co-presented with Rungh (https://rungh.org/). We will post notifications on the portals for WikiWomen project and WikiProject Biography/Arts and Entertainment, asking for support to develop worklists. We have used and will again utilize our (Centre A, Art + Feminism, Rungh) local mailing lists, social media platforms and personal invitations to reach out to experienced and interested editors to contribute at the editathons. Furthermore, we will reach out to more potential community partners to mobilize participation in the editathons. Lastly, we have asked for advice from organizations (Rungh, Art + Feminism, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario) who have run similar editathon series.
3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?
- Derrick Chang (username: fuhying) will lead the series of editathons. Chang is a curator, writer and facilitator who began working in economies that support arts and cultural development in Vancouver in 2012. His research critically examines the nature of ethics and the political in artistic practice. His previous editing exprience includes working with ReMatriate Collective, Black Lunch Table and Art + Feminism (https://cargocollective.com/derrickchang/Wikipedia-editor-Username-fuhying). Centre A's Curator Henry Heng Lu will assist with the series of editathons. Lu's community-organizing and curatorial practices stem from the idea of ‘global Asias’ and how that intersects with cultural specificity and sensibilities. Taking Vancouver and Canada as connection points, he has explored the many possibilities of artistic practices that can speak to the current times and their roles in shaping who we are as a community of Asian Canadian artists and curators. His curatorial work aligns perfectly with Centre A’s mission to build an inclusive community for contemporary Asian art and to foster a greater understanding of evolving cultural experiences and identities. Lu has experience editing Wiki-pages. He will work closely with returning editors (so far 7 confirmed) from last year's editathon at Centre A to ensure a productive experience at the proposed editathons.
This year, Centre A will launch Art Writing Mentorship Program, a 12-week pilot program designed to give 10-12 writers, editors, researchers and curators who self-identify as Asian Canadian the practice, feedback, and exposure they need to launch or refine a professional writing practice, whether they are writing art reviews, catalogue essays, research papers, or blogs. The selected mentees will participate in the editathons as well. We are very excited about the possibility of engaging these mentees in these meaningful and beneficial activities.
4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?
- Led by Derrick Chang and assisted by Henry Heng Lu, we will host the events in our computer-equipped gallery and office spaces. Participants can also choose to bring their own laptops. We will make sure that participants know the opening hours of Centre A so that they can return to keep editing between editathons. Centre A's Curatorial Assistant Charisma Christal and Curatorial Skills Development Intern (to be hired by February 2020; more information: https://centrea.org/opportunities/) will collect books and other materials at our Reading Room and Library and externally, especially exhibition catalogues and ephemera that can be used as references. These resources will be listed on the event page so that people can find and study them. Centre A's Library database is also available at https://www.librarycat.org/lib/Centre_A. Centre A is also committed to cultivating a new generation of Asian Canadian art writers through mentorships and publishing opportunities, addressing the lack of opportunities, and robust mechanisms for documenting and archiving work by artists of Asian descent within the field of contemporary Asian art.
5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?
- Centre A's Curator Henry Heng Lu will stay in touch with the new and returning editors after the event by organizing a volunteer appreciation event and creating a working group for increasing support for artists of Asian descent in Canada and beyond. He will monitor the work done by new editors between events so they can answer questions and offer feedback. We will also start a group on Slack for editathon participants to discuss and exchange ideas. The results of the editathons will be shared on Centre A's website and social media platforms with credits to the editathon participants.
6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?
- Centre A is the only public art gallery in Canada dedicated to contemporary Asian and Asian-diasporic perspectives since 1999. Situated on traditional and unceded Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown, Centre A is committed to providing a platform for engaging diverse communities through public access to the arts, creating mentorship opportunities for emerging artists/arts professionals, and stimulating critical dialogue through provocative exhibitions and innovative public programs that complicate understandings of migrant experiences and diasporic communities.
Centre A’s programming has been rooted in a curiosity about and an ongoing exploration of the role of a contemporary Asian art centre. Our past and current Chinatown gallery locations have helped situate our activities in the local but also seek to discuss those local sensibilities on a globalized level. Through a combination of exhibitions and public programs by B.C., Canadian and international artists, Centre A has been able to respond to a local audience as well as build up its international profile, attracting a diverse audience.
Centre A’s Reading Room and Library holds an extensive body of literature on Asian art practices as well as recently collected books on Indigeneity, colonial histories and their aftermaths. The Reading Room began in 1999 with contributions from artists, researchers, and curators in Canada and elsewhere, and is an important community resource that signifies the presence and rich history of a contemporary art scene with roots in Asia, outside of the western art canon. In 2017, we began improving and expanding access to our Reading Room with the “Asian Artist Database” - an extensive, searchable database of Asian, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian artists. A work-in-progress, the aim of the database is to provide curators, researchers and most importantly post-secondary students with easier access to information about contemporary Asian art.
Through the proposed editathons, we will continue inviting community members and the general public to not only visit our exhibitions but go beyond the physical gallery by engaging with our Reading Room, Asian Artist Database, and various forms of critical art writing that deepen and extend conversations posed by Asian and Asian Canadian artists working in contemporary visual art practice.
Impact
editHow will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:
- Number of events: 2
- Number of participants: 42
- Number of new editors: 20
- Number of articles created or improved: 50
- Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): 21
Resources
editWhat resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).
- Editor Derrick Chang will be leading and tutoring the editathon participants, assisted by Centre A's Curatorial Assistant Charisma Christal and Curatorial Skills Development Intern (to be hired by February 2020). Our co-presenting partner Rungh, a Canadian multidisciplinary organization for creative explorations, featuring work by Indigenous, Black and People of Colour artists, has a research guide that can be distributed to participants. It lists potential artist who need a Wiki entry. We hope this grant request can be accepted because we do not have other financial support for the events.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.
- Refreshments and drinks = $100 x 2 events = $200
- Miscellaneous supplies = $150 (name tags, printing cheatsheets, etc.)
- Facilities safety insurance and maintenance fees = $55 x 2 events = $110
- Child care = 4 hrs x $25/hr x 2 events = $200
Total = 660 CAD
Endorsements
editCommunity members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!
