Welcome

Kelly Jerrott, MA

Caitlin McKinnon, MA

We thought it might be helpful to introduce ourselves and provide you with a little perspective as you make your way through this chapter.

My name is Kelly Jerrott, and I have worked in the arts and cultural sector for the past 30 years. My work is informed by East Coast and Western Canadian perspectives and experiences. I have worked with provincial arts service organisations, not-for-profit arts organisations, and have managed and operated theatres and performance venues, fulfilling roles in front of house management, marketing and promotion, programming, as well as and what seemed to be everything else in between.

I have had the pleasure of serving as a board member with a number of cultural organisations, including as President and Past President of the Creative City Network of Canada. I have been involved with many festivals and events, ranging from the Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival of the Arts to the Juno Awards. Over the years I have also worked on many artist development initiatives and conferences and overseen numerous community-enhancing capital, public art, and community-based projects. More recently I have worked in local government as a Community Services Director and Cultural Services Director. I have recently returned home to Nova Scotia and am currently a member of the Sessional Faculty with MacEwan University and the Executive Director for Craft Nova Scotia.

I have a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University and a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Physical Education from Acadia University supported by additional training and courses in governance, change management, leadership and a range of other topics. Most importantly I have been educated through lived experience in the field. I have learned a great deal over the years, and sometimes our greatest learning stems not only from successes but things which do not go as planned. I have learned that is it okay to reach out to colleagues and learn from them, and we have done just that throughout this chapter.

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My name is Caitlin McKinnon, and I am a researcher in the arts and cultural sector. I bring not only a central Canadian perspective but also an international one as I am currently living and working in Scotland.

As a developing researcher and arts professional, I have sought to immerse myself in a variety of different positions, from volunteering with organisations such as Toronto International Film Festival, Design Exchange, Canadian Opera Company and Word on the Street Festival to working as a Curatorial Intern at the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre.

Most recently, I have worked as a researcher on a number of projects in arts organisations within Canada and Scotland including projects with SESQUI and the Artful Conversations Podcast based in Canada and projects with Creative Scotland, Engage Scotland, British Council Scotland and Out of the Blue based in Edinburgh.

I hold a BA from X University (formally Ryerson University) with a major in Cultural Studies and a double minor in Philosophy and Curation. Because of my love for learning and research, I have since completed a Postgraduate Certificate from Humber College in Arts Administration and Cultural Management, and an MA in Arts, Festival and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University in Scotland. As a developing researcher, my research interests have grown to include discourses of professionalisation, arts management, cultural policy, and relations of power in the cultural sector. As such working on this chapter on Cultural Value and Soft Power with Kelly has been an incredible experience and I am thrilled to share what we have collected and learned through the process of producing this chapter.

Throughout the chapter, we will help connect theory to practice and share some real-life experiences to broaden your understanding of “cultural value” and “soft power” and how you might put this knowledge into practice as you continue in your career.

We hope you find this helpful and wish you well on your learning journey.