Announcing Eyelevel's new Mandate, Mission and Values!
Starting in April, Eyelevel's Board of Directors began a series of development workshops which concluded with a weekend-long visioning retreat in August. The goal of this retreat was to lay the groundwork for re-writing Eyelevel's guiding visioning documents: a new mandate and 3-year strategic plan. We are pleased to release our brand-new Mission Statement to drive the dreams of our organization towards a cohesive goal, a list of our guiding Values and a new Mandate outlining the core activities which govern our decisions. Our strategic plan is nearing completion, and will be released publicly when it is!
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Mission Statement:
Prioritizing treaty, accessibility, and care, Eyelevel supports the production and presentation of socially-engaged artistic practices through arts programming outside of the traditional white-wall gallery.
Our Values:
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To be a trustworthy and reliable resource for local artists, arts workers and community
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To give generously to our local communities, partners and collaborators
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To always be open to growth
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To practice fairness and radical transparency in our decisions, actions and relationships
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To create spaces that centre care, inclusivity, thoughtfulness and reciprocity
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To live and work in Treaty and Solidarity
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To oppose and disrupt oppression and violence in all forms including, but not limited to: sexism, misogyny, transmisogyny, ableism, ageism, sizeism, homophobia, transphobia heterocentrism, racism and white supremacy.
Mandate:
Eyelevel is an arts worker/artist-run organization mandated to present and support the development of socially-relevant and thought-provoking artistic practices locally, regionally and nationally. Eyelevel supports artists through residencies, mentorship, publishing and presentation outside of a traditional gallery context that is accompanied by care-oriented and trauma-informed artistic, professional and personal support. Eyelevel aims to raise public awareness and capacity of our local arts community; particularly artists and arts workers who have been historically underserved and misrepresented in the contemporary art dialogue. Eyelevel strives to be a connector between artists, communities and the broader public, to constantly question the balance of power and work against systemic oppression and discrimination by centering anti-violence and pro-survivor practices. Eyelevel works in treaty to build a more inclusive and caring world through art, and to advance positive change within the arts through its operations, policies and programming.
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We want to extend our gratitude to the workshop leaders: Delaine Tiniakos-Doran, Ann Divine, Carmel Farahbakhsh & Sally Wolchyn-Raab, as well as each of the members of our community who generously gave their input in our Member and Community Survey.