Harbourfront Centre is currently considering programming submissions for the upcoming HarbourKIDS weekend taking place December 4^th & 5^th, 2010.

Due Date for submissions: Friday August 6^th, 2010

Send to: Katherine Sanders, Artistic Associate for HarbourKIDS at Harbourfront Centre

Phone:  416-973-4240

Email:  ksanders@harbourfrontcentre.com

HarbourKIDS was launched in 2007 as a programme designed from a kid’s eye view of the world, exploring arts and culture concepts relevant to contemporary children and families. Each HarbourKIDS programme is focused around a concept.  This December, we are bringing back our hugely popular HarbourKIDS: SK8.

HarbourKIDS: SK8 celebrates distinct SK8 disciplines, while also encouraging the blurring of borders.  Programming will explore ice skating, roller skating, inline skating, skateboarding and all things winter-related, through a kids eye view; recognizing the influence these activities have on music, fashion, art design, pop-culture and recreation.  HarbourKIDS: SK8 encourages the intersection of multiple artistic disciplines, materials and age groups.

We want HarbourKIDS: SK8 to include fun and innovative programming that empowers kids and their imagination.  All of the activities and performances on the site will be programmed with the intent of active engagement.  We want kids and families to participate and interact in a very active way, whether it’s through hands-on arts and crafts, unusual performances that stimulate discussion and spark new interests, the physical acts of skating or skateboarding, or storytelling with audience participation.

We are currently in the process of finalizing programming and we are looking to present interactive installations, performances and artist-led workshops involving local artists from all disciplines. Past HarbourKIDS weekends have been wonderful presenting opportunities for a variety of local Toronto artists and we hope to continue to give this opportunity to you.

Our goal is to focus on programs that are inspired by and investigate SK8 within the following contexts:

1-     Interactive art installation or performance

2-     Drop-in workshops that could culminate in performance, particularly involving some form of skating or movement.

3-     ‘Make and take’ or interactive activities that allow participants to join in at any point.

4-     Performances that allow for collaboration between adult artists and children.

5-     Artist-led collaborations between parents and children.

We are interested in hearing any and all ideas at this point in the process. We have a budget for artist fees and materials, dependant on the scale of the proposed project. We are asking for all proposals to be submitted by Friday, August 6^th. Please submit proposals to Katherine Sanders at ksanders@harbourfrontcentre.com. Feel free to include more than one scenario, and please include a paragraph long description of your project, bios of artists, approximate costing/fees as well as web links and photographs where applicable.

Please read over the following to familiarize yourself with how the HarbourKIDS programming works and who it is specifically geared towards:

HarbourKIDS Philosophy

- HarbourKIDS consists of entirely FREE programming specifically designed for children 5-12 years of age, their adult caregivers and intergenerational families.

- HarbourKIDS explores concepts for children and families through Harbourfront Centre’s lens of:

- Contemporary arts and culture

- Multidisciplinary approach

- Curatorial vision

- Local and International perspectives

- Artist driven exploration

- HarbourKIDS challenges kids’ ideas, give them agency, validate and illuminate their values and ask some questions of kids that aim to ignite imagination, creativity and thought.

- HarbourKIDS aims to be relevant and responsive to, and reflective of, contemporary children and families.

- HarbourKIDS engages audiences and participants as much as possible through interactive and participatory programming elements, rather than elements that are purely consumptive, passive or pedagogical.

- HarbourKIDS acts as a catalyst for interaction between children and their caregivers.

- HarbourKIDS ensures the accessibility of programming for children, as well as all physical elements and interfaces. Ensure the language is chosen and designed with them in mind.

- HarbourKIDS ensures that the entry point and accessibility for the child will be considered as much as possible in the physical design and use of language for all programming materials.