Organizations to share 2022 Community Impact Award
(Calgary, AB — September 27, 2022) The partnership between local music start-up Stagehand and Calgary’s Music Mile has resulted in national recognition for excellence in business and the arts.
Every year Business/Arts, a national charitable organization devoted to amplifying the power of partnerships between business and arts organizations, convenes to award groups and individuals who demonstrate excellence in partnerships that produce mutually beneficial outcomes. This year, two Calgary-based organizations are being recognized for their collaboration.
The Community Impact Award celebrates an innovative partnership between a business and an arts organization, that has had a notable impact on the community. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Music Mile (a musical hub in Downtown Calgary) partnered with Stagehand to support Calgary musicians through a series of performance-focused initiatives including Busking on the Mile, Friday Night Live and Music Mile to Go. During a period when live performances were banned or severely restricted across the globe, these programs successfully funded and supported artists across Calgary.
“As a local grassroots volunteer-driven organization that believes in the power of music to create vibrancy and culture in our city neighborhood, we’re beyond excited that our relationship with Stagehand is being recognized as an innovative and progressive demonstration of the power of collaboration between not-for-profit and for-profit ventures,” says Music Mile President, Rob Skeet.
Derek Manns, President and CEO of Stagehand adds, “Stagehand is committed to finding solutions for businesses of all sizes to benefit from live music, and we’re so lucky to have great community partners like Music Mile, here in our hometown of Calgary. The fact that our work is being recognized nationally is really humbling.”
Both Skeet and Manns were on-hand to accept the award in Toronto at the Awards Celebration on Wednesday, September 28 at Artscape Wychwood Barns (601 Christie St.)
About Music Mile It’s a mile – Calgary’s MUSIC MILE - from Studio Bell, home of Canada’s National Music Centre and the Canadian Music Halls of Fame in East Village to the Blues Can in Inglewood along 9th Avenue SE.
You can take your pick of more than 50 live music events on Music Mile every week year-round, in cafes, clubs, concert halls and more.
It’s not just the music that (usually) makes Music Mile hop. It’s the village vibe from the mix of celebrated restaurants, hip brew pubs, one-off shops and galleries, exciting new architecture and historic treasures. Music Mile’s urban strolls and river walks are popular and safe outdoor activities.
It still feels good to be here.
About Stagehand
Stagehand serves the grassroots arts community by providing a web-based platform that connects Artists with Venues to book and promote live events. They are not a Venue or an Artist or an Agent or a Manager or a Promoter, but a publicly available infrastructure that helps all of the above more easily do their job so that careers can progress, venues can be more successful, and more people can experience the magic of the grassroots arts scene. In brief, they help grassroots arts communities thrive.
About Business/ Arts
Business / Arts is a national charitable organization that shows the power of partnership between business and arts. Their national mentorship training program artsvest has created nearly 5,900 partnerships between business and arts organizations, raising over $26.8M in new private sector investment. Combined with matching funds, this has led to an overall impact is $37.2M to Canada’s cultural sector. Through initiatives like the Canadian Arts Summit, they work in partnership with arts leaders, government and the business community to ensure a thriving arts and culture sector. They lead research and advocacy projects to help make the case for the arts.