Canadian Public Arts Funders

On April 4, http://www.cpaf-opsac.org/ was launched! 

Here is some more info from the new site:
The Canadian Public Arts Funders’ Network (CPAF) grew out of a recognition that public arts funding in Canada could be more effective if arts councils with common goals were better able to share knowledge and learn from each other. Although arts councils in Canada had been meeting informally since the 1970s, the precursor to CPAF—the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Arts Funders (FPTAF)—agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a more formal information-sharing network at their 2002 meeting in Windsor.

At the 2003 National Meeting of FPTAF, participants accepted the Canada Council for the Arts’ proposal to provide human and financial resources for a secretariat to support a new network. The name Canadian Public Arts Funders was later adopted and CPAF held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Winnipeg in 2004. There, members identified the themes they wished to advance. At the 2005 AGM in Regina, members established the governance structure for CPAF and formally launched the network.
 
Today, CPAF is a forum for the federal, provincial and territorial art councils and equivalent public arts funders to discuss pressing issues facing public arts funders and is an important platform for collaboration. It provides members with networking, information sharing, research and analysis, communications, and professional development services, among others. The CPAF network operates on the premise that strengthening the professional practice of arts councils will in turn strengthen the arts community to the benefit of all Canadians.


ABOUT THE CPAF:

Purpose
Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF) is a network that unites and serves the federal, provincial and territorial arts councils and equivalent public arts funders. There is a CPAF member organization in each province and territory in Canada, and the member at the federal level is the Canada Council for the Arts.

The core membership is composed of Chairs and Executive Directors, or their designated representative, at each member organization. Other individuals participate in CPAF events and services by invitation. For more information on our member organizations, please consult the members section of this website.

Mission and Objectives
The mission of CPAF is to foster and support the arts in Canada through cooperation and collaboration of the federal, provincial and territorial arts councils and equivalent public arts funders by:

• increasing networking and partnership opportunities,
• sharing information and best practices,
• commissioning research,
• improving communications and processes,
• improving internal competencies through professional development opportunities, and
• promoting the value of the arts and public funding of the arts to the benefit of the members, the arts community and the general public.

 Read the latest CPAF bulletin for more information at www.cpaf-opsac.org/en/news/CPAF%20Bulletin/201104issue11.htm.