The 2014-2015 Blue Metropolis Foundation

2014-2015 annuAl
REport
Blue
Metropolis
at a glance
Blue Metropolis Foundation is a not-for-profit organization
founded in 1997 that brings together people from different
cultures to share the pleasures of reading and writing, and
encourages creativity and intercultural understanding.
The Foundation produces an Annual Literary Festival
of international calibre and offers a wide range of
educational and social programs year-round, both
in classrooms and on line. These programs use reading
and writing as therapeutic tools, encourage academic
perseverance, and fight against poverty and social
isolation.
Our values
Board of Directors
Cameron Charlebois
Chair of the Board of Directors
Peter Daniel
Vice-President
Director - Ilian Consulting and Management Inc.
Christophe Roubinet
Treasurer
Assistant Director of Investments – Business Development Filaction
Pierre-André Themens
Secretary
Managing Partner – Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Ellayne Kaplan
Executive Director
Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Margaux Chetrit
Director of Cultural Affairs – Consulate General of Israel
President – Three Matches
Louise-Ann Maziak
Vice-President National Accounts – Quebec
TD Commercial Banking
Stephen Powell
Associate Professor of English Literature
University of Guelph
Mandeep (Roshi) K. Chadha
Executive Manager – Seja Trade Limited
Joffrey Bienvenue
IT/IS Infrastructure & Operations Manager, Peerless Clothing Inc.
Cultural and linguistic diversity
PERMANENT STAFF
Promoting reading among the young
and not-so-young
William St-Hilaire
President – General Manager and Artistic Director
International exposure
Quality, tolerance and inclusion
Gregory McCormick
Director of Programming
Florence Allegrini
Director of Operations and of the Children’s Festival
Lisanne Gamelin
Coordinator of Programming and Educational and Social Programs
A Word from
the Chair
of the Board
of Directors
T
he 2014-2015 fiscal year was one of
consolidation and achievement, both artistically and
financially. Our most significant accomplishment is the
aggressive, innovative and focus plan to reduce the
accumulated deficit, instituted in January 2011 by the
Board of Directors and Blue Metropolis’ administration.
As a result, we have seen the deficit decrease from
$165,000 to $75,000, thanks to measures ensuring that
fixed costs were reduced to their lowest level without
affecting the programming budget, but also by
highlighting new ways of working, by counting on
partnerships with other key cultural organizations and by
developing our employees’ full potential. Finally, thanks to
Blue Metropolis’ endowment fund, which has a balance
of over $120,000, we are able to show positive results.
I would also like to point out the continued growth in
Festival attendance over the last four years, which is
proof of the event’s legitimacy and relevance, as well as
of the renewed pleasure of those who attend the Festival.
Our 2015 edition reached over 36,000 people, which
represents a 28 % increase over that of 2014.
My colleagues on the Board of Directors join me in
thanking our financial partners, both from the public
and private sectors, as well as our many donors,
including all those who faithfully attend our benefit
events. Special thanks to our volunteers, who include
no less than 60 experts in literature, mental health
and education. Their support allows Blue Metropolis
to offer high-quality educational and social
programs. Finally, I wish to congratulate the
entire Blue Metropolis team on a year that has
been exceptional, both artistically and financially.
Cameron Charlebois
Olivia Baker,
intern and
communications
student
Reduction
of the
accumulated
deficit and
increased
attendance
With 10 days of literary festivities, over 290 authors and 270 events
– 104 of which were for children – taking place in 8 languages and
at dozens of venues, it’s no exaggeration to say that Blue Metropolis
took Greater Montreal by storm!
A Word from
the President
- General Manager
and Artistic Director
During the Festival, over 37,0001 festivalgoers had the opportunity to
attend writing workshops, lectures, encounters with authors, shows,
exhibitions and performances. In addition, thanks to our partnership
with CBC / Radio-Canada, the content recorded during the Festival
will also reach hundreds of thousands of people across Canada.
High points to be remembered…
Highlights included the presence of Nancy Huston, recipient of the
2015 Blue Metropolis Grand Prix; musician, author and creativity
guru David Usher; Junot Díaz, winner of the Premio Metropolis Azul,
who packed the Rialto Theatre to the rafters; the TD-Blue Metropolis
Children’s Festival, with its 104 free events for the whole family; and
our Naître et Grandir activities for babies and parents.
When literature
takes over the city!
Innovative social programs
– a vital part of the Festival
In addition to its literary events, Blue Metropolis featured a number of
activities related to pressing social issues. This year’s theme was
generosity and the role it plays in novels and in life… The public had
an opportunity to discover the work and ideas of individuals who are
directly affected by poverty, such as L’Itinéraire‘s poets and the
people involved in Paroles d’ExcluEs’ citizens movement, whose
literary shows will be presented in the weeks to come. Blue Met Talks
also explored generosity, bringing together onstage prominent
individuals from academia, philanthropy and community work.
Among the social issues highlighted were mental health and
well-being; these topics were addressed through novels and
therapeutic writing during two well-attended weekends that took
place in independent bookstores across Greater Montreal.
Our 17th edition was, beyond a doubt, proof of Blue Metropolis’ firm
commitment to making literature accessible to an increasingly wider
public, of all ages and from diverse cultures.
William St-Hilaire
1
Includes Blue Met events, Blue Met exhibitions, TD-Children’s Festival and partner events
Nancy Huston
Winner of the 2015 Blue Metropolis
International Literary Grand Prix
Junot Díaz
Winner of the 2015
Premio Metropolis Azul
2015 Festival
Highlights
273 events in
8 languages
Over 290 authors
from 12 countries
More than
37,000 visitors AND
223 media spin-offs
New prizes, new series
and innovative projects First Peoples Literary Prize, awarded to Marie Baker
(Annharte)
Words to Change Prize, awarded to Chinese-American
author Gene Luen Yang
TD-Blue
Metropolis
Children’s
Festival
12,264 children and
parents participated
in an activity at the
Children’s Festival
104 free activities at 59 different venues (libraries,
Espace Lafontaine, bookstores)
69 authors, storytellers, musicians and illustrators
Performigrations, a multi-platform project
17 activities created especially for families
A film series!
9 activities in the Booktime for Babies series,
for children ages 0 to 5
Annharte
Winner of the 2015 Blue Metropolis
First Peoples Literary Prize
Gene Luen Yang
Winner of the 2015 Blue Metropolis
Words to Change Prize
Moving and
motivating
educational and
social programs
2014-2015 Accomplishments
Quebec Roots: Strengthening Communities,
The Place I Want to Be
Over a number of weeks, and led by a professional author and photographer, students
created an anthology of writing and images that offers a portrait of their community.
The anthology produced this year was launched at the 2015 Blue Metropolis Festival,
in the presence of the students, their teachers and their families.
Unearth Our Past
Since its inception,
Blue Metropolis has
developed 39
educational and social
programs, both on line
and in the classroom,
reaching 16,800 young
people and teachers
throughout the country,
in both official
languages. These
programs are designed
to develop a love of
reading and writing,
promote social
inclusion, tolerance
and academic
perseverance, and
combat poverty.
Who are the heroes that lie in your
local cemetery? What are their stories,
and their legacy? Accompanied
by a photographer and assisted
by a playwright, the participating
students conducted research, and
then transformed the fruits of their
investigation into short plays. In
addition, an anthology of their writing
and photography was published,
and launched during the 2015 Blue
Metropolis Festival, in the presence of
the students and their teachers.
Dans ma peau /In my skin
Led by a professional author and a Creative Journal facilitator, the 12 participants
expressed their relationship to beauty through words and images. Following
the workshops, they created a mandala, which was exhibited at Hotel 10 during
the 2015 Blue Metropolis Festival.
Booktime for Babies
In fall 2014, Blue Metropolis reached out to children
and mothers who attend the Maisons bleues and the
Montreal Diet Dispensary, offering a series of reading
and creativity workshops and activities. Actor Sylvie
Potvin and illustrator Philippe Béha led six 1 hour
sessions.
The Art of Ignoring
the Poor
Blue Metropolis and Paroles
d’excluEs combined forces,
networks and talents to produce
a performance inspired by The Art
of Ignoring the Poor, an essay by
American author and economist John
Kenneth Gailbraith, and based on
a collective writing project involving
individuals who live in poverty and
have experienced social exclusion.
To highlight the exceptional work
of Paroles d’excluEs, a roundtable
discussion and an exercise in
developing creativity were presented
during the Festival.
Blue Metropolis’ wave
of generosity touched
75,000 people
(visitors and readers).
L’arbre des mots
When
generosity is
all the rage!
Blue Metropolis’ Generosity and Literature
theme grew beyond all expectations. During
the Festival, more than 10 events were
presented, including two shows as part of
a citizens movement: The Art of Ignoring
the Poor (preview and tour in fall 2015) and
L’Arbre des mots. In addition, an exhibition
and a video production involving elementary
school children took place, along with the
publication of a special edition of L’Itinéraire
magazine about our project and the theme
of generosity.
L’homme qui plantait des arbres, a
short story by Jean Giono, was the
starting point for this educational
citizens’ project, which was carried
out in two stages. First, L’Itinéraire’s
street vendors attended writing
workshops, producing work
that author and project facilitator
Jonathan Harnois used as inspiration
in creating a participatory theatre
piece, which was presented
Saturday, May 23, at the Parc des
Faubourgs. In the second phase of
the project, a Grade 5/6 class from
Les-Enfants-du-monde School was
invited to take part in producing
a video which allowed them to
express themselves on the subject
of generosity and the environment.
They then took part in creating an
actual “tree of words”, which was
exhibited at the Maison de la Culture
Frontenac from April 16 to May 11.
w
Risky
Whiskey
Jean-François Leduc
President of the Honorary
Committee of the Risky
Whisky event
Our benefit events
had greater
attendance than
ever before!
Louise Ann Maziak
President of the Honorary Committee
of the Bad Girls’ Stories event
Independent and private revenues
amount to 53% of the Foundation’ total
budget.
Our two benefit events, Risky Whiskey
and Bad Girls’ Stories, sold out, bringing
in over $54,000.
Thanks
to all our
partners!
In kind or cash contribution received before February 2015
Donors and partners
$25,000 - $75,000
Groupe Financier Banque TD
R. Howard Webster Foundation
$10,000 - $24,999
Amazon.ca
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
S.E.N.C.R.L., s.r.l.
Fondation du Grand Montréal
Ginny Stikeman
The Cole Foundation
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
Telus
Université Concordia
$5,000 - $9,999 Bell Canada
Fondation Jeunesse-Vie
Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon
Power Corporation
The Jarislowsky Foundation
The Phyllis Lambert Foundation
Zeller Family Foundation
$1,000 - $4,999 Alliance Prével Inc.
Cameron Charlebois
Desjardins (Caisse d’économie solidaire)
Dominique Bélisle
DJS Holding Limited
Ellayne Kaplan
Facilité informatique
Fédération CJA
Fondation J.A. DeSève
Fondation Samson Bélair/Deloitte &
Touche
GardaWorld
Gaz Metro
Joan F. Ivory
Letko Brosseau & Associés inc.
Lysa Lash
Mitzi & Mel Dobrin Family Foundation
Peter Daniel
Pierre-André Thémens
Pierre Boucher
Quebec Writers’Federation - QWF
Realisys
Resolute Forest Prodcuts
RNC Media
Rogers Communications
Suzanne Legge
The Chadha Family Foundation
The Hay Foundation
The Hylcan Foundation
The Jewish Community Foundation
Université McGill
William St-Hilaire
$200 - $999 Birks
Brigitte Goulet
Cecil Rabinovitch
CMC éléctronique
Cofomo
Conseil Canadien de la fourrure
Corporation Bella Vita
Demetrios Economous
Denis Chalifour
Denis Gamache
Dominique Fournier
Fibrenoire
Fondation Pierre Desmarais Belvédère
François Naud
Gabriel Safdie
GoSecure Canada Inc.
Governments
Goudreau Gage Dubuc
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Guillaume Bazinet
Conseil des arts du Canada/Canada Council
Guthrie J. Stewart
for the Arts
Industrielle Alliance Valeurs
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Irène Cinq-Mars
Consulat général de France, service de la culture
Jay Goldman
Consulat Général de l’Argentine à Montréal
Jean Bernier
Consulat Général du Mexique à Montréal
Jean Bouchard
Consulat général du Portugal à Montréal
Jean Goulet
Consulate General of Israel in Montreal
Jean-François Leduc
Emploi-Québec
Jean-Sébastien Grisé
Ministère de l’Education, du Loisir et du Sport
Jean-Pierre Beaulieu
Montréal métropole culturelle
Joanne Zito
Patrimoine canadien / Canadian Heritage
Joffrey Bienvenue
Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine
Julie Keith
Tourisme Montréal
Kevin Léonard
Ville de Montréal
La Coop fédérée
La Vie en Rose
Laurent Arsenault
Medias
Louise Ann Maziak
CBC Radio One/Société Radio-Canada
McCarty
La Presse
Marc Lacourcière
Les Libraires
Marc Novello
L’Itinéraire
Marcel Côté
The Gazette
Mark Gallop
Vie des arts
Margaux Chetrit
Narcisse et Echo
Philippe H. Bélanger
Pierre Desmarais Belvédère
Robert Graham
Roland Charbonneau
Ronald Bastien
Roshi Mandeep Chadha
Socogi Inc
Silvana Travaglini
Stephan Khushf
Sylvain Gagné
Sylvain Talbot
Tarek Fattouh
Terry Rigelhof
T. F. Rigelhof
Valérie Beauregard
Yves Lachance
Yves Lapierre
ZIP Communication
Programming
Académie des lettres du Québec
ACCENTI Magazine
Association of English-language Publishers of
Quebec - AELAQ
Association of Italian-Canadian Writers
Atwater Library and Computer Centre
Beaconsfield High School
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec BAnQ
Boutique Comme des enfants
Céline Leduc
Centaur Theatre Company
Centre Afrika
Centre québécois du P.E.N. international
Chantal Ringuet
Chapters / Indigo
Contact, le plaisir des livres
Coteau Books
DC Books
Diffusion Dimedia Inc.
Dominique & Compagnie
Editiö
Editions Actes Sud
Éditions de la Pastèque
Éditions de L’homme / Groupe Homme
Éditions du Boréal
Éditions Flammarion
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions les 400 coups
Embassy of Canada in Bogota
English Language Arts Network - ELAN
Enpuki-ji Zen Center
Espace Lafontaine
EUNIC - Canada
Expozine
Fédération des CÉGEPs
Festilou
Festival du Film Brésilien de Montréal
Festival du Premier roman de Chambery
Festival Frye
Festival TransAmériques - FTA
Freehand Books
Goethe-Institut Montréal
GoodnessTV
Goose Lane Editions
Guernica Editions
Hay Festival - Cartagena
Heritage Regional High School
House of Anansi
Howard S. Billings Regional High School
Iguarsivik School
Institut universitaire en santé mentale Douglas
Interforum Canada
Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC)
Jamais Lu
Jane Mappin
Jewish Public Library
Kativik School Board
La Bibliothèque Apothicaire
La Tasse Gamine
La Vitrine
L’Abricot
Las Américas Ltée
Laurentian Regional High School
LEARN
L’école Les-Enfants-du-Monde
Les Amis de la bibliothèque de Montréal
Les librairies Carcajou
Les Productions Wild Box
Les Voix de la poésie - Poetry in Voice
Lester B. Pearson School Board
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly
Librairie le Fureteur
Librairie Monet
Librairie Paulines
Librairie Raffin
Librairies indépendantes du Québec
Linda Leith Publishing
Blue Metropolis would like to thank all the libraries that took part in the event, in particular Mr. Ivan Filion, Division Head,
Library Programs and Services to the Boroughs, Ville de Montréal.
2015 Festival’S MAIN PARTNERS
Lisez l’Europe
Mackay Centre at Westmount High School
Maison de la culture Frontenac
Maisonneuve Magazine
Mauricie English Elementary School
McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Mémoire d’encrier
Mobile Media Lab - Concordia University
Montreal Review of Books
New Carlisle High School
Nuvviti School
Olivieri - Librairie & Bistro
Ondinnok - Printemps autochtone d’Art DEUX
Orchestre de chambre I Musici de Montréal
Ottawa International Writers Festival
Outreach High School
Paragraphe Bookstore
Paroles d’excluEs
Quebec Community Groups Network - QCGN
Quebec High School
Quebec Writers Federation (QWF)
Random House of Canada Limited
Rosemere High School
Ruth Shine
Segal Centre Performing Arts - Arts de la scène
SOFAD
The Canada in the Americas Initiative at the McGill
Institute for the Study of Canada
The Walrus Magazine
Théâtre de l’Esquisse
This Really Happened
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois
- UNEQ
University of Bologna
UQÀM
Village Café
Yan Liang
Yuri Berger
BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION
2014-2015
TOTAL
2013-2014
TOTAL
INCOME
GENERATED INCOME
Independant Income
Private Financing
TOTAL GENERATED INCOME
47 609
410 983
458 592
5%
41%
45%
57 913
449 591
507 504
6%
46%
52%
GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Federal Grants
Provincial Grants
Municipal Grants
Foreign Governments
TOTAL OF GOVERNMENT GRANTS
310 240
153 112
82 522
10 135
556 009
31%
15%
8%
1%
55%
223 592
164 887
78 002
8 703
475 184
23%
17%
8%
1%
48%
1 014 601
100%
982 688
100%
COSTS OF PROJECT EXECUTION
Program and Events Fees
Communications Fees
TOTAL PROJECT EXECUTION FEES
670 538
156 274
826 812
66%
15%
82%
555 263
180 688
735 951
60%
19%
79%
ADMINISTRATIVE FEES
185 989
18%
196 369
21%
1 012 801
100%
932 320
100%
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENSES
TOTAL OF EXPENSES
NET PROFIT
UNRESTRICTED
INVESTED IN CAPITAL ASSETS
NET ASSETS
1 800
50 368
(87 031)
10 332
(138 555)
11 488
(74 899)
(76 699)