A partnership that was born during the pandemic between the Creator Space Digital Arts Lab and the Collingwood Public Library is set to continue and expand.
“The Collingwood Public Library is proud to partner with the Creator Space Mobile Digital Arts Lab, who has been offering online programming to our patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says, Gordon Palmer, Collingwood Public Library’s technology coordinator.
The Creator Space Digital Arts Lab was launched last year in the Town of the Blue Mountains, with a pilot project that was designed to provide digital arts learning resources.
During the COVID pandemic, the Creator Space decided it would shift to a mobile model and reach out to the neighbouring communities of Collingwood and Wasaga Beach.
“The opportunities in digital arts as a hobby or career are expanding, and the industry is strong in Ontario,” says Tracey Strnad, creative director of the Creator Space.
“Digital arts learning opportunities are less abundant in rural areas, and there was a gap to fill in South Georgian Bay. With the support of our partners, we are committed to providing similar access and services that one would find in a large Canadian city,” she continues.
The Creator Space will be offering four different streams of workshops - digital video, digital sound, digital design and digital photography - at three locations - the L.E. Shores Public Library in Blue Mountains, the Collingwood Public Library and the Wasaga Beach Public Library.
The partner libraries will also receive equipment and computer workstations.
“Each partner library will receive two digital arts Apple iMac workstations, as well as a full-frame digital photography camera kit, 4K digital cinema camera kit, 360 VR camera kit, and a portable sound recording kit,” says Strnad.
Tracey and her husband, Tom Strnad are the driving forces behind the Creator Space.
The two have long-standing careers in the digital arts field and have been actively working in the Blue Mountains community since 2015.
“Our mobile digital arts learning lab will include four Apple Macbook portable workstations, and four iPads,” Strnad continues. “This will allow the Creator Space instructors to conduct workshops in nearly any community space, with at least four participants per workshop.”
Strnad says all equipment will be in place at the Collingwood and Wasaga libraries by March 2021, while the L.E. Shore Public Library in the Blue Mountains has already acquired the equipment, as it was the original partner of the pilot project last year.
New programs will begin this August and will be delivered through live-streaming, video tutorials and e-learning.
In-person workshops will resume once COVID safety precautions ease.
“In future, we hope to have physical workshops at our facility, so that patrons have access to digital arts equipment, which may otherwise be difficult to access,” says Palmer. “Our goal is to foster creativity in our community and continue to enrich digital literacy.”
The workshops and equipment rental is currently free to active library cardholders.
“Equipment is currently available to borrow (free) from the Blue Mountains Public Library. Library cardholders can access the equipment via the library’s website. Non-library cardholders who are residents of the Blue Mountains need to acquire a library card to borrow equipment. Non-residents of the Blue Mountains can purchase a membership to the Blue Mountains Public Library for $10/month or $75/year,” Strnad explains.
Some equipment rental requires proficiency testing prior to borrowing, which can be conducted virtually due to pandemic safety precautions.
Upcoming programs available at all three libraries include - manual digital photography, digital cartooning, mobile music recording studio, and manual digital cinematography.
