Canopy Arts will be closed December 21 and reopening January 2, 2014. 
We will be curled up under the Christmas Tree and listening to a crackling fire.
Wishing you and yours a warm and joyous holiday season!

Codecademy: Hour of Code app for the iPhone lets you learn basic programming anytime, anywhere 
By Nick Summers, Monday, 9 Dec '13 


Mobile apps thrive when they allow the user to check, explore or experiment with content in short bursts. Codecademy, meanwhile, is renowned as one of the best ways to learn programming languages such as Python, Ruby and JavaScript. A full suite of interactive lessons are available on the Web, but until now it was an experience that required an extensive amount of time and dedication.Well, that’s no longer a problem with Codecademy: Hour of Code, the startup’s first iPhone app. Whether you’re waiting for the train or queuing in your local greengrocer, now you can learn to code absolutely anywhere.

How it WorksCodecademy is launching the app today to coincide with the ‘Hour of Code‘ campaign set up by Code.org. As part of Computer Science Education Week (December 9–15, 2013) the non-profit organization wants 10 million students in the US to spend at least 60 minutes learning how to code. As such, the How to Code app by Codecademy targets total newcomers to computer programming. Its relatively short repertoire covers the absolute basics, such as how programs are written and a few examples of what can be achieved with just a few lines of code.

The lessons cover strings, operators, and many other building blocks associated with computer science. You won’t be publishing an app once the 60 minutes are up, but it’s a brilliant taster that should get students and teachers alike interested in the subject.
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How Chimp Works
Chimp is built on a simple idea — to empower people’s personal giving choices and to simplify the process. We believe giving should feel good. There are many different ways you can use Chimp. Curious about the entire Chimp ecosystem? Here’s an overview.

Chimp Accounts - At the core of Chimp is the Chimp Account: an online charitable account for individuals. When you deposit money into your account, you receive a tax receipt immediately. The funds can then be given away or simply saved to give another day. If you’re familiar with charitable lingo, your Chimp Account is like your own private foundation. Or you can think of it as a savings account for charity. Read more about Chimp Accounts.

Giving Groups - Giving Groups simplify fundraising for your favourite cause, and make giving social. Anyone can start a Giving Group to support any Canadian charity. Giving Groups can also give to other Giving Groups, or to a personal Chimp Account. Learn more about Giving Groups.

Ways to Give
TO A CHARITY - You can give to any registered charity in Canada with Chimp, and you can choose whether you wish to remain anonymous.

TO A GIVING GROUP - Support a group that’s raising funds for a good cause by contributing to their Giving Group. You can always choose to keep your gift amount anonymous.

TO A FRIEND’S CHIMP ACCOUNT - Give the gift of giving. Send a friend a gift of charitable dollars through Chimp, and let them decide the recipient. Your friend does not need to have a pre-existing Chimp Account; they’ll receive a personalized invitation to claim your gift, and can give it through Chimp to whatever cause they care most about.

FEES - Chimp charges the lowest transaction fee in the country — 1%. And signing up for a Chimp Account is free. Learn more about fees.

TRUST - Chimp is built on trust, and we take your confidence seriously. We practice accountability and build expert legal and sectoral guidance into everything we do.Learn more about why you can trust Chimp.

THE FOUNDATION - When you deposit money to your Chimp Account (or give to a Giving Group or charity directly through Chimp), you’ll immediately receive a tax receipt from the Chimp Foundation. The Foundation exists only to give money away, and is responsible for ensuring your dollars reach the recipient you choose. Learn more about Chimp Foundation, our board members and advisors.

Chimp for Charities
CHIMP CHARITY PAGES - Chimp lists every registered charity in the country. We display public data (from the Canada Revenue Agency) for each organization on our Charity Pages. This helps users research their giving options, and learn more about organizations working in their area of interest.

CHIMP CHARITY ACCOUNT - Charities will receive any gift a Chimp user makes to them through Chimp. They don’t have to sign up to receive this money. Charities can sign up for a free Chimp Charity Account to access extra benefits — such as the ability to customize the welcome information on their page, send thank you’s to donors, and view data from supporters who chose not to be anonymous. Learn more about Chimp for Charities.

Chimp for Companies - Chimp’s customizable and automated matching technology makes it simple for companies to empower employees, customers, and community members to give to what they care about. Companies can match contributions to personal Chimp Accounts, or they can match any gift to a charity or Giving Group they want to support. Learn more about Chimp for Companies.

UK: Measuring carbon emissions of arts organisations: ‘Sustaining great art’ 
14 December 2013 by Mik Aidt_
Arts Council England has published the report ‘Sustaining Great Art’, which presents results from the first year of environmental reporting by 704 major revenue funded organisations. 

The results have been compiled into the single largest data set on the carbon emissions of arts organisations globally, and this achievement is reportedly already having ripple effects both in the UK and internationally, wrote Julie’s Bicycle in its December newsletter.

The report mentions a number of groups which are demonstrating benefits of collaboration, including:

• London Theatre Consortium, 13 theatres working to develop strategic, creative initiatives and share expertise and resources, including a sustainability strand

• Manchester Arts Sustainability Team, 13 arts organisations, venues and events, collaborating to support their own sustainability goals and Manchester’s climate change strategy

• Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues, 10 venues working to share learning and maximise their positive environmental, social, cultural and economic impact, with different workstreams, including a Green Campaign and Capital Investment Strategy which explores longer-term sustainable capital projects for the group

• Royal Opera House, Royal National Theatre and Royal Albert Hall, who entered into a three-year contract for collective energy procurement known as ‘The Arts Basket’ provided by the energy broker Power Efficiency in 2012. Other organisations have since joined and benefits include reduced costs, better risk management and longer-term price certainty on a green tariff supply.

The report was produced in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle. Currently working with over 1000 cultural organisations in the UK and Europe, Julie’s Bicycle offers free online tools, research, and bespoke consultancy to help arts organisations measure, manage, and reduce their environmental impacts.

Founded by the music industry, with expertise from the arts and sustainability, Julie’s Bicycle bridges the gap between the creative industries and sustainability. Based on a foundation of peer-reviewed research, Julie’s Bicycle sustains creativity, enabling the arts to create change.

Arts Council England and Julie’s Bicycle entered into a partnership in 2012 to deliver an environmental support programme for National portfolio organisations, Major partner museums and Bridge organisations. The partnership, which runs from 2012 to 2015, combines the annual CO2e measurement of energy and water use using Industry Green tools, and support to develop an Environmental Policy and an Action Plan for each organisation.

» More information and an infographic of the results: www.artscouncil.org.uk

Staging Sustainability 2014: People. Planet. Profit. Performance will be an international conference from February 2-5, 2014 hosted at three exciting downtown Toronto venues — the MaRS Discovery District, 99 Sudbury, The Theatre Centre —and streamed to satellite locations across Canada. 

An international three-day conference on ‘Staging Sustainability: People, Planet, Profit, Performance’ will be the largest gathering of innovative sustainability practitioners in the world to focus on ways in which performance can positively affect our planet. The conference ‘Staging Sustainability 2014’ will introduce the attendees to ground breakers working across Canada, on Broadway, in London, in community gardens — as well as all points in-between — to remake the way we work in the performing arts.

“Performance has always been about how the work affects people. Now we are ready to look at how our performances can affect a sustainable world.”

On 2-5 February 2014 the conference will be hosted at three downtown Toronto venues — MaRS Discovery District, 99 Sudbury, and The Theatre Centre — and will also be streamed to satellite locations across Canada. Live performances illuminating sustainability will be staged throughout the conference and into the weekend.

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Gabriola Co-op Radio
CKGI.CA
Originally posted on Dec. 4, 2013
Arts on Board  begins its special series on arts funding in BC with a look at the vexed relationship between the province’s Gaming Branch and its arts and culture community, and an investigation into mismanagement of gaming funding this Fall. Late decisions, mysteriously morphing criteria, and prioritization of sports and athletic organizations over arts and culture organizations have created new instability in the sector, just when it thought it was finally getting over the cuts of a few years ago.

Host Frank Moher talks with three arts leaders whose organizations have been affected, gets a few answers from the provincial government, and ends up with many more.

Click here to listen to the episode