Learning and Co-Creation Labs
Exploring governance, advocacy, and artist-led collaboration to design a Shared Leadership Model.
Photo: Quest
2026 Learning Lab Series:Community Wealth Building (CWB)
Join us on June 1st for the fifth Learning Lab:
CWB: Progressive procurement & Fair work practices
This Learning Lab series is part of Arts Ottawa’s community-wide programming for 2026 and supports our ongoing work to strengthen the local arts sector. After months of community input and workshops, Arts Ottawa has identified three key focus areas for building a more sustainable arts sector: economic conditions, spaces, and social impact. The Learning Lab series offers a space for the community to collectively explore the Community Wealth Building model, widely used in other sectors, and consider how it might help address these priorities, strengthen coordination, and support long-term growth in Ottawa’s arts ecosystem.
Across six sessions between March and June, participants will hear from guest speakers, experiment with practical tools, and work together in workshops. These sessions will lead into co-creation labs where the community will collaborate to build an economic coordination strategy that reflects shared priorities and expertise.
Learn more
Who is it for?
This learning series is for anyone in the arts community who wants to explore innovative ways to strengthen the sustainability of their work. No expertise in economic development is required. The series is designed to be practical, accessible, and relevant to all areas of practice. We encourage artists and arts and culture workers to be part of the conversation and help identify actionable steps for both the short and long term.
What to expect?
Each session will be engaging and hands-on with dedicated workshop time for participants to experiment with ideas and apply concepts locally. Following the series, Arts Ottawa will host co-creation labs to collectively determine the next steps toward growth, sustainability, and shared prosperity in our sector, building an economic coordination strategy that reflects the priorities and expertise of the community.
More about CWB
Community Wealth Building is a people-centered approach to economic development that focuses on building, retaining, and recirculating wealth within local systems and industry by prioritizing local ownership, democratic control, and a more balanced distribution of wealth. It involves using strategies like supporting local cooperatives, social enterprises, and community land trusts, and leveraging the purchasing power of large local institutions to create good jobs and keep resources within the community. Learn more about the model here.
June 1st9:15am - 1:00pm (Programming starts at 10am)Bayview YardsIn this session we will explore how to secure opportunities for arts contracts, infrastructure and activities by working with big buyers operating in the community (ie. institutions, government, corporations). We will also discuss fair work practices and wages for artists, creating meaningful, long-term employment and leadership development opportunities for the community. We will hear about how arts communities in other cities are working with their local government to co-design more effective agreements and wage standardization, learn what it means to activate arts-related community benefits on major development projects, and test how these approaches could be better leveraged in Ottawa.
In part 1 of the session we’ll hear from Michael Vickers (Brampton Arts Organization) and George Brown (Ottawa Community Benefits Network) about why procurement and benefits agreements are effective mechanisms for working with municipalities, corporations and institutions to secure more stable and fair employment for local workforce. We’ll follow this up with a roundtable discussion to unpack what this work looks like on the ground and how to organize to realize more sustainable agreements.
In Part 2, participants will engage in workshop activities facilitated by Arts Ottawa to explore the principles of Progressive Procurement and Fair Work Practices and how they could be activated in Ottawa.
About the Speakers
Michael Vickers is a community activator, cultural leader and practicing artist focused on providing meaningful advocacy, support and growth for the arts sector at the local level and across Canada. He is currently the Executive Director of the Brampton Arts Organization and has previously held roles with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Akin and PACE Gallery. Vickers holds an MA in Art History from the University of Toronto and an Honours BA in Visual Arts & Communications. His artwork has been exhibited locally and internationally, including presentations at Volta Basel, Dutch Design Week and Art Toronto and has been supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. He is an active member of the Canadian Arts Coalition and the Alliance of Arts Councils of Ontario.
George Brown is a lawyer, urbanist and certified Coach. He is Principal of Integral North, and President & CEO of Mooney’s Bay Ventures Inc.. He is currently sitting on the advisory for the Ottawa Community Benefits Network. George spent nine years as President of the Ottawa Community Loan Fund, (OCLF) as well as 9 years as a City and Regional Councillor in Ottawa. He is affiliated with numerous community-based initiatives, including Ottawa Riverkeeper and Ottawa ACORN.
CWB 2026 Learning Lab Schedule
March 19th | An introduction to Community Wealth Building | |
April 9th | Pillar 1: Pluralistic Ownership | |
April 29th | Pillar 2: Locally Rooted Finance | |
May 13th | Pillar 3: Just Use of Land and Property | |
June 1st | Pillar 4 & 5: Progressive Procurement & Fair Work Practices | |
June 19th | CWB Overview |
Watch the 2026 CWB Learning Lab Series online now:
2024 - 2025
Arts Ottawa hosted innovative Learning and Co-Creation Labs that brought together interest holders, sector experts, the arts community and staff to explore governance models that center artists, with advocacy, equity, and volunteerism playing pivotal roles in shaping leadership structures.
Explore What We Learned
Dive into a snapshot of the ideas, collaborations, and insights that emerged from this series of Labs. The report highlights conversations that inspired ideas for more equitable governance, showing how advocacy and shared leadership can better support artists.
Learning Labs
The three Learning Labs we held between February and April served as an introduction to themes such as governance, advocacy, artist leadership, trust-building, and cross-sector collaboration. Participants reimagined traditional governance approaches, explored strategies to strengthen collective advocacy efforts, and heard from policy experts, grassroots organizers, and sector leaders who are reshaping governance and advocacy frameworks. These hands-on sessions bridged sector-wide learning with localized, actionable solutions.
Learn more about each Learning Lab
LEARNING LAB #1: Governance Models and Advocacy in the Arts Sector
In this lab, we explored how shifting political landscapes, rising costs, and systemic inequities are reshaping the arts sector.
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LEARNING LAB #2: Artists as Community Leaders
This Learning Lab explored the ways in which artists drive systemic change and lead community development to create meaningful change in society.
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LEARNING LAB #3: Redefining Volunteerism in Governance
In this Lab, we examined the decline in volunteerism and its impact on arts governance, from leadership challenges to increased workloads.
Co-Creation Labs
Building on that foundation, the Co-Creation Labs held on April 24th and 26th invited participants to collaboratively bring those insights to life. Over 4.5-hour interactive sessions, artists, community organizers, and arts advocates co-designed a governance model rooted in inclusive decision-making. Creative tools like café-style speed dating, visual storytelling, and consensus-building helped shape a shared leadership structure for Arts Ottawa. Together, we co-created a Governance Charter grounded in community values—ensuring leadership that is transparent, accountable, and artist-centered.
These labs were designed not only to imagine new systems but to build them—reflecting the vibrant, diverse, and evolving arts community we serve. This work directly shaped how the Core Leadership Circle (CLC) and Community Advisory Members (CAM) were formed, recruited, and are run.