The Centre\u2019s launch of the new performing arts season was a multifold celebration as they not only marked the anniversary but their first formal event in Aurora Town Square\u2019s new Performance Hall, of which they\u2019re eager to be regular users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was thrilling for me,\u201d said Schembri, who was among the ribbon-cutters when the historic Church Street School re-opened as the Aurora Cultural Centre in 2010, of Wednesday\u2019s gathering. \u201cHaving been at the helm there for almost eight years, then leaving something I loved so much just for an opportunity of doing something new, was thrilling. I felt very at home, even in the new space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a celebration, she said, of what her successor, Suzanne Haines, the Cultural Centre Board and, of course, the Town \u201chave done in the second iteration of what the Cultural Centre can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centre\u2019s resultant expansion is something they simply couldn\u2019t fathom when they first opened in 2010, she says. When she first stepped into the historic space in 2009, she found little more than an empty shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no furniture, no staff \u2013 all they had was a plan which, in turn, stemmed from an expansive community report on the need to deliver cultural services within Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evolution of the Centre, she adds, is \u201cproof that the Board of Directors and the Town at that time were very accurate and forward-thinking for what this Centre could do and what that would mean for the community \u2013 and what it would add for a community that didn\u2019t have access to that level of art and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s demonstratable proof that the original thinkers on all of this were accurate and it was all driven from a desire to bring beautiful arts and culture to our Town and that is a very honourable thing to do,\u201d said Schembri. \u201cFrom that germ to what is becoming now and what it will be just makes me feel great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In turn, incumbent Executive Director Suzanne Haines said it was a \u201cpleasure to be part of the organization that really did start on the foundation of what Laura built.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe way I saw that foundation was just this complete opening to the community where they could really own 22 Church Street as a space that was a cultural hub and a safe space for people to come and be creative and really participate in a way they wanted to,\u201d said Haines. \u201cThe chapter from 2017 when I arrived to this new, real milestone at 15 years has been one of growth and change, and one really clarifying to the community who we were, who we are, around the professional performing arts, the gallery work that we do, the education programs that are aligned with those two disciplines of art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen the Aurora Historical Society and the Aurora Museum & Archives would really take on that heritage piece of what we had built in 22 Church Street and beyond. We said, \u2018This is something you\u2019re an expert in. We\u2019ll do this piece we know really well,\u2019 and we have been able to build upon that focus. As most businesses will tell you, if you can focus on the things you\u2019re really good at, you will probably be more successful, and I think that has proven to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centre, she added, is now in a \u201creally exciting place now\u201d and she\u2019s thrilled to start \u201cthat first chapter of being here and sharing this incredible space with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want this space to feel like the community owns it, that this is something they really adopt as theirs, as [both] a creation space and a participation space,\u201d said Haines. \u201cThe galleries will continue to be a place where you can stimulate thought and dialogue. The galleries will continue to be a place where we can celebrate different cultures, different ideas, [and] we\u2019ve got an extra gallery that is going to be activated on the lower floor of 22 Church Street, which never really had that life, and that is an opportunity to work with youth and their art. If we can grow that so the community really does see the gallery as a space of reflection, of dialogue, of seeing beautiful art \u2013 looking at the balance across the season of visual art that inspires new artists and also inspires great conversation in the community as issues arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the performing arts side, we have 27 shows in this season. We do have a goal of growing a few more in the performing arts hall where we can bring in even some bigger artists while we continue to bring in emerging artists that have that connection and build synergies with established artists so they can have a successful career, and using the plaza in a significant way in the summer that allows access for other artists and for the community to enjoy music at different times. We see it very, very busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was so powerful for me that (the founding team) were interested in being a part of this next chapter. It tells you a lot about how people feel about the Aurora Cultural Centre, what it means to be involved, and it was a very special moment to see them come back into the fold in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n In some respects, it was like stepping back in time for Laura Schembri, who served as the Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s founding Executive Director, steering the organization for its first eight years, as she was reunited with a number of people who were there at its start. More tangibly, however, it was a step forward into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2024-10-03-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-98H","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 11:12:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35135&t=Aurora%20Cultural%20Centre%20celebrates%2015%20years%20as%20community%20success%20story&s=100&p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35135&p[images][0]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F10%2F2024-10-03-01.jpg&p[title]=Aurora%20Cultural%20Centre%20celebrates%2015%20years%20as%20community%20success%20story\" "\\"Share")
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