SPARK Photo Festival: 

its start, its journey, and sadly, its demise

Introduction:

With the recent demise of the SPARK Photo Festival, I decided that it might be interesting and useful for the record to reflect on the past dozen years (and 11 events – scrap 2020 because of COVID-19) of its existence. I was involved almost from the start and have been both an active board member as well as exhibitor (yes, in all eleven years). So I’ll start with the demise…

SPARK announces termination of its annual photo festival:

A couple of weeks ago, the board of directors of the SPARK Photo Festival were all in agreement to close down a wonderful initiative that started in 2013. When I say we were in agreement, it doesn’t mean that we agreed that SPARK wasn’t serving the purpose that drove it to be originally founded. It means that, after examining our future sources of funding, we judged that it would be extremely difficult to maintain a positive cash flow in the future. We decided that we didn’t want to perpetuate a financially unstable initiative, even given its sound objectives and, I might importantly add – achievement of those objectives.

How did SPARK start and what did it want to achieve?

Three people were behind the initiative in 2012: Bill Lockington, senior partner in  LLF Lawyers, graphic designer and businessman Robert Boudreau (our first festival director), and teacher/activist Mickey Renders. A few months later in the summer of 2012, when Bill asked me to come aboard, I agreed as I was attracted to the idea. So I joined the board that was being assembled.

SPARK along the way had lofty ambitions, and delivered on many of them. Through the legalese of SPARK’s July 31, 2012 incorporation document shines a purpose, as the objects for which the corporation is incorporated were: “The establishment and operation of an annual photography festival for the purposes of promoting the art, practice and science of photography, and such other complementary purposes not inconsistent with these objects.” 

We finally reworded our mission statement after some thoughtful workshop deliberations in May of 2023 to declare our mission as: “The SPARK Photo Festival promotes photographic arts to the community by providing an annual month-long event for photographers to display their work in public venues.” 

SPARK was also focussed on continuing to be what photography really is: a very democratic art form. So it was felt that it should be accessible to all skill levels. Consequently anybody really could mount a show and no juries vetted the open call exhibits. As well the juried competition was quite open. As well also, the venues were all visited free.

More philosophically, the early notion of SPARK being in the business of creating and nurturing opportunities for relationships actually began to happen. These relationships were between the photographers and their peers, between the photographers and the businesses who act as exhibit venues, and between the photographers and the public. This photographic community began to bridge several communities who otherwise would have little to do with each other. A commendable outcome.

So what was SPARK? 

At its broadest, there were three festival pillars, plus a great number of other special programs which were quite creative:

1. Open Call Exhibits. SPARK facilitated exhibition space for individual photographers. We also encouraged community group exhibits, small and larger group exhibits (where two or more photographers collaborated with a show and common space), and student group exhibits. SPARK provided marketing and promotion initiatives to aid in providing public awareness regarding who, what, where and when these shows would appear.

2. Juried Exhibit: Almost from the start SPARK offered up a competition which could be entered by anyone resident in Ontario. This was always fun, although many (me included) felt the act of judging art work is full of inconsistencies. We justified it because it WAS fun, and brought in submissions from across the province, and some excellent photographs. We chose photography and art professionals to do the judging and when the winners were announced at a public gathering there was always a large enthusiastic audience. 

Choice of theme was important; we tried to keep it a popular subject and general enough to attract lots of entries. We even offered cash prizes: the Best in Show got $300 down to $50 for 4th place/Honourable Mention. In recent years Chasing the Cheese provided us space to display the winners. We received 257 images from 87 photographers in 2022, and 216 from 75 in 2023 and 216 from 76 in 2024. Our themes can be seen in the Attachment (https://powellponderings.com/attachments/)

3. Showcase and Signature Exhibits

Over the years some quite imaginative and challenging “Showcase” exhibits were developed and presented. Some of the initiatives we explored were very leading edge, and valuable also for the community. When you glance over the subjects we tackled you’ll see what I mean. 

Here is a list of them but for more details see the Attachment (https://powellponderings.com/attachments/)

Bill Lockington, Marlis Lindsay, Robert Boudreau, Ken Powell, Andy Christopher March 2013

* 2013: Balsillie Collection of Roy Studio Images featuring the talents of three generations of the Roy Photography family

* 2014: Fairbairn Mackenzie Collection, which documented cottage life on Stoney Lake and Juniper Island over 100 years ago

* 2015: Lucy Maud Montgomery: A Tale in Pictures (from the L.M.Montgomery Collection of the U of Guelph). Lucy was quite a keen photographer.

* 2016: Peterborough 1945-65: An Ideal Industrial City

* 2017: The Loss of Innocence, The Birth of a Nation – Remembering 1917 and the Great War

*  2018: “Celebrate at Home”: Canada 150 Photo Documentation Project

* 2020/21: The First 20 Years: Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival

* 2022: Peterborough Then & Now: Historical & Current Images of Peterborough County

* 2023: Celebrating 10 Years of Excellence: Juried Exhibit Winners plus Light the SPARK: Emerging Artist Exhibit

* 2024: Light the SPARK: Emerging Artist Exhibit

What did SPARK provide to participants of the Open Call Exhibits?

SPARK was always conscious of what value added we were providing to those who participated in the open call – in a sense, what was built into the registration fee. How was this delivered?

Starting in 2022 we offered a free mobile catalogue and navigational app, in partnership with Toureka!, plus an interactive map. (Our festival director, Jennifer Mackenzie, dug this one out; it was developed by Peterborough’s Brad Carson and was being used for the Apsley Studio Tour.) This made it simple to choose and seek out and locate the show. 

A free printed brochure was also made available which included information about the photographer, his or her show, location, including small maps. These were available for all exhibitors. 

All eight of our catalogues

For eight years one of the promotional tools we employed was a formal, printed catalogue. It usually ran from 72 to 84 pages, was 8 1/2 by 11 inches, and full colour. We sold advertising to help support its cost. Robert Boudreau, our first Festival Director was responsible for the designing and production of the 8 Spark catalogues, which are worth looking through as a record of past exhibitions and can still be viewed on the website: https://www.sparkphotofestival.org/catalogues/. We stopped doing that in 2020, as the costs continued to climb and we felt our alternatives were more effective.

Also at exhibit venues SPARK would provide signage to indicate that a SPARK show was present. QR codes were posted at each exhibit for visitors to scan and obtain links to the interactive festival map and the app stores or one could search Toureka! on the Apple app store or Google Play.

The Peterborough Symphony promoted SPARK

Another “value” we provided was advertising and promotion to attract peoples attention in the first place. One of the principal objectives of our festival director was to reach into the community through regular media, be it TV, radio or the local papers. With social media steadily gaining in importance, literacy and comfort in this area was also essential. We had two Festival Directors over SPARK’s life – and they were both excellent in this regard. Jennifer in particular was skilled and active in this area.

Two other things: we helped participants in selecting a venue (we always had a list of places that a potential exhibitor could utilize for their show). We also offered mentorship and guidance in mounting a show.

Special programs developed by SPARK were many and some quite forward thinking:

SPARK over the years experimented with some unique initiatives, most that worked. The Attachment describes a number of them, but in summary we: 

  • tried to offer photographic instruction (how to mount a show, photographic techniques, etc.) so there were a number of seminars and workshops
  • promote the idea of photography itself (see SPARK After Dark) plus encouraging youth involvement (we tried to link with schools)
  • be a useful vehicle in aiding newcomers transitioning into the community, particularly from other cultures (see the SPARK Newcomer Youth Project for the New Canadian Centre)
  • assist those individuals in taking their work public (in its last two years it offered Light the SPARK: Emerging Artists Exhibit, a program developed to teach photographers how to prepare their first exhibit). 

SPARK existed in a transitional time for photographic art: 

Photography is a relatively new art form. The world only experienced the impact of photography as late as 1827, when the first known photograph was taken and developed by the Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce. It’s crazy when one considers how much cameras are embedded in our daily lives today. In 2014, it has been estimated that humanity took a staggering 1 trillion photos. Experts believe that the number of cameras in the world passed 45 billion in 2022 (that’s more than five cameras for every person). It is projected that humans will take 2 trillion photos in 2025.

The radical transition from film into digital in the early 2000s was both wrenching and freeing. Digital was far more efficient than film, although many missed the creative side of processing film. 

Even in the 12 years of SPARK’s existence, photography has changed. Obviously the cell phone has been revolutionary. Photo art presentation has evolved from 16 x 20 prints in a black frame (what I am still doing, by the way, although I have experimented with many other techniques!) to variations in size, framing, and print surface. Having said that, we continued to be a festival where the printed image was front and centre as opposed to photos posted on Instagram, etc.

The other transition SPARK had to navigate was COVID-19. The pandemic halted the 2020 festival and the 2021 festival was pushed back until September. But it all returned to its traditional April month for the 2022 festival.

SPARK meant different things to different people:

One of the unique aspects of the SPARK idea has been that different groups of people found something in the idea that aligned with their own personal needs – and those groups represent a varied lot.

The photographers:

First of all, obviously, it appealed tophotographers. We are generally a frustrated lot when it comes to showing what we have created. The older ones of us are part of that quaint “slide show” mentality. We gathered our friends, our families, our pets and presented wonderful essays on snow flakes or bees alighting on begonias, or we imposed upon them our last exotic travels. Some of us were members of camera clubs where we all had high tolerances, and begrudged admiration for excellent (or not so) photography. Images were projected slides (I had 160,000 of those little devils before I started to cull and digitize them). A very few entered contests. Beyond that, photos collected dust.

Over its 12 years SPARK has encouraged over 1,000 photographers to show their work and/or be more involved in the photographic world. It’s apparent that Peterborough and area has a lot of photographers, and some quite excellent ones. 

SPARK offered the opportunity and the necessary discipline to select a theme, choose images to support it, and print, matt and frame – not always skills that every photographer possessed when they busied themselves with their cameras out in the wilderness, travelling in some foreign country, at a social function, or whatever.

SPARK I know has encouraged photographers to explore their work and their techniques, so that their show next year reflected an upgraded version of their capabilities, or a technique they developed just so that it could be shown.

The profile of a SPARK exhibitor was a varied one, ranging from beginners to professionals, from students both young and old, to the very experienced, offering up wildlife, profiles of people, travelogues, flowers, macro, themes of design and patterns, pets and friends. That’s one of the elements that made it so unique – there were always delightful surprises when one chugged ones way around the various venues.

Brain Injury Association store front

Included in this world of photography were many community groups with a broad range of mandates, such as Camp Kawartha, the YES Shelter for Youth and Families, the Brain Injury Association in Peterborough, Activity Haven, and the New Canadian Centre. They all used photography in creative learning ways to further their missions.

Regarding students, we reached into the school systems. Over the years there were many, such as Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School Grade 12 photography group, Kenner CVI High School, Prince of Wales Public School, Highland Heights Public School, Lakefield College, Humber College, Trent University – and more.

Public spaces that displayed SPARK:

SPARK at Living Hope Church

Which takes me to the other players in the SPARK world. One of the unique aspects of SPARK was its reach out into the community. Over the past 12 years SPARK exhibits popped up in some delightful and unexpected places. Examples include restaurants, galleries, offices, seniors homes and a senior centre, the YMCA, churches, shopping malls, retail stores, car dealers, a laundromat, resorts, libraries, and even outdoors. 

We tried to collect data on what the shows did for traffic, but that proved difficult. Anecdotally, though, we knew shows drew in people, which probably generated sales, if it was a retail establishment. It certainly generated interest and that was a good thing for photography in general.

While the SPARK geography focused on Peterborough, it did offer exhibits around the RT08 tourism area, which included the Kawarthas and Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County – generally the Trent-Severn Waterway. Thus over the years exhibits were found in such delightful communities as Lakefield, Bridgenorth, Buckhorn, Keene, Lindsay, Bethany, Castleton, Campbellford, Fenelon Falls, Brighton, Colborne, Warkworth.

Festival Director, Jennifer Mackenzie, announcing winners of Juried Exhibit competition at YMCA

Other public spaces SPARK used were useful for introduction of the annual SPARK program, displaying our Showplace Exhibits, and awards to the winners of the Juried Show. They included the Peterborough Public Library, and the YMCA the Balsillie Family Branch. As well we utilized the lobby area of the historic “Y” building in Peterborough at George and Murray Streets. (Atria Development allowed SPARK to use it for a few years before they began to renovate and develop it into condos.) 

The viewing public:

Anecdotal evidence suggested that people enjoyed visiting the wide range of photographic expression that appeared during the month of April. Some artists carried out opening ceremonies, and people came to support them, and see their work. Many viewers just bumped into the shows, if they were say visiting the library, dining at a participating restaurant, attending church or visiting a seniors home.

SPARK’s funding sources: grants, sponsors, patrons

We were fortunate to have had funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the City of Peterborough. Some support was also available during COVID such as the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund. They all have their limits though, and are not available in perpetuity.

Year after year a cadre of people and companies stuck with us, as they knew the sources to run a festival of this sort are few. Right from the start we counted on LLF Lawyers as a sponsor for an important block of money. Other businesses followed suit also as sponsors, in general or for a specific portion of our offer. 

We also had right from the start many who felt good about being a patron. So individuals or companies became patrons over the years who gave between $500 and $2000; some of them donated every year. Some 25 in total over the years supported us. 

This is all now in an environment when arts and culture are struggling as priorities for both government and corporate wallets. The Globe and Mail recently featured an article that stated there has been a 20% decline in charitable donations since the pandemic.

As one example, Scotia Bank announced last March they would drop its title sponsorship of Toronto’s Contact Photography Festival. Contact had grown since 1997 to become one of the world’s largest photography festivals, attracting as many as 1.5 million people a year in venues and public places across Canada’s most populous city. So it wasn’t the festivals lack of success but a refocusing of the bank’s priorities.

The volunteers that ran details:

When I look over the early days of SPARK, it is amazing the number of people who were involved, sitting on committees and taking active roles in how to make this idea work. Until we worked out what really was SPARK and how it could best serve its mission (or even what was the mission) it took a lot of people’s time. The enthusiasm level was high. 

Different components need people to do different things, e.g. judges for the juried call (and they needed accommodation and be squired); curating for the showcase exhibits plus framing and mounting; the search for exhibition space; special programs for students; first time exhibitor seminars; the Edward Burtynsky evening, etc. While SPARK had a paid festival director, the job couldn’t be done without a lot of volunteer help.

Management:

SPARK has had two formal Festival Directors. The first being one of the founders, Robert Boudreau. He carried out the task with vision, passion with full involvement and dedication to the cause. Robert made Spark his personal mission, giving his own personal time to make the festival grow and to network with countless organisations in the community. His knowledge base and networking skills in the community pushed the festival in the right direction and without his work the festival would not have had the run it did.

When he decided to step down and move east we put the job out for candidates. Narrowing the list down, in August of 2019 we then chose a delightful, and knowledgable Jennifer MacKenzie. (Little did Jennifer know she would run smack into the COVID-19 storm!) 

It’s a multi faceted job, that includes communicating with a multitude of stakeholders, as well as working with our treasurer and Finance Committee and keeping a close tab on all things financial. In so doing she also maintained the SPARK Festival web site. Jennifer fit the task well, a combination of being personable but determined, with excellent communications skills and indomitable energy. Because we ran a lean operation, she would often find herself doing things that other organizations contract out, while she took the initiative to learn and then execute. Jennifer is many things: an author, food writer, events coordinator, culinary consultant and professional home economist. She is now a professional festival director! 

Jennifer Mackenzie, Festival Director

Board of Directors:

As we marched along, the board was a “hands on” board. There were those who were not even photographers but took on tasks because they felt SPARK was an excellent initiative. The current board have pulled their weight: Christina Dedes, Heather Doughty, Teresa Kaszuba, Michael Harris, Gwyneth Huggins, Bill Lockington, Allen Rothwell, and Lynn Taylor.  I was elected chair of the board on October 20, 2021, after the idea of rotating this task proved cumbersome.

Those who spent time as board members and stepped down deserve acknowledgement as they were all contributors. This group includes: Linda Cardona, Andy Christopher, Andrea Dicks, Margaret Hamilton, Carol Lawless, Marlis Lindsay, Shirlanne Pawley-Boyd, Helen Smith, Micky Renders, Randy Romano, and Nancy Westaway.

Wrap-up

So “that’s a wrap”, as they say. SPARK fit the time and engaged and encouraged many. Does it have the potential to rise again? It probably could, but volunteer-driven organizations are vulnerable to volunteer burn-out, plus its business plan has to be immune from financial vagaries. Those are big “buts”.

3 thoughts on “SPARK Photo Festival: ”

  1. Thanks for “the wrap” Ken. What a wonderful sweep of achievements – and cheers to the countless volunteers and talented contributors to the visual arts! Dr. Betsy McGregor, C.M.

  2. Thanks, Ken, for putting together this really well-done summary of Sparks 11 seasons. Your presence on the Spark board brought professionalism and stability to the organization and all photographers who participated deserve to give you a ton of credit.

    For me personally your blog post brings back some really good memories not only of people working together but also of some amazing exhibitions. Spark’s presence not only fostered photography in the RTO8 area but also gave photographers locations to print and show their work. The printing aspect is such an important part of the photographic process and the fact that many photographers who did exhibitions had to go through the printing and curating process, not only helped the festival but also helped their personal development as photographers.

    Working with one of Spark’s founders and first festival director, Robert Boudreau I would like to mention his energy and dedication to the cause. Robert made Spark his personal mission, giving his own personal time to make the festival grow and to network with countless organisations in the community. Robert was responsible for the designing and production of the 8 Spark catalogues, which are worth looking through as a record of past exhibitions and can still be viewed on the website: https://www.sparkphotofestival.org/catalogues/

    A further aspect about Robert that really helped the festival become established and flourish was his knowledge of photography. Not only did he run a photography business in Toronto but also knew a great deal about photographic history, as well as being an excellent photographer himself. His knowledge base and networking skills in the community pushed the festival in the right direction and without his work the festival would not have had the run it did.

    So many people to thank for the festival, but to me personally it was an important part of my development as a photographer. So, thanks to all involved. The festival will be greatly missed.

    1. Thank you Ken for your thorough and thoughtful blog on the history of SPARK Photo Festival, and Thank you Randy for stating the special role that Robert Boudreau played to initiate the festival with Bill and Micky, and his special in-depth photography knowledge that helped so many photographers and the Board of Directors to launch and maintain a meaningful and educational festival for participants and exhibitors. The festival was very fortunate to have its original Board of Directors who dedicated their time and community leadership skills to launch the festival the first years, including Andrea and others who moved on fairly early. Personally it was a delight to work with the Board and so many volunteers, and I learned a great deal from Robert in particular about the culture of photography and the art of the skill. Thank you again Ken, Randy and all the photographers who I had the pleasure of working with over the years. I still miss Andy Christopher to this day as he was a very talented art photographer as well as a personal friend to so many of us.

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