Corner Brook, Newfoundland

In March 2019, Susan Jennings, an Equity member and resident stage manager at Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland, contacted me with a plan. She wanted to host a SMArts on the Road in Corner Brook during the student Reading Week, so her students could get the benefit of a SMArts right in their own home. Susan had attended SMArts and PMArts in the past and was a great supporter of our work.  With the help of her colleague, Beth Bradbury, Technical Director at Grenfell Campus, they had put together a list of courses, schedule and found funding to make this happen.

This is exactly what Winston and I had envisioned with our On The Road conferences – taking SMArts outside of Toronto to regions with little to no access to professional development. In the past 23 years we have travelled to Regina (1996), Edmonton (1997), Vancouver (1999 / 2010), Montreal (2003, 2011), Winnipeg (2009), Calgary (2017) and Halifax (2018)

This year, thanks to the help of Susan and Beth, S.M.Arts headed to the rock for the first time.

True to Winston’s vision, this was an inclusive conference: it was a place for working stage managers to learn new skills or brush up their old ones and a place for apprentice stage managers to learn more about their chosen profession and hone their abilities.

All courses took place in the Fine Arts building at the Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook, NL.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors:

• Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
• Navigate Entrepreneurship Centre
• Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Dean’s Office, School of Fine Arts
• Scholarship in the Arts
• Memorial University Conference Fund

For the first time in SMArts history, we offered virtual seats to all courses.  Participants from St. John’s, Cape Breton, Edmonton and Calgary, attended courses through a teleconferencing platform.  These participants were able to participate and engage in the discussions and hands-on exercises for each course.