Organizers say they anticipate these initiatives will continue this year, marking a shift in local arts and culture. Hip, innovative, and interesting music, art, food, and venues are on Ottawa\u2019s new ‘cool’ menu, and the movement is growing. All of last year’s local arts and culture initiatives were successes \u2013 surprisingly so, some organizers admit.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 30,000 people came out to the city\u2019s first Nuit Blanche. I was blown away by the support and creativity in Ottawa,\u201d says Megan Smith, a 30-something who co-curated the all-night arts festival, held on Sept. 22, 2012. \u201cI am inspired as a curator and as an artist,\u201d she says, explaining that organizers had expected only 10,000 people for the inaugural event.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s Creative Mornings chapter, which is part of an international initiative started in New York City with chapters around the world organizing free arts lectures, has also been a hit, according to co-founder Michael Grigoriev, an industrial design student at Carleton University.<\/p>\n \u201cAttendance [at Creative Mornings] has far surpassed our wildest dreams,\u201d says Grigoriev, explaining that each of the monthly lectures, which started last March, has reached the capacity of 100 people at venues like SAW Gallery near the Rideau Centre. \u201cWe distribute tickets online, and they are snapped up immediately,\u201d he says, noting the wide audience Creative Mornings attracts \u2013 from his peers to government employees and older professionals \u2013 by ensuring a variety of speakers, such as local tattoo artists, designers, chefs, and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot to offer. We have a lot of talent in this city and opportunities to make\u00a0with all that,\u201d says Grigoriev. None of these initiatives are mandated by the City; they are all volunteer-run by \u201c20-somethings who are realizing they should try to do something special in [Ottawa].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor too long Ottawa has been known as a boring government town,\u201d he asserts. \u201cPeople are tired of the status quo … tired of following Toronto and Montreal\u2019s creative scenes and comparing themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Grigoriev, 26, is one of the millennials driving arts and culture initiatives in Ottawa. He emphasizes that recent successes like Creative Mornings and Nuit Blanche are part of a wider momentum and optimism that has been building in creative communities in the past six to 12 months, as attitudes among 20- and 30-somethings have switched from ‘Ottawa sucks’ to ‘let\u2019s do something about it, let\u2019s be proactive.’<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be a critical mass of efforts and excitement lately,\u201d agrees Rolf Klausener, a 30-something musician from Ottawa band The Acorn. \u201cFrom one week to the next, people are putting on events … and just perpetuating the feeling that we are an active, thriving city.\u201d He is his own example, having co-organized the city\u2019s inaugural Arboretum Festival, showcasing local music, arts, and foods, on Sept. 15, 2012, at the Ottawa Jail Hostel and Arts Court downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cCreative young people are not just leaving Ottawa anymore to go to Toronto or Montreal,\u201d says Steve Harris, a chef in his early 30s who opened Two Six {Ate} on Preston Street in October. Instead, people are staying here<\/em> to make their mark; they are not taking their talents elsewhere. Harris says he opened the restaurant with his girlfriend to fill a void: restaurants that offer quality local foods with full-menu service late at night. Two Six {Ate} stays open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. even on weekdays. Union Local 613 on Somerset Street West is another new restaurant opened by millennials, last July, to offer local foods later at night.<\/p>\n Stephanie Vicente, 27, a co-founder of the monthly publication Herd Magazine<\/em>, which started in October to highlight Ottawa\u2019s arts and culture, says these initiatives reflect that her generation is growing up. \u201cAll our parents are baby boomers who are getting ready to retire or already have so it is starting to open the door for us. It is now our turn to take on leadership roles in whatever industry we are interested in,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n![\"Typographer](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/Artscapital-W13-photo2.jpg\")
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\n Typographer Rod McDonald talked about fonts to a full house for Creative Mornings at SAW Gallery in November.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n The Jail Hostel rocked with Ottawa\u2019s first Arboretum Festival.<\/p>\n