About Camber Arts
Camber Arts (formerly Gros Morne Summer Music) began in 2003 as a classical chamber music festival held in the summer in Gros Morne National Park (hence the name). Over the past eighteen years, a restless spirit of exploration has evolved this little operation into a year-round interarts company that works across four major areas of activity: presentation, creation, innovation, and education.
Mission: To meet the cultural needs of Corner Brook by operating as a programmatically-responsive cultural hub.
Presentation - reflects, challenges, and celebrates Corner Brook as a ‘public audience’ through music and musical theatre.
We've presented acclaimed artists such as Jan Lisiecki, Joel Plaskett, Jane Coop, collaborations with the Aga Khan Museum to combine Newfoundland and Islamic musicians; bringing Corner Brook artists Edmund MacLean and Cindy O’Neill back for Woman of Labrador; curating The Once with the MUN Chamber Choir. These presentations root Corner Brookers in a sense of place, time, and belonging, while nurturing collective, progressive relationships with worlds beyond home.
​Creation -​ takes the relationship between art and place-making beyond reflecting Corner Brook, to enchanting that reflection, rendering places, people, and narratives fluid, limitless, and magical through site specific work.
Same River Twice (ACE Award - Arts Event Of The Year) & Borrowed Black, Glynmill Pond;
Aberdeen and the Old Boot, Bowater Park;
Barley Legge and the Logger’s Dream, Corner Brook Stream Trail;
Postcards From The Train (ACE Award - Historic Project) & Blood on the Newfie Bullet, Historic Train Site.
​
​​Innovation - engages communities in Corner Brook and beyond, as Camber Arts drives key innovation strategies for the Cultural Non-Profit sector nationally and internationally. We serve the digital arts community, co-leading a national summit at Banff Centre (2019), producing award-winning work internationally (2022), and collaborating on digital creation R&D with Sheridan’s Screen Industries Research and Training Centre, National Arts Centre (ongoing). With the international cultural policy community, we co-funded national workshops on impact investing that led to a collaboration with the Metcalf Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council. Co-AD David Maggs co-authored an international report on impact investing for the UK’s Policy and Evidence Centre, and presented on the subject across Canada, Australia, the UK, and Europe.
​
​
​​
Education -- is our strongest community impact, annually transforming the lives of hundreds of youth and families beyond standard art-going demographics, thereby building the underlying values and relationships that support the broader arts ecosystem regionally. The Graham Academy, named for Dr. Gary Graham to extend his pedagogical legacy, is directed by Co-AD Ian Locke. GA runs 14 programs with 170 youth and 150 adult registrations, producing 6 theatrical productions (with full production values), monthly regional television episodes, recitals, community choral and theatrical performances, summer camps, and studio lessons. A volunteer bursary committee fundraises tirelessly to eliminate barriers for low income families (providing $20 000.00 of tuition in 2025).
Camber Arts respectfully acknowledges the territory in which we gather as the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, and the island of Newfoundland as the ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk. We would also like to recognize the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and Nunatukavut and the Innu of Nitassinan, and their ancestors, as the original people of Labrador.
​
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY​
Camber Arts/Graham Academy is committed to fostering environmental sustainability that integrates eco-friendly practices into all aspects of its operations. The organization aims to reduce its carbon footprint by optimizing energy use, implementing waste reduction strategies, and promoting sustainable materials in its art installations and exhibitions. By prioritizing sustainability, Camber Arts/Graham Academy not only enhances its artistic mission but also contributes to a healthier planet for future generations.