Grant: Technology Access Centre

The Arts, Crafts, & Technology Micro-manufacturing Centre (ACTMC) will combine traditional arts and crafts with modern manufacturing technologies to create a unique innovation opportunity in the Beaufort Delta Region of Canadas Western Arctic.The Beaufort Delta is a culturally rich region with a long history of traditional Indigenous arts and crafts production. These cultural products are in high demand by art collectors and tourists from around the world, and this demand is only increasing as tourism increases in the region. Artists are unable to keep pace with these increasing demands due to the high investment of time and effort that each piece currently requires. Also, artists are discouraged by the high costs required to produce cultural items (materials and equipment), and low profit margins on their work.The ACTMC in an initiative led by Aurora College in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in partnership with territorial and Indigenous governments and organizations. It will provide artists in the Beaufort Delta with access to equipment and technologies that can be used to create cultural products in new and morecost-effective ways. The ACTMC will also provide training, mentorship, technical support, research services, and business development resources to support the arts and crafts sector of the regional economy. It will help artists meet the growing demand for authentic Indigenous and northern cultural products, and also serve as an economic development tool and innovation enabler for the regional arts and crafts industry.