City seeks collaboration between arts groups
By Bill Metcalfe
The City of Nelson is looking for more collaboration between some of the major arts groups in the city, and hopes to accomplish that in a series of three facilitated meetings in June.
Councillor Donna Macdonald says the idea came out of council’s annual budget discussion this year in which some groups requested additional funding from the city.
“This led to a conversation about whether there is something we could do to bring these groups together and look for efficiencies and collaboration that would lead to cost savings,” she said.
The groups invited to the discussion are those that currently receive funding from the city and those that own buildings.
In other words: Kootenay Studio Arts, the Nelson and District Arts Council, the Shambhala Festival, the Capitol Theatre, Oxygen Art Centre, Touchstones, and the city’s Cultural Development Committee (CDC).
Macdonald said other groups could be added later, depending on what happens at the meetings.
The city will be hiring a facilitator to run the meetings, which will cost $5000.
Capitol Theatre executive director Stephanie Fischer said she would be looking beyond her own organization to what would be the best for the cultural sector.
“That would mean capacity building and strengthening for the sector as a whole. That is how I am going to go into it,” she said.
“For example, we are all non-profits and if we need a workshop in board development or in leadership we could combine to invite someone to facilitate it. That way we would not all be going individually to Kelowna or Vancouver.”
Marilyn Mint, president of the Civic Theatre Society, is looking forward to exploring how the Civic and the Capitol could collaborate in marketing.
She said it could be possible for the Civic to collaborate with other groups in IT resources, administration, and applications for funding.
In a separate initiative, the CDC is also planning, with no dates set yet, to bring the organizers of festivals in the region together to talk about opportunities to collaborate, and to explore the creation of a “signature festival” for Nelson.
