But they’re working with Cowichan Valley Regional District to look at options and strategies on keeping the local arts scene alive.

“Now is the time we have to act and everything we do is collaborative. We simply are back at square one,” CVAC president Judy Brayden said.

CVAC is grappling with the loss of its government gaming funding, which is typically $20,000 and covered rent.

“We really only need $1,500 (per month) to sustain this gallery. But we don’t have that,” Brayden said.

Tyler Wright, who grew up locally, was last seen on Aug. 10, when he set off on a solo hike through the Bose Creek Trail area near Squamish.

He was expected to meet up with family and friends Aug. 16 in Coquitlam.

Since then, search and rescue crews have been scouring the area for him.

The Artisans’ Galleria in Steveston showcases the work of artist members and exhibitions, and is free for the public to attend.

The Community Arts Council of Richmond, which raised significant funds to help build Richmond’s Gateway Theatre, issued scholarships to promising artists and gave grants to many of Richmond’s art and culture groups to assist in their endeavors.

“The cuts by the provincial government to funding the arts is the largest contributor (to the gallery closing),” explains treasurer and primary administrator Margaret Stephens.

The works in Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast are made from traditional and modern materials ranging from spruce root and deer toes to Ultrasuede and merino wool. The fact that 19 of the 20 artists in the exhibition are women is no coincidence. As women’s work, weaving has traditionally been devalued as purely decorative and without meaning. The quality of the works in Time Warp shows how mistaken that idea is.

When the department moved this year to the third floor, department head Mark Taylor approached Suzanne Greening, the executive director of The Reach gallery, about installing art in the common areas.

Greening checked out the well-lit area and expansive walls, and thought it would be a brilliant place to hang art. It’s now a satellite gallery for The Reach.

“I believe the city should be promoting art, and it’s very appropriate for Parks, Rec and Culture,” said Greening.

The exhibits, which began with the Abbotsford Photo Arts Club and then painter Darrell Spenst, have been “very successful,” she said. When there was a gap between the second and third exhibits, residents of the third floor were keening to see artwork back in the halls, she said.

In a series of e-mails sent to The Globe and Mail, staff members expressed their concerns. “If there is currently no money for the administration and care of the city’s art collection and public art gallery, will the city end up with an expensive building that they are then unable to staff?” one asked.

The unrest has prompted the president of the union that represents the gallery’s 75 union staff to try to require the VAG to disclose the amount of money being spent on public campaigns for a new building.

“Public art galleries hold a special place in their communities. They showcase the work of local and national artists, they facilitate dialogue with their communities, providing educational art experiences for all ages,” says Robert MacDonald, creator of the Okanagan Institute, which is holding the public discussion, The Culture of Curation: the Collections and Exhibitions of Public Art Galleries, Wednesday at the Kalamalka campus of Okanagan College.

“How a public art gallery is curated is a reflection of their social and geographical climate, of the resources of their facilities and staff, of the support they receive from their communities and other funding bodies,” he added.

The gallery, at 195 East 26th, opened more than four years ago and has regularly leased the space to artists and musicians for more than two years.

Artists staged “small, affordable, alcohol-free, all-ages” shows that ended by 10 p.m., according to Little Mountain. Proceeds from those events helped pay the gallery’s rent. It doesn’t have paid staff and is run by volunteers.

But someone complained about the shows, which sparked a visit from a city inspector who told the gallery it would have to stop the shows unless it could get the appropriate approvals since it’s only licenced as a retail art gallery. Volunteers worried that signaled the end of gallery and an important space for artists to perform.

And when the park died in 1946, leased to the new B.C. Electric Co. as a “temporary” bus depot while the men were still away following the Second World War, it was again marked by conflict, with the city promising it would be reclaimed later for a new civic theatre. And when in 1954 voters rejected a proposal to sell the land in order to buy the adjacent block for that long-promised civic theatre, the city bought the block anyway and left the park as a bus depot and then, in a final indignity, turned it into a parking lot.

Now, contest and conflict, those old companions to the city’s storied commons, have come calling again. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of public and private interests again fighting over the three-acre parcel.

–1928 Voters turn down a proposed $75,000 money bylaw to build a gallery.

–1930 City agrees to donate the site, 1145 West Georgia. Eleven founders donate $50,000 for the building, art lovers contribute another $130,000 for acquisitions. The gallery opens in 1931.

–1963 The Vancouver Art Gallery’s president says the place is falling apart and the $500,000 collection of paintings are being damaged by inadequate storage.

Faced with cuts to its provincial gaming grants, the Comox Valley Community Arts Council (CVCAC) is holding a raffle to raise money to continue operating the gallery in Courtenay and to provide community development through the arts.

“The gallery would probably be the first thing to be let go because it takes staffing and everything,” said Jen Alton, events co-ordinator for the CVCAC.

The CVCAC is hoping to raise $10,000, which Alton says would be enough to keep the gallery open.

Members of the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association will be exhibiting the results of some of these unusual techniques during their first exhibit since forming as a chapter about a year ago.

The chapter holds its first show at the Ladysmith Waterfront Art Gallery.

“We will work with anything, as long as it’s textiles,” said Anna Marie Madsen, a weaver and knitter whose recent work has expanded into printing on silk, with help from a ThermoFax (a photocopy technology from 1950).

The Gallery committee has been hard at work preparing the space and the lease, insurance and final details are being discussed. ( Robin, Vicky, Barb, Marjorie)

The downtown location will be the link from the community to the activities that the Arts Council and Riverside Centre provide.

It features an exhilarating array of archival giclée editions on paper and canvas — all produced in-house. From the colourful boats of Graham Herbert to the impressionistic landscapes of Brian Scott, coastal panoramic photos of Mark Prior and abstract landscapes of Annie Siegel, there is something of interest for everyone.

A British Columbia-based art publishing business, MiMa now represents more than 700 editions by 48 artists.

The six-week event opens on July 23 with an artists’ reception from 5 to 9 p.m. in the main gallery. That’s where people can meet and mingle with the artists and get first dibs on any of the dozens of local original artworks that will be on display.

This year’s theme is ‘Our Cariboo Heritage’ and participating artists have created one piece to represent it. Show patrons will have the opportunity to cast a vote for their favourite in this category as well as marking their ballot for the best picture of the show.