The three-year pilot will fund a maximum of $250,000 annually in grants to Burnaby-based non-profit groups, said a city staff report.

Applicants will have to demonstrate proof of additional funding sources as well as partnerships and community involvement.

Grant money awarded may be used for programming, administration and marketing, but not for capital works, equipment or events held outside Burnaby.

This investment category represents a contribution towards the overall operating costs of well-established and developed arts, heritage and cultural organizations; it is intended to defray a portion of general overhead and regular ongoing programming.

The objective is to assist in the creation of a secure funding base in order to promote an environment of financial stability in which organizations can sustain their activities and operations over the long term. Eligible arts/culture/heritage organizations will have the opportunity of securing a grant for a three-year term.

Council voted 5-1 to accept a staff recommendation to accept the piano, valued at $14,000 for insurance purposes as $37,000 as a replacement value, housed in the Gibraltar Room for at least the past nine years, in lieu of an outstanding lease amount of $9,163.

“This is a win-win situation for our community,” councillor Laurie Walters said.

Councillor Tom Barr agreed.

“Not only are we trying to collect a debt, we’re helping out the arts council.”

The City of Victoria compiled the database thanks to a $10,000 B.C. Legacies Now grant. The city matched the funds.

“Our intent is for it to begin to evolve more deeply,” said Terri Askham, city manager of culture, sport and neighbourhoods.

Eventually, the website will include an events calendar for the public and a roster of artists.

“I am really excited and gratified for the opportunity to continue to build on the legacy that is Revelstoke. Our arts community is a vibrant, active part of our heritage,” said mayor David Raven.

Fortunately for residents who may be tired of the seemingly never-ending planning meetings, input will be sought during a special Spirit Festival to be held this winter, said director of parks, recreation and culture Kerri Dawson.

The Village’s recently completed cultural scan, which outlined the artistic, cultural and historic assets in Pemberton, Area C and the Lil’wat Nation, was the first phase for a cultural strategy for Pemberton. Creating a cultural plan informed by that work is the next step.

“Phase Two of the strategy is the cultural plan which considers all the assets that were identified in the scan and helps us understand where and why these are located where they are, potential linkages to other organizations and the Village, (and) help us identify what is unique about Pemberton’s culture,” Village of Pemberton Communications Co-ordinator Jill Brooksbank wrote in an email to The Question.

“The plan will also establish municipal policies (i.e. public art policy) related to arts and culture, and will provide another lens for planning and decision making.”

To inspire creative thought, a unique public workshop, complete with cultural performances, will be held at the Kelowna Art Gallery on Wednesday September 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

“For this session we’re aiming to both engage and inspire,” says Sandra Kochan, Cultural Services Manager.

“Along with hearing from the public about their ideas, we’re looking forward to a spoken word performance from local artist Cameron Welch accompanied by a visual presentation from the Arts Council Youth Ambassadors.”

After the performances, facilitated discussion about the cultural vision, goals, and strategies will be led by plan consultant, Kari Huhtala.

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.

The purpose of the study was to determine the best way to house the Presentation House Gallery, Presentation House Theatre and the North Vancouver Museum. The consultants, Proscenium Architecture and Lydia Martson-Blaauw and Associates, were also tasked with researching the best use of the current Presentation House site and ways to develop Lower Lonsdale into a “cultural neighbourhood.”

All three institutions are currently crammed into the elderly and quirky Presentation House complex. That building started life in 1902 as the city’s first schoolhouse and was later the city hall. But despite several generations of add-ons, the limitations of the structure are a major barrier for development and expansion of the arts in North Vancouver.

But often, as positive as those characteristics may be, they are nebulous and the benefits to society can be difficult to quantify.

That’s particularly the case in regards to the economic benefits—and this is a challenge cities frequently wrestle with.

How much are the arts worth? How much infrastructure should a city provide? And, what do they get in return?

Economic return for the arts
According to the Creative City Network of Canada (CNCC), a non-profit organization that works to develop arts and culture in communities across the country, the arts are capable of far-reaching economic value.

“The city and community had already been doing public art on an ad hoc basis for the last 10 years,” said Yvonne Chui, PoCo’s arts and culture co-ordinator. “So we felt it really was time to articulate a policy or some sort of framework that the community and city could support and which would feed into the rest of the cultural plan and policy that the city has set out.”

About two years ago a group of community members, including representatives from the arts, business and the city, were invited to form a public art task force to develop the policy. A consultant worked with the city to identify places of importance for public art in the community, a report that Chui said revealed several key places, including the Traboulay-PoCo Trail, parks and the Leigh Square Community Arts Village.

“We are grateful for the participation of all those involved in this project,” said Acting Mayor Murry Krause. “Art is a key component to any community and we are proud to expand on our beautification programs in the City.”

Council approved the executive committee’s Festivals Burnaby pilot project, which would see $670,000 per year from the gaming reserves fund put towards festivals and special events for the next three years.

“Festivals, parades, tournaments, games and special events all add to the sense of excitement and celebration in the community,” the report on the pilot project stated. “Special events help residents and visitors to experience more of our local and visiting talent and to help expand our understanding and appreciation of each other.”

The Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert in Deer Lake Park and Summer Sundays at Civic Square at Metrotown could all get financial support through the project.

These programs vary, but all focus on having developers give back to the communities in which they do business.

Although about 30 Canadian cities have public art programs in place, most are for public lands and buildings, said Jane Perdue, the City of Toronto’s public art co-ordinator, adding that fewer than a dozen cities have programs for commercial buildings.

Toronto and Halifax both require that a minimum of 1 per cent of the construction budget of a commercial building over a certain size go to public art or other public benefits such as affordable housing.

Vancouver’s program requires that $1.81 per square foot on projects 100,000 square feet or greater go to public art or other public amenities.

Calgary and Regina have density bonus programs. Downtown developers can add square footage to the cities’ height and other restrictions in exchange for putting money into public art or other amenities.

Bryan Newson started Vancouver’s public art program in 1990 to create art “that expresses the spirit, values, visions and poetry of place that collectively define Vancouver.”