The Nicola Valley Community Arts Council is on the upswing after a wave of recent resignations from the group’s board.

The NVCAC had an emergency meeting on Aug. 20 to talk over its challenges and potential solutions.

The group also elected Bill Edmonds as its new president, and he took the concerns from the meeting forward to a meeting with city staff and council Monday night.

Among the NVCAC’s most pressing short-term challenges is a lack of volunteers, Edmonds said.

Lack of a concert committee chair is one of the reasons the 2014-15 concert series is cancelled.

The concert series typically sees four performances in a variety of genres — from classical piano to stand-up comedy — come to town.

The NVCAC also cited lower-than-necessary attendance and higher-than-expected overhead costs for the concert series cancellation.

Edmonds said the group would like to see a higher funding commitment from the city going forward.

Historically, the arts council had been given $6,000 a year, but this year, city council cut the funding to $4,000.

Coun. Mike Goetz said that number was based on information council received from the NVCAC about the baseline number they needed in order to get reciprocal funding from the province.

However, NVCAC treasurer Chris Dooley said the province’s BC Arts Council grant amount changes each year as well.

Edmonds said the fact some funding was allotted to the arts and culture policy task force — which included some NVCAC members — may have confused the grant-in-aid application process.

The group is also funded by a BC Arts Council grant and a BC Touring grant, which applies to the concert series.

Dooley said cutting overhead costs of putting on events would help the group’s finances in the long run.

“We’re trying to bring a cross-section of a different type of music and entertainment which might not necessarily bring the whole city but it does entertain a certain part of the city,” she said. “It makes people grow culturally by being able to experience new and different concerts.”

She said the costs for the concert series mounted quickly, as having to bring in a sound system from Kamloops could run the group over $2,000 each time.

Edmonds said the NVCAC’s short-term financial goal is to secure a BC Arts Council grant and reciprocating grant from the city.

Edmonds said provided the grants come through, the arts council will have a good baseline from which to grow next year.

The NVCAC currently has a net deficit of about $11,000, Dooley said.

Volunteer shortage

With its expectations on financials expressed to city hall, the arts council’s short-term goal is to address the volunteer deficit, Edmonds said.

The NVCAC needs a secretary, and there are still five open seats on the board which can accommodate 11 directors.

The more people power the group can draw on, the lighter the demands on each volunteer, Edmonds said.

One of those available volunteer positions is the role of art gallery director, which has been vacant since the resignation of the former gallery director, who relocated in July.

The Courthouse Art Gallery has been closed for a month with no one to run it.

Edmonds said that position turned out to be a burden for the volunteer who took it on because it required nearly full-time commitment.

While the group evaluates the gallery director position, it’s trying a new format for art shows.

The “pop-up art show” format involves the showing artist to man the gallery on a Friday, and the arts council will hold an event in conjunction with the show on the following day.

The first event will feature a Vancouver artist on Oct. 3 followed by an Oktoberfest event at the Culture Club on Oct. 4, where two of his pieces will be auctioned off in a fundraiser.

In November, the pop-up show will feature local artists Fran McMurchy and Wendy Eeckhout.

These pop-up art shows have a dual purpose as well: creating more excitement around NVCAC events, Edmonds said.

“We want to have some excitement, a bit of a buzz,” Edmonds said. “I think we’ve been not quite as active as we should [be in] generating interest. I think there’s the basic interest there, but we’ve got to stoke it up a bit more.”

Despite a challenging year, the group had its share of successes. 

Among them, some members contributed to a draft arts, culture and heritage policy for the city, and the organization partnered with the chamber of commerce for a second successful Art Walk.

While the group is struggling to find volunteers, it has a healthy membership — approximately 80 individual memberships and about a dozen group memberships, Dooley said.

“It’s just a matter of — I think — just getting people excited about things that are happening and wanting to come and have fun,” she said.

The long-term goals brought forward by stakeholders were implementing the 13 recommendations of the city’s cultural mapping policy; turning the art gallery into a general arts centre; securing the Civic Centre for concerts and arts council activities at a discount; and continuing discussions with the city on an arts, culture and heritage system.

Committee of the whole meetings are for discussion and city council doesn’t make any decisions during them.

Members of council offered Edmonds and Dooley their suggestions, including holding a local talent show as a fundraiser, promoting local artists in the gallery, having a sponsorship drive and making meetings more engaging to get more NVCAC members to attend.

The NVCAC celebrated its 30-year anniversary in 2012. 

Anyone interested in volunteering for the arts council can contact directors through email at [email protected].