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Squamish to get arts hub

Arts council narrows down locations for new centre
arts
From left: Andrea Andres, her 10-year-old daughter Mackenzie and potter Emily Tolmie attend a meeting regarding the opening of a Squamish community arts hub.

Quest students Ametisse Gover-Chamlou and Aidan Bradfield set up their camera to take video. 

“What kind of art do you do?” Gover-Chamlou asks 10-year-old Mackenzie Andres while focusing the lens.

“I do cartoons,” Mackenzie replies, as she stands alert in front of the camera. “I draw girls with big eyes. I can’t draw boys.”

Mackenzie’s mother chimes in. Her daughter and her friends do a bit of art at school, but there is nothing outside of the classroom to help encourage their love of the craft, she says. And that’s why they’ve joined this group on Thursday evening. The 11 people at the gathering at the Sea to Sky Hotel all share a passion for the arts and want to see a Squamish community arts hub become a reality.

The camera’s ready. Gover-Chamlou asks Mackenzie the big question.

“Why do you think we need an arts centre?”

“Well, if we don’t have one, then we might not have very much creativity,” the young girl replies. 

Throughout the summer, the Squamish Arts Council (SAC) fine-tuned its mission and assessed the community’s arts and cultural needs in a strategic plan. What stood out in council members’ conversations with community groups and stakeholders was the community’s need for an arts space, SAC chair Michelle Neilson says. 

Since then, members have been on the hunt for short- and long-term solutions. Heading into the new year, there are several possibilities on the table and corporate funding backing them, Neilson says. 

“The arts council is currently exploring a number of options for an art centre space,” she says, noting she can’t share specific details on the location until a deal is finalized. However, Neilson did say a number of the choices are downtown.

The space would be used for arts of all different mediums. The vision is to incorporate culture, arts and heritage with resources, education, programming and performance and studio space. 

“It would be a multi-purpose space with an emphasis on education,” Neilson says. 

Squamish resident Chris Pettingill, who sits on the arts council’s strategic planning committee, is interested in the idea from the perspective of a musician. For a long time Squamish residents have been talking about creating a centre that would house everything from sculptures to recording studios, he notes.

“There are not a huge number of music venues here,” Pettingill adds.

Gover-Chamlou and Bradfield wrap up the video. It will be posted on the art council’s crowd-funding website for the arts centre, which is set to go live at the end of December. The arts council aims to raise $50,000 by August to put toward the project. Squamish residents can follow the project’s progress at www.squamishartscouncil.com and complete an online survey, which will help the organization pinpoint the community’s arts and cultural needs. 

“We have to think of this as a phased approach,” Neilson says.

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