After 15 years in the making, Squamish officials are creating a piggy bank for public art.
Backed by the Squamish Arts Council (SAC), at Committee of the Whole on April 22, District of Squamish council voted to establish a Public Art Reserve Fund. One per cent of gross construction costs on all municipal capital projects worth more than $1 million will go toward the fund. That is anticipated to generate $10,000 to $70,000 per year.
“It is a massive step,” SAC chair Doug Hackett said.
The fund would pay for public art, administration of a new public art program and ongoing maintenance of the pieces. It would also help cover a public art coordinator’s position — a job for which SAC is seeking funding from the B.C. Arts Council. That individual would manage the public art program. The position would be run in a similar fashion to Squamish’s tourism desk, which is co-ordinated under a partnership between the district and Squamish Chamber of Commerce, Hackett said.
The reserve fund is a part of an overall public art policy. The long-awaited document aims to provide parameters, direct funding and tools for the acquisition of public art in Squamish. It also sets up a select committee on public art that would develop public art priorities, develop and adjudicate art competitions and select and commission artwork.
The group will include artists, architects and Squamish Nation representation.
“It is all the people who have a vested interest in art,” Hackett said.
The document is something the arts community has been pushing for, he noted. The policy can grow and develop as officials gain more experience in the field.
“The biggest thing here is that everybody in Squamish, particularly artists, now have a framework to work off of,” Hackett said.
Council voted unanimously in support of the policy. Mayor Rob Kirkham thanked the arts council for its leadership role in helping bring about the changes. The policy will go back to council for third and final reading.
