Culture, at least by definition, is said to be the ways in which we live together.
While very broad, it does speak to the role that culture plays in building and sustaining community. Culture includes arts and recreation and both are embedded in Salmon Arm’s official community plan, a guiding document that defines both our roles and our work as a city.
On the recreation side of things, the city owns the swimming pool and the arena, as well as most sports fields and all the parks which are important budget items from year to year. We also, as a community, own a number of sports fields that are leased to various groups for their non-profit recreation purposes.
On the arts side, the city owns the Art Gallery building and leases it to the District Arts Council who operates it. The Salmon Arm and Shuswap Lake Agricultural Association is on a long-term lease and many annual events are held on the grounds including our premiere cultural event, the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival that will celebrate its 27th year this summer. Haney Heritage Park and Museum is also a community asset and the society that runs it is entrusted with an annual budget to manage and maintain it.
The many arts and culture events organized by non-profits and private businesses in our community are important drivers. They offer gathering opportunities, skills building, employment, tourism and improve our community’s quality of life. We owe a debt of gratitude to all the groups who work diligently to preserve and promote arts and culture.
Short story, we are rich in cultural talent, commitment and assets, but there is much work yet to do. In 2015, council established the Cultural Master Plan Task Force that I am proud to chair. The early role of the task force was to convey a table of arts groups to take the pulse of arts and culture in the community noting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In response to early discussion, workshops were held with both Arts BC and Business for the Arts to strengthen capacity. An open house was also held to solicit feedback from the public about arts participation in the community. Both the recent community branding project and aquatic centre feasibility study have also provided valuable data on our community’s artistic and cultural capacity.
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With the support of the task force members, including funding in cash and in kind from member organizations, a reserve was established in the city budget to commission a cultural master plan. We have now issued that request for proposal and we’ll continue to work with the consultant and the community to ensure that a proper asset inventory, gap analysis and policy options are examined as we develop a long-term plan for our cultural assets and opportunities. The report will be presented to council for information in the coming months and will be a fundamental document in guiding the many decisions we continue to make to sustain and strengthen our cultural capital.
As summer approaches, I hope to see you at our many outdoor events and offer sincere thanks on behalf of council to the groups and volunteers that work so diligently and generously to improve the ways in which we live together.
Submitted by City of Salmon Arm Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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