The Cowichan Valley Regional District will consider what, if anything, it can do to financially help the Cowichan Public Art Gallery Society as it continues plans for a new $35-million world-class art gallery in downtown Duncan.
Society president Jock Hildebrand told the CVRD’s committee of the whole at its meeting on June 14 that the society is looking for strategies for funding from communities that will be well served by the project.
He said the society has been in existence since 2017 and has since taken over the Green Door heritage building on Ingram Street, which is serving as its temporary home, so it’s a legitimate organization.
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“But we need some funding to have some full-time staff to help us move through our transitional period so we can continue with the ongoing capital fundraising [for the new art gallery],” Hildebrand said.
“Is it possible for the CVRD and other municipalities, like Duncan and North Cowichan, to come up with a funding formula for us? We’d really like to be a line item [in their budgets] so that we have continuity and regular funding.”
The society’s concepts for the new Cowichan Public Art Gallery, which is planned to be the second largest art gallery in B.C., are substantial and far reaching.
The gallery, which is planned to be constructed in and around the Green Door building, is expected to become a major cultural institution on Vancouver Island due to its unique programming, custom-designed buildings, and its strategic placement in the Duncan downtown area.
Hildebrand said the new art gallery will have tremendous growth potential for the Cowichan Valley, and will exhibit artworks from around the world and locally.
He said volunteers have already spent tens of thousands of hours working with the society on the project and running its current gallery, and the society is at the point where it needs someone working full-time.
“This is the first financial hoop we need to get through to get to our big challenge, which is the $35-million art gallery,” Hildebrand said.
“It’s a fact that 44.8 per cent of the budgets for public art galleries in other municipalities in B.C. comes from their municipalities. There are no communities that do not support their public art galleries.”
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Ladysmith Mayor Aaron Stone said many of the communities within the CVRD have made substantial multi-million dollar commitments to their arts communities based on years of engagement and planning, and that it would be a challenge to determine where funding for the society would come from.
He asked that with an art gallery of the scale that is planned, shouldn’t the society depend more on its business model and assistance from the federal and provincial governments than needing to be subsidized by local governments to remain financially feasible?
Hildebrand responded that the society already receives finding from the BC Arts Council and a number of other financial institutions, and has recently gained access to some funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
“All public art galleries do this, but they do need that core funding to help them be stable,” he said.
“Core funding for us is really essential. We are at the limit of our volunteer services.”
Ian Morrison, chair of the committee, asked John Elzinga, the CVRD’s general manager of community services, if anything can be done to help the society.
Elzinga said the board has approved the development of a cultural plan for the district in the budget for 2023.
He said plans are moving forward to launch a year-long public engagement process on the plan starting this fall, and the plan should be finished by this time next year.
“We’d be happy to meet with Mr. Hildebrand and his group to get a better understanding of the costs, timelines and logistics,” Elzinga said.
“We could, potentially, have something come forward prior to the cultural plan, but I can’t commit to that at this time.”
The committee voted to refer the issue to the community services department to be part of the process of developing the new cultural plan.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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