The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance invites members of the arts, culture and heritage community in the Columbia Basin to join its volunteer steering committee.
The cultural alliance is a representative body of the arts, culture and heritage communities across the Basin, and manages and administers arts, culture, and heritage funding programs on behalf of Columbia Basin Trust.
The alliance steering committee consists of 14 members: six from the West Kootenay, five from the East Kootenay, one from the Valemount area and two from the Heritage sector.
Alliance represents all the disciplines in the arts (visual art, music, theatre, dance, film/video and literary arts), culture and heritage; therefore, it is important to provide broad representation on the steering committee. Alliance is particularly interested in new members that represent youth or cultural diversity.
Steering committee members are elected for two-year terms and represent the broader needs of arts, culture and heritage sectors in the Basin rather than individual arts councils or heritage organizations, or the communities in which they live.
Nominees to the steering committee must have a strong background in arts, culture or heritage, should have experience in working on boards/committees and must understand the needs and issues of the sector in order to develop funding programs/policies and adjudicate proposals.
Members are expected to attend at least two meetings per year in various locations in the Basin.
Nominees to the alliance steering committee do not have to be members of any organizations, but must be nominated by their local community arts councils or by the Heritage Federation of Southeast BC.
Each eligible arts council may put forward only one nomination. If there are more arts council nominees in each region than seats available on the steering committee, regional elections will be held in the beginning of April.
The Heritage Federation of Southeast BC may put forward one nomination this year. The federation nominee will be elected at its annual general meeting.
It is recommended that nominees (if elected) will be willing to attend occasional arts council or Heritage Federation of Southeast BC meetings to stay in touch with local/sector issues.
Currently, community arts councils eligible for nominating representatives to the steering committee are:
West Kootenay: Arrow Lakes (Nakusp Area), Nelson, Revelstoke, Rossland, Salmo (including Ymir), Slocan Lake (Silverton/New Denver) and Slocan Valley; East Kootenay: Columbia Valley (Invermere Area), Cranbrook, Creston, Fernie, Kimberley, and Sparwood and district.
All other communities/sectors currently have a sitting steering committee member.
For more information on the nomination process, please contact your local arts council or call the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance at 1-877-505-7355.
For more information on Alliance, please visit basinculture.com. The deadline for arts council nominations is 5 p.m. on Monday, March 23.