Alicia Wallace
Rossland News
More than $6.9 million has been provided to 277 artists, museums and arts organizations in 97 British Columbia communities as part of the latest round of successful BC Arts Council grant adjudications.
Almost $900,000 of this provincial funding has been awarded to 71 community arts councils including $10,000 for Rossland Council for Arts and Culture (RCAC).
RCAC received news earlier this month of the grant success. Renate Fleming, of the RCAC board explains how important these funds from the provincial government are to RCAC as the organization is not restricted on how the funds can be spent and has some flexibility in delivering arts and cultural programs to the residents of Rossland.
“Funding is important to us. It is not registered to a particular project and we can use the funds where we need them,” said Fleming.
The BC Arts Council assesses applications and distributes funds based on three different criterions. The criteria are based on population size, arts council performance and programming over the past year, and how much the municipal provides in matched funding to the arts council.
RCAC received $4,000 from the municipal government, which allowed the organization to receive the equivalent in matched funds from the province.
“We are excited to get this money. It’s essential for us in doing what we do. It helps support all our programs. This kind of money helps with everything we do for Rossland,” said Fleming.
These most recent grant allocations are the result of applications examined by the BC Arts Council’s independent peer-review process between Nov. 1, 2014 and Jan. 31, 2015.
The funding is part of the $24 million provided to the BC Arts Council by the Government of British Columbia to support the province’s arts and culture sector in 2014-2015.
Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes said, “Arts and culture are key building blocks for creative and vibrant communities and they are essential to our quality of life and competitiveness. The arts and culture sector is a significant contributor to our provincial economy and is vital in the promotion of British Columbia as a prime location to visit, work, live and invest.”
Fleming explains the application process can be quite tedious. It involves compiling a lot of financial information which is sent to both provincial and federal levels of government.
“It (the application) takes a lot of time and is due in September, so it is a big part of what we do for the month of September,” said Fleming.
For a full list of recent recipients, visit: www.bcartscounci.ca.