Airdrie City Council voted unanimously in favour of creating an ad hoc arts council assessment committee during its last meeting, on Feb. 7.
The impromptu committee will provide recommendations to council on a framework to create a locally informed arts council organizational structure in future meetings.
During the meeting, councillors also endorsed an amendment to the City’s 2022 operating budget to provide $35,000 in reserve funding towards the initiative to support facilitation, marketing, hosting costs, meeting recording, and the committee.
Jennifer Lutz, team leader of community development at the City, who provided council members with a pathway to establish an ad hoc arts committee, said like many sectors, the arts have been hit hard with economic challenges in recent years posed by downturns in the oil and gas industry and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re starting to talk more endemic and looking at recovery efforts and regrouping,” Lutz said. “[This is the] strategy that our team believes could help guide the path forward to creating a made-in-Airdrie solution for supporting arts, culture, and heritage in the community.”
According to Lutz, a locally driven arts committee has been in the works since November 2019, when research was first undertaken and accepted by council members.
In November 2021, councillors motioned to direct administration to investigate establishing an arts and culture council, best practices and membership, and whether it would serve as a community board or City board.
“[The Nov. 1 meeting] was my first council meeting that I listened in on,” Lutz said. “I definitely heard the desire and some frustration that council really wanted this arts council to move ahead.”
On Jan. 10, the Community Services Advisory Board (CSAB) voted unanimously to develop an interim or ad hoc committee to develop an arts council – the process of which would be well publicized, documented, and transparent, according to Lutz.
“It was decided it’s a good time to take a look at how we’re representing the arts community and culture and that was really the genesis for this report,” she said. “We feel with the lull in activity in the last few years, we need to revitalize arts in Airdrie and rebuild allies and local leadership.”
Lutz said the ad hoc committee will be focused on fostering collaborative engagement with committee and community members.
“When you do an engagement process, careful planning and preparation is needed and we feel this is the right answer to get us on track with an arts council,” she said, adding it will involve meaningful consultation, multiple stakeholders, and strong community buy-in.
The outcomes of the subsequent committee meetings will represent what is needed in the community and help strengthen relationships and build trust, according to Lutz.
“We really want to engage the community on this and get it right,” she said.
Public members of the committee will be selected at a later date based on their knowledge, expertise, or profound interest and contributions to arts and culture.
Deputy Mayor Tina Petrow said she is eager to get the arts committee going, as it has been many years in the making. Lutz said this is a step toward suggesting what is needed in Airdrie to support the arts community.
Coun. Al Jones said council’s involvement in the process would help to level the playing field, as many representatives may not agree to what extent their respective art form should be represented in the committee.
“By having council’s involvement, [we’re] hoping to balance that out so there aren’t people feeling they are sitting on a council or board where they have no voice or support,” Jones said.
He added there are several hurdles to overcome in the formation of the council, but having constant input and transparency is key so the public can see what is being done for the local arts community.
“Because, that’s not always recognized, either” he said.
