A Tangible Plan

Between the Creative Community Symposium, which was held at The People’s Place library on June 29, and the gathering of information through the Antigonish Arts Space Survey a wealth of helpful information was gathered from the community.  (The survey is still open if you haven't had a chance to answer it yet.  It can be accessed through the link in this paragraph.) The biggest takeaway is that the community overwhelmingly supports the idea of shared space and collaboration between groups.  I have yet to hear one objection to everyone coming together to support each other's creative passions.  This is just wonderful news as an opportunity has opened up that would require lots of collaboration. 

The Nova Scotia Government announced that  “Approximately 5,700 long-term care rooms are being added or replaced throughout the province by 2032.”   You may wonder why that may be relevant to establishing an Arts Centre in Antigonish.  It just so happens that the R. K. MacDonald Nursing Home’s replacement is slated to be open by 2027.  That would leave the existing building available to re-purpose.  We need to show that a community-led creative arts centre is the best option.

Do you see the tangible plan I see?  The next steps involve gathering all the different art entities that are interested in a shared space to come up with a plan.  Wait, there is more to it than that. The plan has to show that it is sustainable in the long run and it serves the community.  So, how is that done?  Well, I am a visual artist and I rely heavily on reference photos.  Could there be a “reference photo” that Antigonish could use to inspire the drawing up of our own plans?  See what I did there with my choice of words?  Yes, I am proud of my wit.  Anyway, I digress.  

The answer is, “yes”,  there is an example of an arts space that was created out of a re-purposed building.  It is the Eltuek Arts Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  We reached out to them to ask if they could offer any advice or insight.  I am very lucky that when they heard about our plan, they offered to mentor us.  Now we have many organizations in Antigonish willing to explore a shared space, a potential space, and an example of how to change that space to meet our needs.

One suggestion from Eltuek was to hire an expert to help bring this all together.  We may all be volunteers and work for thanks and coffee, but an expert will want to be paid, and not with gratitude.  Now that AVA falls under Antigonish Cultural Alive (ACA) we can receive donations.  If you can donate to help us build the funds required to chart a course to a building, you can now do so through ACA’s Canada Helps account, just choose Antigonish Vision for the Arts from the drop-down list.  The best part is you will be given a tax receipt too.

I am still going through all the information gathered through the surveys and at the Symposium, once I have it summarized I will share it with everyone.  Now off to search for reference photos to guide the mural I am working on.

Happy Creating,

Andy