The Bella Coola Valley Arts Council (BCVAC) is calling for artist proposals and wants to give some money to local art projects.
Thanks to funding disbursement from the provincial government to help support the arts and culture sector during the pandemic, the local arts council wants to support more local arts projects.
While last year, a portion of these funds were already given out, there were challenges in completing some of the projects and more funding is available for arts-based projects in the community.
So far, the BCVAC provided funds for a small film festival through a school, the final screening for which is still to take place.
The group also funded local musicians to do some live audio concerts people could listen to remotely during the worst of the pandemic. Another project struggled to get off the ground, but may be revisited in the future to provide low-cost art workshops in the community.
Some of the funds will go towards the arts council hiring a staff person to manage and staff the Art House Gallery in Hagensborg.
“It’s a nice little gallery and we’ve had some really good shows,” said Ray McIlwain, the arts council treasurer.
But the group has the funds to support more projects and while McIlwain said the group wants to leave the amount open to provide flexibility, he said last year’s projects were budgeted out at $3,000, $3,500 and $6,000.
“It really depends on the project and how many applicants we have,” explained McIlwain.
Along with a lot of organizations, the arts council has struggled under Covid and has not been able to host regular events, but they want to continue to support innovative art projects in the valley.
Their art shows at the Art House are back up and running, with one just opened on June 3, 2022 of the work of Heather Mason titled West Pacific.
Read more: West Pacific, solo art exhibit opened June 3 in Bella Coola
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter