Eleven artists have taken up occupancy of the new Artist Run Centre in downtown North Battleford, and there is room for one more.
Organizer Joseph Campbell said last week they have one spot open for an artist interested in taking part in the new venture located on the main floor of the Kee's Tae Kwon Do building.
The idea behind the ARC is to create an open community-focused space for artists to work individually and collaboratively. Locating it downtown has recognized the group's commitment to the steps being taken by the City of North Battleford and the business improvement district organization of Downtown North Battleford to revitalize the downtown core neighbourhood. The collective is now in a position to add its voice to effort to make downtown a vibrant and culturally diverse area.
The ARC was born out of a not for profit corporation formed a few years ago to publish a magazine called Feed the Artist, the latest education being released in March of 2013. Campbell said the people who were involved decided to use the Feed the Artist non-profit to establish the centre. If they decide to do more publications, he added, they may establish a second non-profit for that purpose.
The ARC has a board of three people, although it has a capacity of up to eight, and more board members will be added as the initiative expands and more people become interested.
The 12 artists spaces should bring in enough revenue to cover the overall rent of the space. Campbell says they also received a $6,600 grant from BATC CDC for start up costs and the City of North Battleford donated furniture such as chairs, tables and peg boards that had been sitting in storage unused for some time at the Don Ross Centre.
"We're grateful to Siobhan for co-ordinating this and to Larry and Leon, DRC staff, for taking a few minutes to show us around and help load things up," says Campbell.
Downtown North Battleford has also been instrumental in the ARC getting up and running.
BID representatives attended several preliminary meetings, says Campbell, and helped ARC organizers connect with potential landlords. Executive Director Lisa McEachern and board chair Derek Schmidt were especially helpful in the planning and preliminary stages, he says,
ARC will probably be making application to Downtown North Battleford when they next offer a grant for matching funding for improving signage. They weren't ready for the first intake.
The ARC members have permission to take down the current sign and redo it. He expects it will be something special.
"I think that between 12 creatively minded people we should be able to come up with a pretty good sign," he laughs.
The 11 artists renting spaces so far are Campbell, Rosemarie Stadnyk, Chris Hodge, Sherron Burns, Michael Brokop, Kamila Badura, Marlene Yaqub, Maryanne Baxter, Joanne Rivers Wing, Amanda Fisher and Elinore Sunchild. There are painters, mask makers, a photographer and even a writer. (Campbell is a writer who is also learning to paint and draw. Originally from Rosetown, he moved to North Battleford five years ago from Saskatoon.)
While Campbell said the hope is to have special times for public access to the centre, at this point the ARC will not have regular hours for the public. They do plan to hold open houses, however, and will probably hold a fundraiser in September to help pay for extras such as event planning, supplies and coffee.
Some of the members are tentatively interested in teaching workshops for the public, said Campbell, or if an artist from outside the community is in town and was willing do a workshop they could look at setting up something that way. That will be "a little bit down the line after we get our feet on the ground and get everyone in here working together," said Campbell.
Member artists will be able to work there and to bring in clients or bring in fellow artists to work on a collaboration.
"As long as someone is here with a key holder member," he explained.
As more people get involved, even if on a volunteer basis, and if more funding becomes available they hope to have more public access, perhaps on a weekly basis. For now, anyone interested in seeing the centre can contact Campbell at 306-480-9011 to set up an appointment.
Campbell is the "staff person" although most of what he has done in helping to establish the ARC so far has been voluntary. Now that they are operating, he will be doing the "nuts and bolts administration," for which he will be getting "a little bit of compensation."
He said the ARC is looking forward to becoming part of the downtown culture, especially for events such as the recent street performers festival. The centre had just opened that week, so they were able to have a presence at the first festival this year and are looking forward to next year's.
"It's definitely something we want to be involved in next year," he said.
