It's arts' turn

AFTER years of hovering in the hearts and minds of the arts community, the idea of a West Vancouver Arts Centre is finally moving forward.

In May, District of West Vancouver council voted unanimously to support in principle the designation of the municipally owned parking lot in the 1600-block of Bellevue Avenue (behind the Safeway site) for a proposed new visual arts centre. An early concept design suggests a three-storey, 28,000-square-foot building with space for an art museum, an art gallery and arts education.

"That was a giant milestone for us," says Merla Beckerman of the council's vote. "We're riding a momentum right now because everybody likes the idea of replacing a parking lot with a community amenity."

Beckerman was chairwoman of the Arts Facilities Advisory Committee that worked for 18 months with community arts groups and staff to determine space needs and site options.Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic rubber hose tubing, The 1600 Bellevue location was chosen after a site at the foot of 14th Street was rejected when it met with a negative reaction from the public.

The new centre would essentially bring together the programs of the West Vancouver Museum and the Ferry Building Gallery under one roof. But Beckerman notes it won't replace all arts programs in West Vancouver, which also include the Silk Purse Gallery and the Music Box art instruction programs.

"Certainly it will be the mother ship. It will be the centrepoint because of the wonderful location that we've secured and because it does most of the programming. But there will still be other facilities that will be in use because you do need education space,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! you do need some of what we call 'messy space' for kids and lifelong learners to do their drawings and printmaking and everything else that's involved with art production," she says.

Darrin Morrison, curator of the West Vancouver Museum, is excited about the proposed centre. "It would definitely allow us to grow our programming and meet current programming needs because our current facility is really beyond capacity," he says. The museum is currently located in the Gertrude Lawson House, a heritage house on 17th Street.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? In 2006, the museum established a growing art collection and they don't have adequate storage for it in the current facility, says Morrison. "So a new facility would allow us to grow the collection as well as manage it."

Ruth Payne, visual arts co-ordinator at the Ferry Building Gallery, says the new space is much needed.

"Things right now are what I would call bursting at the seams as far as exhibition and program venues that we have," she says. The Ferry Building Gallery is located in the Ferry Building on 14th Street, which is a municipally designated heritage property built in 1913.

"Heritage buildings are lovely but they're not purpose-built for art exhibition, collection, (and) program and public interaction meeting space," says Payne. "This community deserves this at this time."

Although their programs would move to the new centre, both the Ferry Building and Gertrude Lawson House would remain in use as satellite art spaces, or for some other community purpose.

Beckerman, who was a professional art adviser for more than 20 years, is a member of the B.C. Arts Council, and is the former chairwoman of the Vancouver Art Gallery Board and vice-chairperson of the National Gallery of Canada. She is now co-chairing the art centre project's development committee along with former West Vancouver councillor Michael Evison, who served as council liaison on the advisory committee.

"We're really at the beginning of the process," says Evison, adding the project got to a certain point last year before the initiatives started to wither on the vine.

"It was really at the beginning of this year that we put some life back into it and I think we've come a long way," he notes. "This is a citizen,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. community-driven project which has full support of council."

For the past four months, Beckerman and Evison have interviewed various residents and community leaders as part of a feasibility study. Evison calls the process so far "semi-public," but notes there will be a full public process.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Beckerman says the response from the feasibility study was overwhelmingly positive, and she is optimistic the committee will be able to move forward with a business plan and determine construction and operational costs. She and Evison are scheduled to present their survey results to council Monday evening in-camera.

At that time, Brent Leigh, the municipality's deputy chief administrative officer, is expected to make recommendations for the project's next steps, including appointments to the development board. Leigh is the district's lead on the project, and was a nonvoting participant of the advisory committee. If the project's business plan, funding and construction plan were in place within a year, Leigh says it is possible they could break ground on the centre in a couple of years.

The art centre is not a done deal, however. The final decision to go ahead with the project will depend on funding and the business plan. The centre would be a district asset, and the plan is for the estimated $25-million construction cost to be covered largely by donations and some grants. The actual building costs will be determined in conjunction with design studies.

The district would be looking at a plan that covered the operating expenses through private funding models. Ultimately, district assets are supported by the district, but the intention is that there would be minimal district support for ongoing operation of the facility, says Leigh. He added that the district is keen to develop an endowment fund and bring long-term financial sustainability to the project.

The arts centre is part of a campaign toward revitalization of Ambleside that has been four or five years in the making, says Leigh. "You can see it could be a very effective hub for the vibrancy of the Ambleside revitalization efforts," Leigh says of the centre.