Salt Spring Island Arts Contribution Service

A Background and Position Paper 

 

SSI Arts is a contribution service under the authority of the LCC. A contribution service is a funding arrangement whereby a Regional District establishes a service and taxes residents for the service, but does not directly operate or administer that service. Instead, the tax revenue collected is given as a financial contribution to an external entity—in this case the ArtSpring Theatre and Arts Council—to operate a program for public benefit.

 

Established under CRD Bylaw 3116 (2004) as amended, the purpose of the service is defined as:

 

“Contributing to the cost of maintaining, equipping, and operating the ArtSpring Theatre and contributing to arts programming through the Gulf Islands Community Arts Council on Salt Spring Island. … The total annual contributions paid shall be distributed 70% to the Art Centre Society and 30% to the Gulf Islands Community Arts Council”.

 

Budget

 

• 2025 - $147,895

• 2026 - $154,551

• 2027 (provisional) - $199,523 ($162,573 + one time allocation of $37,150)

 

Challenges

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• While created as an Island wide service, SSI Arts only supports two arts organizations out of the many operating on Salt Spring. It is a historical anomaly, arising from the need to provide ongoing community support for the then new performance hall that is ArtSpring (to maintain and operate the facility), later expanded to include the Arts Council.
   

• Because it is a contribution service, the LCC can determine the amount of annual financial support provided but cannot direct or control the operations of these organizations, which remain under the governance of their internal boards of directors.
   

• Because both organizations include a significant community asset (ArtSpring Theatre and Mahon Hall for the Arts Council) asset preservation, and the rising costs of repair, maintenance, and renovation, are major fiscal challenges over the long term.
   

• Because this service provides no financial support to the vast majority of Salt Spring arts organizations, while nonetheless expecting to contribute nearly $200,000 to these two organizations in 2027, it is not surprising that there is a deep sense of inequity in the local arts community over this disparity. ArtSpring is seen as increasingly elitist, focusing on bringing in big name talent from off island while its rising administrative costs have made use of the theatre prohibitively expensive for most local performing arts groups. The Arts Council has not moved much beyond its origins as an advocate for the visual arts while located in a facility built as a performance hall, unavailable for performing arts much of the year due to visual arts exhibitions in the space. The only public funding available for the other arts organizations is the LCC Grants-in-Aid Service, which is limited to one-time grants of $5,000 or less.

 

My Recommendations

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• The LCC should begin an engagement process with local arts organizations early in the new term to better understand their needs, concerns, and challenges. I would envision a stakeholder roundtable pulling together representatives of all local arts organizations (visual, music, theatre, dance, indigenous, youth, etc.) as well as a more focused roundtable with operators of performance and rehearsal venues on island (ArtSpring, Mahon Hall, Fullford Hall, Beaver Point Hall, Meaden Hall, and others). The latter would focus on what it would take to support those venues already providing affordable performance space while increasing affordable access to larger and more sophisticated facilities.
   

• The LCC should assess the range of fees charged across the island for rehearsal and performance space, and how the fees charged for CRD/LCC managed/funded facilities compare, including publishing a clear fee structure for the use of the SIMS facility.