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February 16, 2012
Eye View
What are the similarities between our proposed new Arts Centre and our water
treatment plant, you wonder?
Both are a source of civic pride. Some cities lacked the confidence to build a
water treatment plant, but not Kamloops. Not only did we fund and build that
public facility, we were also innovative about it. When the plant opened in
2005, our water treatment centre was the largest facility in North America that
employed membrane technology.
Both combine practical and educational components. The plant hosts the Water
Education and Research Centre which is operated by Thompson Rivers University,
the first ever located in at an operational water treatment plant in North
America.
The Arts Centre isn’t built yet but when it is, it will certainly augment and
enhance courses in our public schools. And since we own it all, coordination and
access will be relatively easy.
Because Kamloops is a dynamic and creative city, only imagination limits the
courses that could be offered through the Arts Centre. Before the Kamloops Art
Gallery was built, who could have imagined the educational tour conducted by
Thompson Rivers University last month? Professor Derek Cook gave a lecture at
the gallery that offered links between paintings from the Vancouver Art Gallery
to political violence, unjust social realities and man’s inhumanity to man.
But while water is essential to life, you might counter, isn’t art is just
pretty pictures and eye candy? To reply that even cavemen thirsted for knowledge
through cave drawings would be trite. Instead, let me point out the financial
benefits.
According to a report prepared for the Government of B.C., investments in arts
generates up to $1.36 in tax returns for every dollar spent. Also, for every two
jobs created in the arts sector, three are created in the local economy.
The report, Socio-Economic Impacts of Arts and Cultural Organizations in B.C.,
was written in 2006 for the then Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts. Don’t
bother trying to find it on the government website because it has been pulled.
As for the reason, a government spokesperson feebly explained: "You can only
have so much information at any one time." Yeah, right. I found a copy at
Okanaganinstitute.com.
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The Arts Centre and Gallery are the kind of amenities that attract bright
and young professionals to our city. Weyerhaeuser’s support for Western
Canada Theatre Company is an example of how corporations attract top quality
administrators. Financial support of a professional theatre company not only
made sense to Weyerhaeuser in terms of being good corporate citizens. When
Weyerhaeuser made Kamloops its head office in 1965 the fledgling Western
Canada Youth Theatre, as it was then called, became part of the attraction
for talented employees and an incentive to work and stay in Kamloops.
If Kamloops doesn’t attract talented people by what we have to offer, they
will go elsewhere in B.C. The competition to attract artists is intense.
British Columbia has the largest concentration of artists in Canada,
according to a report from Hill Strategies Research in 2006. Vancouver has
the largest concentration of any city in Canada.
Kamloops has done a good job in the past. The number of artists in Kamloops
increased by 70 per cent in the last decade according to the report. While
that number was high, the numbers doubled in Coquitlam and Richmond.
Those who grumble about taxes used build Kamloops new Arts Centre should
consider it as an investment that all of us will benefit from. The original
cost is offset by the growth in our economy, more jobs, and more taxpayers
to pay for it.
Arts is more than entertainment: it’s crucial to a thriving city. Going to a
movie or watching TV may be entertaining but only artists who live in our
community generate jobs, vitality, and creativity that make Kamloops
desirable. “Regarding the economy, the arts are seen to be an important
factor in attracting talented people, jobs and investment to communities,”
says the report.
Build it and they will come. Creative artists and dynamic entrepreneurs
enhance our healthy lifestyle as Tournament Capital of Canada.
David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at
dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
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