When I first heard about the Community Arts Council of Vancouver (CACV), I was instantly intrigued. Even more so when I discovered they had been around since 1946 – making them the first Arts Council in North America! This past summer, I was approached by a family friend to help the CACV develop the story for the Community Arts Fund (CAF), a recent initiative they were looking to develop to provide sustainable funding solutions to arts-based organizations.
With a focus in the Downtown Eastside (or DTES), the CACV promotes and supports individuals and organizations who want to bring art into their community. Seeing that I am a huge advocate of anything arts, culture or non-profit related, I was excited to draw out some of the stories that surrounded the CAF. After interviewing artists, sponsors, and supporters of the CACV, I was so inspired by the stories I collected that I knew I wanted to get more involved.
I volunteered some of my time to continue to interview community artists in Vancouver and share their stories on the CACV website. Suddenly my mind was swirling with ideas as to how I could help get more people involved in this discovery process, and when a position with the Board of Directors opened up, I eagerly applied. With the support of Michael Claque, the President of the Board, I was nominated and elected last night, along with 10 other inspiring individuals.
Meet the 2011/2012 CACV Board of Directors!
