The Arts and Heritage Foundation will be taking over administration of the visual arts community programs currently offered by the city’s cultural services department.
The programs will be transitioned as of Jan. 1.
“The public really isn’t going to notice a whole lot of difference I’m going to anticipate,” said Kelly Jerrott, the city’s director of cultural services.
Jerrott said the city has been working on the concept of transferring the city-run visual arts community programs over to the foundation since last year when they renewed the stewardship agreement that exists between the foundation and the city.
“The classes will be offered in much the same manner and utilizing the studios here in St. Albert Place and spaces at the gallery, same as always,” Jerrott said.
Students will feel minimal impacts, she said.
Registration will continue to be run through for the city while the foundation implements its own online system. The main change for students will be they’ll pay their class fee to the foundation.
The move will reduce duplication of services between the city and the Arts and Heritage Foundation, Jerrott said.
It will also free up city cultural services staff time and resources to focus on other areas.
“We’ll be able to reallocate some of our staffing resources to help support some of the public art programs and maintenance throughout the city,” Jerrott said. “We’re hoping as we move forward to be able to provide a little bit more support to the guilds and the visual arts organizations in the community as well.”
Carol Watamaniuk is hopeful about the move. The original head of the city’s cultural services department and former city councillor and executive director with the Arts and Heritage Foundation, now the head of the Visual Arts Studio Association, said that the Cultural Services department and the Art Gallery of St. Albert (under the auspices of the AHF) were duplicating efforts by both offering arts educational programming.
“I think it does make sense. They were kind of tripping over each other,” she suggested, saying that there were problems such as scheduling issues over space in the city’s arts studios in St. Albert Place. This will take care of that while putting arts education into one office.
She praised the gallery’s new director, Jenny Willson-McGrath, and the rest of her staff.
“I’m excited about it. There’s young blood there and they’ve got fabulous ideas for the programs. I’m encouraged.”
She also suggested that the move could be just as much of a boon for Art in Public Places as long as the funding and other support matches what the AHF and Cultural Services need.
“Art in Public Places is such an exciting program. As the chair, I know there needs to be more resources put into that program as well.”
