Arts groups in Campbell River, B.C., told to diversify revenue or risk losing subsidized rent

Five key non-profit arts organizations in Campbell River, B.C., presented to council Tuesday on how they can become less reliant on municipal funds — a condition that council put in place before it agrees to renew the groups' subsidized leases. 

Ken Blackburn, director of the Campbell River Arts Council, says the leases — which only cost $1 per year — are the foundation for the organizations’ stability and affects their ability to access more grants. 

“The risk is huge. It will mean direct loss of employment for people. It will mean less service to the community,” Blackburn said of the potential loss. 

“That's going to have dire consequences in terms of health outcomes, in terms of just economic activity, just in terms of quality of life for the residents of town.”

The Vancouver Island city is expected to make its decision about renewing the leases in the next few weeks.

Campbell River’s public art gallery, arts council, museum, Marine Heritage Centre and Tidemark Theatre all operate on municipal properties with subsidized leases. 

According to a staff report presented to council on Tuesday, the city also contributes to the organizations by waiving their municipal taxes. 

The report says the city’s total contributions to the organizations are worth $1,346,283 — excluding operating grants. The city has already reduced the latter for the upcoming year, citing budgetary constraints.  

But the organizations say they’re already doing all that’s possible to keep afloat. 

“Our organization is already fundraising and managing diversified revenue streams effectively,” Tidemark Theatre acting executive director Kirsten Soder told council.

Earlier this year, the city spent $20,000 to send representatives from the five organizations to the Thriving Non-Profits Boot Camp,” a normally five-month-long program condensed into a three-day seminar. 

The staff report says the boot camp was designed to “equip local non-profit and charitable organizations with strategies and tools to achieve long-term financial sustainability.”

During their presentations, the organizations said the seminar had helped them identify some potential new revenue sources.

But they also noted that the seminar clearly indicated that pursuing new revenue initiatives usually takes two to five years to put in place. The lease renewals, however, are being determined for next year.