CACV has played a pivotal and significant role in the cultural life of Vancouver. Many of today’s prominent arts institutions had their origins with the Council or were given support in their early years: the Opera, the Symphony, the Vancouver Centennial Museum, the Vancouver Academy of Music, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Robson Street Courthouse Square to name a few. Yet we continue to face many challenges in the artistic and creative dimension of our civic life, especially at the grassroots level. For this reason, the CACV supports community organizations involved in the arts in the Downtown Eastside and in other areas of the city, knowing that the community arts are a powerful means for personal and community transformation. Lives are changed. People are supported in creating new, healthy futures for themselves. The community becomes stronger.
CACV’s annual fundraiser was successfully held from 2012 to 2017 raising over $600,000. The event included performances by groups supported by CACV and the sale of visual art created by selected local artists.
Funds raised contributed to the Community Arts Fund (CAF), held by the Vancouver Foundation, provided grants to organizations working collaboratively with artists to meaningfully engage with community members in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods. The collaborative projects funded ranged from theatre and spoken word to fibre and visual arts, and were selected by a committee. Funds also supported CACV’s citywide programming including the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival (VOAF).
The Community Arts Fund supported the successful DTES Community Arts Fund Program, from 2012-2018 which provided grants totalling $ 94,500 to sixteen Downtown Eastside organizations working collaboratively with an artist to meaningfully engage community members. The program has funded twenty projects involving everything from theatre and spoken word to fibre and visual arts.
The Community Arts Fund program is currently being reviewed and renewed as part of CACV’s 2019-2021 strategic plan.
Community Arts Fund is a legacy for the future
The Community Arts Fund was created with an initial sum of $125,000 donated by 2010 Legacies Now. A further $32,000 has been raised by the DTES community itself. The goal is to create a $1 million endowment fund, using interest earned to support this highly effective work.
As a friend and supporter of the Community Arts Council, we invite you to be the first to donate. Your gift will be gratefully received, well managed and wisely used to help people, no matter how challenged, to believe in themselves again and to work for a healthier, more secure future.
For cash donations, you can either use the button below to pay by credit card or send a cheque (made out to “Vancouver Foundation”) to: Community Arts Fund, c/0 Vancouver Foundation, Suite 1200 – 555 West Hastings Street, Box 12132, Harbour Centre, Vancouver, BC Canada, V6B 4N6.
To consider a planned gift in your will or to donate securities (stocks and bonds) to the Community Arts Fund, please contact Calvin Fong at Vancouver Foundation (calvin.fong@vancouverfoundation.ca).
For updates about the Community Arts Fund, see our blog