People involved in the arts in the Sea to Sky Corridor have long known that the arts, culture and heritage sector makes a significant contribution to local economies, and now they've got some data to back up that claim to local businesses and government.Preliminary results of a recent survey of more than 300 people active in the local arts community show there are 34 arts organizations in the corridor, such as the Visuals Squamish Valley Artists Society. Together, the organizations spend almost $8 million each year on operations, in addition to $27 million in capital investments over the past five years, said Anne Popma, co-ordinator of the survey and economic impact study.The organizations employ almost 80 full-time and 70 part-time staff, in addition to drawing from a pool of more than 900 volunteers.Even more surprising to Popma is the total reported capital investments of individual artists in the region of $1.4 million during the past five years - and that's not including the purchase of ongoing art supplies, she said. Sea to Sky Corridor artists also generate a collective income of $2.6 million, from various sources, but mostly from the sale of their artwork.Survey responses are still being tallied and final results of the analysis won't be released until August, but Popma said the study would act as a catalyst to strengthen the local and regional arts communities."Now we have some hard data to support us when we start building," Popma said. "When the economic development people hear about this kind of data they [will] think it makes sense to assist the arts sector to grow."A series of community focus group meetings took place last week throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor to discuss the findings. About 21 people took part in the Squamish session held on Thursday (June 26).Painter Wanda Doyle was one of them. She said she was not surprised by the study's results but said there is a lot of work to be done to make the area more inviting for artists."The key issues arts and cultureorganizations inour region face are a lack of co-ordinated effort to benefit from synergies and the strength of one collective voice," she said, adding that artists also need to sustainable funding and affordable space.A stronger arts economy would help everyone by making Squamish more vibrant and attractive to tourists, she said.Several of the recommendations that came out of the forum involve greater regional collaboration and co-ordination to realize growth in the sector, Popma said.One idea was to package and market regional art tours and vacation packages that take visitors through the region's many museums and galleries. "We want to get organized. We want to take advantage of that opportunity," she said. "In order for us to succeed, we have to have happy artists."
