Vancouver NPA to increase public art and cultural spaces

Ken Sim

VANCOUVER NPA mayoral candidate Ken Sim, together with NPA council candidate Lisa Dominato, on Wednesday unveiled the NPA’s arts and culture plan, a plan that builds on the work of current NPA councillors to empower Vancouver’s arts and culture and community groups and remove needless barriers to vibrant public events.

The NPA plan specifically commits to the creation of new cultural spaces across the city, implementation of an annual pass for low-income families to access arts and culture institutions, and acceleration of efforts to build a new home for the Vancouver Art Gallery.
“We will advocate vigorously for federal funding to complete the long-overdue Vancouver Art Gallery,” said Sim. “The new art gallery is the biggest art project in Western Canada, but has yet to secure federal funding because it hasn’t been a priority for Vision, and I doubt it will be for Kennedy Stewart. It’s time for the arts and culture community to have an NPA Council majority that will advocate on its behalf and move this important cultural project forward.”
Dominato, a long-time advocate for arts and culture, says the NPA plan will also formally recognize culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability in Vancouver; thereby ensuring that city planning includes the integration of facilities and spaces for arts and culture as an integral part of the process, including dedicated gathering spaces for the LGBTQ community.
“We will formally recognize culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability in Vancouver and ensure city planning includes the integration of arts and culture facilities and spaces, including gathering spaces for the LGBTQ community,” said Dominato.

The NPA arts and culture platform includes:

  • Working with Tourism Vancouver and local cultural institutions and attractions to support a Culture and Recreation Multi-pass for residents and tourists, with annual pass discounts for lower-income families.
  • Working with cultural organizations to identify where and how to create new creative spaces and connections in the city while ensuring that a renewed City-Wide Plan includes arts and culture facilities as an integral part of the planning process.
  • Working with community organizations to eliminate needless barriers to vibrant public events.
  • Support for LGBTQ events and dedicated gathering spaces.
  • Establishing a Materials for the Arts Program to facilitate the creative reuse of materials by the arts, culture, and educational community – reducing waste and benefiting artists, students, and community organizations.
  • Accelerating efforts to build a new home for the Vancouver Art Gallery.
  • Formally recognizing culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability in Vancouver.
    The NPA said it has a long history of supporting Vancouver’s arts and culture community, including being the first party to provide stable, predictable funding for arts organizations as well as being the party that founded the Cultural Tourism Committee and brought the Juno Awards to Vancouver.

The full NPA Arts and Culture plan, entitled, A Hub of Arts & Culture, is available at:

https://npavancouver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/platform_Arts_and_Culture.pdf

Full bios of the NPA candidate team are available at: https://npavancouver.ca/candidates