London Arts Council

Establishment of the London Arts Council (LAC) was a proposal from the Arts Advisory Committee of the City of London, Ontario, in 1994.^[1] Committee members Doug Bale, Stephen Joy and Mary Kernohan called a public meeting on June 30, 1994, which was attended by over 70 individuals representing 40 arts organizations in the city, including such groups as the Forest City Gallery, Gerald Fagan Singers, the Grand Theater, Canadian Poetry Association, London Community Players et al.^[2] A 12-member Steering Committee was elected to pursue the specifics of establishing an arts council in London. Members of the Steering Committee included Stephen Joy, Doug Bale, Rick Verrette, Arlene Kennedy, Jan Dolby, Wayne Ray, Brian Lambert, Gerald Fagan, Don Fleckser, Lascelle Wingate, Marcus Lundgren, and Karen Shelstad.^[3]

The Steering Committee met weekly throughout the year to develop a mission statement and initial structure. They were also responsible for setting up a board of directors structure representing all sectors and branches of the arts. On September 29, 1994, the report was presented at a second public meeting where seven board members were elected: Stephen Joy, Arlene Kennedy, Karen Shelstad, Wayne Ray, Chris Bowden, Rick Verrette, and Bernita Kiefte. (The late - 31/03/2015)Catherine Inculet was the LAC Lawyer. A Mission Statement was established.^[4] It stated: The London Arts Council is committed to fostering an environment in which all levels of the arts can flourish, enhancing the quality of life and adding to the vitality of the community, by promoting awareness of the arts in all forms and encouraging the active pursuit of artistic excellence. Several official Goals were established, some of which stated: To foster and facilitate linkages among artists and related organizations and educational institutions in the areas of literary, performing, visual and heritage arts; To enhance awareness and appreciation of the arts in London among all the sectors of the community and beyond; To serve as a source of information for local artists and arts organizations . . .; To promote and study in all artistic disciplines embracing their cultural diversity; and; To establish a relationship with (London) City Hall as advisors on all arts related activities.^[5]

On July 28, 1995, the London Arts Council received its letters patent as an Ontario not-for-profit organization. Signing authority for the letters patent were B.O.D. members Karen Shelstad, Rick Verrette and Bernita Kiefte.^[6] In October of the same year, a regular quarterly LAC Newsletter began. In November, the first Gathering of the Arts was held at the London Regional Children's Museum where a logo contest was announced with a resulting 11 finalists. Amy Thibeault was the winner. $3000 in seed money was received from the London Community Foundation that year. The City of London Arts Directory^[7] became a project of the LAC Literary Committee in the late 1990s and was produced by Stephen Joy and Wayne Ray for six years.^[8] It was discontinued when the LAC website was established and the information became the foundation for the website. Two other pamphlets were produced by the Literary Committee and only ran for three years: Public Art in London, Ontario and South Western Ontario Publishers Directory.

In October 1999 the Ontario Trillium Foundation presented a grant of $96,100 over a three-year period allowing LAC to hire staff and open an office in the Covent Garden Market on Market Lane. One year later in July 2000 the London Arts Council was approached by the City of London to be responsible for the administration of its CAIP (Community Arts Investment Program) Category 2 grants, amounting to a distribution of $200,000 per year. The Arts Grants continued over the next two decades and are still active.^[9] LAC has a new home in the London Central Library along with Heritage London.^[10] The LAC archives are located there for any research purposes. Other London arts organization's archives can be found at University of Western Ontario.

References

External links

• LAC website