Coffee with Suzanne
I
had a very lively and interesting talk with Suzanne Samborski yesterday. Suzanne
is the head to the culture and heritage department at city hall. We did an
overview of the cultural scene in Nanaimo, a little speculation on the
trajectories of the arts community, and she expressed some thoughts on next
steps her department is taking.
Both
Suzanne and myself come from other cities, so for both of us the culture of this
place is revealed through comparisons. Compared to other centres around this
size and even larger, Nanaimo has a large number of talented people involved in
a broad range of creative endeavours. However, compared to similar sized talent
pools Nanaimo seems to have less access to the provincial, national or
international stage. Truth is, the big money is somewhere else. Somewhere else
is where an arts community becomes sustainable. One great internationally
acclaimed festival of anything can turn a struggling arts sector into a tourism
cash cow, a Camelot for the talented, and a deep source of pride for the whole
community. But we are not there yet. We're not even close. Now is the time for
baby steps that nurture local talent towards a level of excellence that can be
both exported and attract people to our city. Both of us agree, now is a time of
building over the long term. This is a project that might take a generation of
effort to bear fruit, but it is worth the effort, and will pay back in spades as
the arts community increases in skill and stature.
Over
the last few decades the development of the arts community in Nanaimo has
suffered somewhat. I believe this is because the city invested too heavily in a
conference centre and then proceeded down the wrong track to revitalize our
downtown. Because many of our generation’s advocates for the arts backed the
Conference Centre and a misguided revitalization project, their advocacy for the
arts lacked credibility. Both Suzanne and I are on the same page, agreeing that
one of much needed baby steps is to find new voices to speak for our sector.
Younger voices such as Amanda Scott from the Vault, and Valentina Cardinalli
from AEIOU, would go a long way towards bridging a divide between the arts
community and its potential audience.
Suzanne
surprised me with the idea of a Chamber of Commerce like advocacy group for the
arts sector. If the arts sector could put together a coalition of individuals
from various groups to increase support for the arts and improve policy for the
development of the arts, there may be some positive results. We do need to
improve planning policy for this sector and doing this from inside city hall is
awkward. If a larger group representing the diverse segments of our sector could
advocate on our behalf we might improve our ability to develop infrastructure
and programming support. It’s something for our groups to consider.
While
Suzanne came to head this department from a position within Parks and
Recreation, and represents a civil servant’s dedication to her role, she does
have a keen interest in the problem of culture in the development of cities; for
that I am grateful. My view is that the department will be both resilient,
sensitive and responsive under her leadership. My hope is that as the department
matures, artists will be able to take over key positions and those with a more
particular understanding of the kinds of support artists need can start to
transform the culture of city hall from the inside.
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