Over $65,000 is being provided to the Penticton arts community, part of $6.9 million in grants given across 97 communities in B.C. from the B.C. Arts Council.
The funding allocates part of the $24 million provided to the B.C. Arts Council by the government of B.C. to support arts and culture in the province — the most funding the council has ever received.
The grants are the result of applications being examined by the B.C. Arts Council’s independent peer-review process.
The Penticton Art Gallery is receiving $38,000 in operating assistance, on par with their yearly grant requests, though the number is down from the highest funding the gallery has received in the past which was $43,000.
“If we didn’t have it we wouldn’t be able to do the shows that we do,” said Penticton Art Gallery curator Paul Crawford.
Additionally, the Penticton Museum and Archives is getting $20,000 and the Penticton and District Arts Council will receive $8,544.
Applications for grants from the Penticton Arts Council will be open for the month of March for community organizations to apply.
In the past the funding has gone towards the Children’s Showcase, the Shatford Centre and the Penticton Academy of Music among other arts and culture orginizations.
“The BCAC, through financial support from the provincial government, is a stable and reliable funding partner for the arts and heritage community in B.C.,” said Dennis Oomen, curator of the Penticton Museum and Archives.
“The (museum) looks forward to many more years of collaboration.”
Additionally, the Oliver Community Arts Council is receiving $9,000 and the Osoyoos and District Arts Council and the Osoyoos Museum Society are receiving $6,000 and $9,000, respectively.
The funding will provide $1.47 million to museums across the province, $900,000 to 71 different community arts councils, $780,000 to professional arts festivals, $1.95 million to 31 visual arts organizations and $430,000 to 50 creative writers.