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‘Absolute shock’ after city staff cut Penticton Art Gallery fund by more than half

Gallery also had funding cut to its Ignite the Arts Festival which starts March 24
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Penticton Art Gallery curator Paul Crawford in front of a piece of the historic Bob Ross exhibition in 2020. “We had 15,000 visitors over 71 days,” Crawford said of that exhibition. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)

This story has been updated with the response from the City of Penticton

Penticton Art Gallery’s curator is an ‘absolute shock’ after city council cut the gallery’s grant funding by more than half.

Since that unexpected decision, Penticton Art Gallery has already had to cut back its summer exhibition after the surprise cut to funding when the gallery is already a quarter into their financial year.

During council’s budget deliberations on March 16, city staff recommended cutting back the gallery’s request of $130,000 to $55,000, which council voted to approve. That is less than the gallery received when Crawford started there 17 years ago.

“I was prepared to take a bit of a decrease, you can never take anything to be a sure thing, but to have your budget cut by over 50 per cent was an absolute shock,” said gallery director and curator Paul Crawford. “It tells me that either the city has no idea about what we do or they have no regard for what we do. They don’t see any value in it. That’s the real concern for me.”

Discussion from council on the topic was brief, with a single question clarifying previous funding before councillors moved to spend more than triple the time discussing the Penticton Royalty Society.

City staff’s reasoning for the reduced funding was because the gallery had a reduced need for financial help based on the application and supporting materials they received they were submitted.

“There is often a difference between the amount request and the grant that is recommended, with staff reviewing support materials to determine the financial need this year and ensure the available funds are equitably distributed amongst the many groups that apply,” said city spokesperson Shane Mills in a response to questions from the Western News. “City Council unanimously accepted the recommendation for this year’s Penticton Art Gallery grant.”

A similar cut to funding was proposed in 2022’s budget, when the gallery had requested $183,000 in operating funding and staff recommended $86,000. The city council of the day instead voted to split the difference and approved $125,000 in funding. Mills added that the increases in grants by council in 2022 contributed to a 0.2 per cent tax increase, and that staff reccommendations aim to ensure as many groups get funding as possible and that they are also evaluated based on community impact.

More changes and cuts are also going to be necessary, and though Crawford hasn’t considered making cuts to the gallery’s employees, it may not be his choice.

“We’ve done a lot of work to build our capacity to have the staff that we have, so that’s certainly not something what I really want to want to consider this time,” said Crawford. “I’m really, really proud of the work that we’re able to do together, but that being said, you know, we will need to think of how we’re gonna make up this shortfall.”

Due to the significant delays to the beginning of the city’s budget process, from what is usually in November into mid-March, the cut hits the gallery after they had already budgeted for the year and begun to put together their programs and exhibitions.

The Penticton Art Gallery has brought in people from across B.C. and beyond with their exhibitions, particularly for their Bob Ross exhibition in 2020 which drew international attention to the city. Many of the exhibitions the gallery puts together tour as well, with one example provided by Crawford opening in Berlin and attended by locals from the Okanagan.

“It’s promoting our community,” said Crawford.

READ MORE: Penticton Ignite the Arts Walk celebrates everything art

It’s not only the art gallery’s funding that was cut, but also the funding for the Ignite the Arts Festival on the eve of the event’s return to the city. The event’s collaborators at Penticton and District Arts Council, the En’owkin Centre and more in the community will also feel the hit.

As a result, the festival will be operating at a deficit for the year.

Crawford expressed his hope that city council will reconsider the value that the gallery brings to the community and review their decision.

Making up for sudden cut of operating funding isn’t the only concern for Crawford, but the possible future consequences the substantial change may have on other sources of funding for the gallery.

“With our funding agencies, you know, to see an organization get cut by over 50 per cent in one year with no warning or whatever is a huge red flag and it could have a cascading effect that could ultimately lose way more money from other people,” said Crawford. “The whole thing is a compounding problem that we potentially could find ourselves in.”

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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