A leaner and more vital arts council has arisen from the ashes of provincial government cuts.

Although the Nelson and District Arts Council will be shedding many of the program mantles they have borne over the years, they are raising the banner of arts council relevancy through their remaining event, ArtWalk, and will endeavour to become a true representing body, says the council’s president.

Stephen Fowler said the arts council will become the strong resource that artists need in Nelson, operating through their primary vehicle, ArtWalk, but will be dropping the Artisan’s Christmas Market and the Literary Competition.

The move was predicated by the council losing one quarter of their budget — around $12,000 — through a cut from BC Gaming grants. Although the loss of arts council’s executive director Kathy Hartley wasn’t as a result of the cut — she resigned — the council found they couldn’t afford to re-hire anyone for the part-time position.

The cut and the loss of Hartley was a sobering time for the council, said Fowler, forcing self-examination and re-evaluation. What emerged was the notion of the council becoming more of a facilitator rather than a producer.

“One of the things that has come back to us from artists that have done ArtWalk, especially emerging artists, is that ‘I’ve done ArtWalk, now what do I do? What did I get out of it?’” he said. “We need something that will empower the artist to carry on with their practice.”

Forums, workshops, professional development for artists and questions of what do people need to be a professional artist will now come out of ArtWalk, said Fowler, as well as connecting artists in the community.

Some of the events the council will be dropping — like the Literary Competition, the Artisan’s Market — have been connecting artists, but it hasn’t been enough, said Fowler.

“We’ve had to focus so narrowly on these things but now we need to get back to the real reason for having an arts council, which is to be that resource for artists,” he said.

Details haven’t been worked out as to whether the council will stage them or host them through partnerships with Selkirk College, Oxygen Art Centre, Touchstones Nelson or the Capital Theatre.

tim@nelsondailynews.com

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