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‘ThisWeek May 23; 1990. Page:M3

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who estimates that the economic
spin-offs from the 1990 festival
will generate close to $2.5 million

for the area. With
903 hotel reserva-
tions confirmed
for the festival’s
duration, and or-
ganizers’ commit-
ted to transport-
ing festival dele-
gates from venue
to venue and to
feeding three
meals a day to de-
legates (who will
crowd into the
Lansdowne School
gym at mealtime),
the estimate is
reasonable
Further streng-
thening the case
for the festival’s

economic worth is the fact that
most participating artists are
school-age children from all areas
. of the province: many of these

delegates will be accom-
panied by older family
members, who will distri-
bute dollars throughout the
region

Translating art into eco-
nomic benefit isn’t a new
exercise for local officials.
During the past year, the
four core municipalities
(Oak Bay, Esquimalt, Saa-
nich and Victoria) joined
forces to develop an arts
policy for Greater Victoria
and, as part of the develop-
ment, hired Lydia Kasian-
chuk as an arts manager. A
link between community
arts groups and various le-
vels of government, Kasi-
anchuk (along with the
steering committee) will
help to determine the effec-
tiveness of the policies,
funding, and facilities that
often affect amateur art.
Her job, however, wasn’t
the result of a whim: the
inter-municipal effort was
at least partly motivated by
a study showing that art
annually puts $50 million
into the community

But Kasianchuk and
Pickup both firmly insist
that money is neither the
only nor the most import-
ant measure of art’s (or the
festival’s) value.

“Once the essentials of
human life have been met
and weve been fed and
sheltered, there’s a basic
human need to express
one’s self, to tell one’s story.
Without art, we lose sight
of what were all about.

Encouraging art is part of
meeting a community's
» most basic needs,” Kasian-

chuk says
Pickup, who championed
arts education when she
was a school board trustee,
talks about cultural enrich-
ment and about the social
benefits to be obtained from
a celebration of the arts.
She’s right: it’s difficult to
deny that the festival

brings people together, fosters a com-

MOHAN JAWL

munity spirit
From May 23 until May 27, 3,400
hours of volunteer effort will be devot-

ed to a common goal
— realizing the po-
tential of young
dancers, actors, mu-
sicians, vocalists,
film- makers, and
visual artists. Or-
ganizing the event
took hundreds of
people thousands of
hours (an estimated
1,000 man-hours
was required just to
convert the Cedar
Hill tennis bubble
into an art gallery)
and combined the
talents and energies
of people who
might, in a non-
festival year, have

remained strangers to each other.
Local businesses donated money and
materials and high school student
groups, often working alongside older

volunteers, wired sound and light

systems

“It’s been organized chaos,” says
Barry Link, of the festival’s promo-

tions committee.
“Trying to prepare
(for the festival) has
been chaotic, lots of
work.”

Then, highlight-
ing one of the festi-
val’s merits, he
adds: “But people
got together and got
things done.” —

It’s that attitude
— the idea of get-
ting together, of fin-
ishing things —
which enriches the
festival’s host com-
munity. When popu-
lation increases (ac-
companied by the
demands and con-

flicts so characteristic of our regional
politics), necessitating decisions
about the division of municipal re-
sources, a history of co-operation is

helpful. By bringing together citizens

and organizational bodies from vari-

CAROL PICKUP

ous communities, the B.C. Festival of
the Arts helps to establish a base for

future, possibly
beneficial, commun-
ity relations

“We had to bid for
the festival,” says
Pickup. “And I
think one of the
things which helped
our bid was that
four communities
were co-operating
and offering their
combined resourc-
es.”

If she’s correct,
the principle of co-
operation brought
an extra $2.5 mil-
lion and at least 300
hours of visual and
performing arts to

the area. As well, a $70,000 (more, if
matching grants are found) legacy
fund is incorporated into the festival
budget: the four core municipalities

will each receive a share of
the legacy, and the money will
be used for community facilit-
ies. Oak Bay Secondary alrea-
dy received $14,000 to com-
plete seat installations in its
theatre.

“Probably some of the mon-
ey will go to schools or other
places (such as the proposed
Saanich community centre)
which is involved with artistic
opportunities for children,”
Pickup muses. “It’s appropri-
ate: so many of the schools are
contributing to the festival
and, really, the festival is
about young people.”

In fact, Mohan Jawl, a busi-
nessman who chairs the festi-
val’s working committee, ar-
gues that the festival’s great-
est merit is its function as a
venue for supporting the com-
munity’s young.

“I feel art is crucial to our
community. I don’t know if I
could give six reasons why,
but it is,” says Jawl. “And ’m
convinced that young people
who show artistic ability
should be encouraged.”

“We're often quick to aid
people who are pursuing ath-
letic endeavors, but we’re
maybe not so quick to encour-
age those who are developing
their artistic talents. The fes-
tival offers that encourage-
ment to young artists, and to
the instructors of young peo-
ple. It exposes young people to
other young people with simi-
lar aspirations. It exposes
them to the community, and
exposes the community to the
talents of its young people. I
think that only good can come
from that,” he explains

For five days, more than
1,000 B.C. youth will enter-
tain local citizens while Cana-
da’s top professional artists
workshop the artistic efforts.
But if the full potential of the
arts, and of the B.C. Festival
of the Arts, is realized, the
sixth day will not bring an
end to the benefits. They'll be
on-going