The Kootenay School of the Arts Society has officially begun operating at the former KSA building in Nelson and is now working to establish a sustainable financial model for the space.
The Kootenay School of the Arts Society began operating at 606 Victoria St. on Aug. 1, following the transfer of the building from Selkirk College to the City of Nelson and the start of a new lease arrangement involving the Nelson Community Land Trust Society.
The land trust holds the head lease with the city, while KSA is one of several organizations leasing space in the building.
Eden DuPont, a director with the Kootenay School of the Arts Society, said the distinction is important because KSA is responsible for its own lease and operating costs.
She said the society is now raising money to help cover those expenses as it gets established.
KSA has set a fundraising goal of $100,000 and has raised nearly $60,000 so far, according to its campaign.
DuPont said the money will primarily cover the society’s costs of operating in the building, including rent, utilities, insurance and other common expenses.
The society currently pays about $8,800 a month for its space, including operating costs, utilities, custodial services, snow removal, internet and other common costs.
“It’s not small change,” said DuPont.
DuPont said the first year will be particularly challenging because the newly established society does not yet qualify for many grant programs.
Instead, the group is fundraising and looking into other revenue sources to bridge that gap while it builds its operations.
“This first year is so tenuous. We can’t apply for grants, and we are not able to even apply for charitable status, which means that those things have to come in year two. So we’re fundraising to get to year two,” said DuPont.
The society is also looking beyond donations to develop additional sources of revenue.
That includes workshops and special programming, as well as a planned partnership that would allow the school to sell clay locally.
“We’re looking at having workshops, weekend workshops, where we bring in artists from outside of this area and, and hopefully that becomes like a tourist destination where people wanna come to Nelson,” DuPont said.
“We also have a partnership in place now with Ceramics Canada, and they’re going to held us set up a retail clay supply, which is something that Kootenays hasn’t seen for a very long time, and that will be a revenue source,”
In terms of programming, DuPont said the society is starting with ceramics, while other organizations in the building are expected to offer additional arts education and community programming.
That includes the Nearside Arts Society, which will be operating a metal studio.
“They’re doing community programming, so they’re not reapplying for accreditation in the same way that Selkirk offered a certificate program. Instead, they’ll be offering more like community education courses and ongoing workshops,” explained DuPont.
She said the overall goal is to eventually expand the range of programming available at the site as more groups become involved.
“We’re starting with ceramics because we know we have a waiting list for that. There’s a lot of interest, and we know it can be successful,” said DuPont.
“By incorporating as the Kootenays School of the Arts Society and not just the Kootenays School of the Arts Ceramics Society, we’re trying to leave that door open so that if textiles wants to come back and offer programming, if jewelry wants to come back, that those champions will step forward and we can build that into our programming in, in the years to come.”
Tuition from the ceramics program will cover instructor fees and supplies.
The building is now being referred to as the 606 Arts Space, with several arts and community organizations sharing the space.
In addition to the Kootenay School of the Arts and Nearside Arts Society, the building will house the West Kootenay Métis Association, West Kootenay Regional Arts Council and other non-profit and arts-related organizations.
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