The Mississippi Mills Arts Council was formed and incorporated in 2003 by community supporters of the Arts. Volunteers acted as Directors of the Council and provided vision and direction for the evolvement of an Arts council for our community.
The vision for the Arts Council is to provide an umbrella voice and representation for the arts in the community and for the various Arts organizations within it. Although there is no formal representation from the Arts organizations in the community, the Board of Directors has always had members from each of the relevant organizations. In the coming year we hope to strengthen these ties and investigate ways of formalizing them.
Bruce Kingsley acted as Chair from the inception of the Council until January of 2005. Penny Blades was the Treasurer and Doris Wionzek the Secretary. In 2005 Vera-Lee Nelson became Chair and Ingrid Hamster took on the position of Treasurer. The initial Directors included Amelia Ah you, Marla Cockerell, Reva Dolgoy, Elizabeth Dunning, Rona Fraser, Ingrid Hamster, Myra Smith, Nathan Rudyk and Noreen Young.
The Arts Council was and is closely affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce of Mississippi Mills. Meetings are held in the chamber offices and until recently the Arts Council used the Chamber Offices as its address. The Arts Council maintains a display area in the Chamber offices which is used to spotlight Community events involving the Arts. At the start the space was developed using Mary Lettner as Curator and is now a cooperative effort. Special thanks go to Ingrid Hamster and Noreen Young for their talents in setting up displays at Christmas and for the School for the Arts.
Efforts of the council have been directed at raising the profile of the Arts community in the town. One of our goals is to have persons with an appreciation of the arts represented on Committees of town council. Bruce Kingsley and Nathan Rudyk are members of the Marketing the Mills committee of Town Council. Reva Dolgoy and Vera-Lee Nelson began a liaison with the Accessibility committee and hope to have a member on that committee when a vacancy occurs. We encourage any of our members to apply when there is a vacancy on a committee of interest to you. The intent is not to have a member representing the Arts but to have a member with a skill set that suits the committee, and who is sensitive to the arts.
In 2004 when discussion arose about the future role of the Old Town Hall, a group of concerned arts supporters and representative of the user groups met to form a plan for the use of the old town hall with a long term goal of its viability as a centre for the Arts. Ultimately this group was given status as the Almonte Town Hall Auditorium Advisory committee and its Terms of Reference approved by Council on June 14, 2005. The Committee is chaired by Alan Jones and Rob Riendeau. Elizabeth Dunning and Vera-Lee Nelson represent the Arts Council. A Report was presented to Council on July 22, 2005 and following that report, and due to the large efforts of the members several recommendations have been implemented. We are particularly pleased that a Cultural/Community Programmer has been appointed and we congratulate Council on the choice of Jim Riva. Also as of last night we are pleased to also welcome the appointment of Christy Bindhardt as Co-ordinator. We expect this committee will continue and are very pleased with the cooperative format that is developing.
One of the first fundraising projects was the scenic direction signs placed on mill Street. Interested sponsors purchased a sign pointing to their businesses. The sponsorship is continuing and we will have another sign post in place this year.
By the summer of 2005 the Directors decided to launch a membership initiative to involve supporters as members and to endeavour to make the Council self funding.
Membership categories - ….were identified and the membership drive was launched at the very successful “Arty Party” in the garden of John and Vera-Lee Nelson in August of 2005.
The Directors looked at a number of ways to support the membership. First and foremost was the development of a website which would provide ongoing and current information on the activities of the Council and of the Arts community to the membership and to others searching for Arts related information in Mississippi Mills . The website would also have space for thumbnail sketches of local artists and links to their own sites if available. The website was developed in the beginning through the Humm , followed by an independent site set up with help of Marla Cockerell and Nathan Rudyk. Earlier this year Sietze Praamsma became the webmaster. Some unforeseen technical difficulties have slowed the progress of developing the site but it is a priority for the coming year.
Rona Fraser does a superb job of maintaining the membership Data base. This enables us to have a current picture of our members and to get timely information to them.
The Arty Parties will continue, an opportunity for the membership to meet and greet and exchange information in a pleasant social setting. Each event features a short presentation of interest to the arts community. A small admission charge ensures the parties are self supporting. It is planned to have four parties a year, with the end of summer as a gala garden party. Penny Blades and Elizabeth Dunning are our super organizers for this.
Elizabeth Dunning also took on the important task of providing a monthly newsletter to the membership. All but a few of our members are on email and this provides a timely way to communicate with our members.
From the beginning our very good friends at the HUMM have provided space for a regular column to highlight Arts activities, commentary and special people who contribute to the arts in our community. The column is written by our own esteemed Euphemia Lark, the retired actress, and she is now assisted by her charming but somewhat dotty cousin Eulalie Lark-Spur.
Five years ago four women of vision created the Mississippi Mills Summer School of the Arts. Pat Vetter, Patricia Whitney, Pat Willard and Janet Nisbet . The School continues to this day. In the beginning the school, like many similar schools in the province , came under the organization of Algonquin College. When that arrangement ended Noreen Young and Bruce Kingsley stepped in to make the school happen for a third summer. Last year Myra Smith did a fine job of beginning the development of the School as an independent cooperative of the artist-teacher-instructors. Ingrid Hamster has continued the tradition and the School is taking place this year at the end of July due to her immense effort and the cooperation and hard work of artist instructors. Until this year the school was closely identified with the Arts Council. Although they remain closely linked the MMSSA is now independent with its own financial accounting and a governing committee to make decisions on matters relating to the School.
In closing there are a number of people who deserve great thanks and I will try not to sound like an Oscar winner, although these are the people who make it all happen. . Bruce Kingsley,the first Chair, guided the council and established it as a viable entity. The Directors of the Arts Council are a constant support, giving time and talent and sharing hard work and laughter in equal measure. Individually I could talk for far too long about each of their accomplishments. Councillors John Edwards and Val Wilkinson have given time, support and advice far beyond what we could have expected. Diane Smithson, CEO of Mississippi Mills has been ever ready to meet with us and offer information and answer our questions. Her experience in the municipality is a valuable resource. Kelly Currie of the Chamber of Commerce is a friend to the Arts Council in every sense of the word.
I acknowledge Kris and Rob Riendeau of the Humm. The absolute and unquestioning enthusiasm and support they give the Arts Council is just a mirror of what they give to this community as a whole, not just to the arts but in every way. I could not imagine trying to do this job, or even the existence of the council, without the support of the HUMM.
To all of you, thank you for supporting the Arts Council, for wanting it to happen. I will have forgotten some names, I’m afraid but each of us who believes in the voice of the Arts in Mississippi Mills is a big part of something important. It has been a pleasure to serve as Chair.
