Tenacity and community buy-in are key elements to getting a performing arts centre off the ground, a panel of experts told Okotoks residents earlier this month. Creative Okotoks brought in three southern Alberta experts to share their stories and provide insight on what it would take for Okotoks to pursue building a larger-scale performing arts centre during a public meeting in the Elks Hall on Oct. 4. Creative Okotoks is an economic-focused arts group that connects the community through speaking events. Arts champion Patti Pon, president and CEO of Calgary Arts Development, told those attending that this type of project requires people who are passionate and determined. “By opening night there is going to be less than one third of you because most people will walk away,” she said. “There is a tenacity you’re going to need to have.” Public engagement is also important to ensure the facility is one the community wants, Pon said. “It’s all about insight and foresight,” she said. “If you can’t do one thing come up with other options and alternatives.” Pon said it takes years to get the shovel in the ground, let alone opening the doors. “It takes a tremendous amount of time,” she said. “Patience is a virtue.” Jeremy Elbourne, executive director for ARTSplace Canmore, was involved in two performing arts facilities opening in Toronto and played a role in the $3-million multi-purpose facility in Canmore, where he now lives. “We had people passionate about the arts,” he said of Canmore’s facility. “There was a need for an arts centre and there was community support. You have to have community buy in.” Elbourne said community engagement took place from the beginning. “My advice to go from here is engagement,” he said. “Have these conversations, connect with people and tell them your stories and why you’re passionate. The more conversations you have the better engagement you have.” Without community support, the pieces won’t fall into place, Elbourne said. After community engagement, Elbourne said a model must be created followed by more public consultation to create partnerships. “We had partnerships with more than 100 different agencies,” he said. “Arts is how you grow as a community and figure out who you are as a community.” Storyteller Ken Lima-Coelho, vice-president of marketing and communications for YMCA Calgary, agrees community engagement is the most important part, although he admits it’s often the hardest part. Lima-Coelho was pivotal in getting the northeast YMCA off the ground. “You have to look at these things in so many dimensions,” he said. “It constantly shifts. I had five to six case documents that kept changing.”
