Chapter Eleven: Spreading the News

“Everything rises and falls on details.”

– Connie McKee, Office Secretary, 1970s.

One of the first ways in which the Arts Council made itself felt in the community was the publication of a monthly newsletter which was mailed to members and distributed to libraries and other organizations. Through the years many thoughtful and imaginative people have contributed to the ‘Arts Council News’ on demand and without pay.

The first editor of the ‘News’ was Nora Gibson (later Gregory), who produced issues consisting of five or so mimeographed sheets stapled together. Initially, the main thrust was to coordinate dates of cultural activities in the city. Although nowadays the daily press and other sources give comprehensive coverage of all cultural events, for many years the Arts Council was the only source of such information. In March 1960, only a few art galleries were listed in the calendar—the Fine Arts Gallery, UBC, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the New Design Gallery on Pender Street and the West Vancouver Sketch Club, an amateur group which mounted occasional exhibits. Later the ‘Arts Council News and Calendar’ appeared, an eight-page commercially printed newsletter with thousands of copies circulated. No attempt was made at any artistic layout until the mid-sixties. By then the number of event items for the calendar had increased to the point where room for any other Arts Council news was seriously curtailed. Subsequently, when events information became widely available through local media the ‘Calendar’ was dropped.

Staffing of the ‘Arts Council News’ was undertaken by volunteers, who, as the news committee, usually huddled in somebody’s kitchen. When the calendar became heavily expanded and required innumerable phone calls for information, the precious main copy was stored in the refrigerator in the editor’s house in case the house caught on fire.

The ‘Arts Council News’ precipitated a controversy associated with B.C.’s 1958 Cen­tennial celebrations.

The province announced that its centennial gift to the people of Vancouver was to be a fountain built in the courthouse grounds facing Georgia Street and designed by the Ministry of Public Works, the Honorable Mr. Chant, Minister. The Arts Council was distressed at the announcement and considered that a competition for a well-designed fountain was essential, especially in such a prominent setting. The Arts Council News spread the word and soon there was a clamour throughout the city for a design competition. The province responded by putting a housing over the under-construction fountain and a plywood barricade around the front perimeter of the courthouse. This prompted a genuine city happening. All the town got involved when the province bowed to the inevitable and permitted artists to cover the plywood panels.

The ‘Arts Council News’ went through several incarnations in the mid-eighties and emerged in 1987 as the quarterly magazine ‘Arts Vancouver.’ Since then, the magazine has changed format and emphasis from time to time. However, it remains a volunteer pro-duced information vehicle for the Arts Coun¬cil’s upcoming events and for reasoned and informed discussion of all the arts. The enthusiastic and talented editors, art directors and writers have all given generously of their time and assisted by staff, always functioned in a professional manner and produced a consistent and credible publication.

Other Arts Council publications have been undertaken by volunteers throughout the years. Several versions of ‘Vancouver Directory of the Arts’ have appeared and ‘Exhibiting in Vancouver — A Gallery Guide’ was published in 1988, produced by Anita Webster, Mignon Smirk and Catherine Barford. ‘Welcome to Heritage!’ was published in 1993 as a practical, comprehensive guide to Vancouver heritage, and compiled by heritage enthusiasts Catherine Barford, Janine Bond, Shirley Sexsmith, Peter Vaisbord, Susan Andrews, Fiona Avakumovic and Andrew Young.

In 1979, the Arts Council decided to make use of television as a way of publicizing the arts. Peggy Merlin, Genevieve Lemarcand, Anne Macdonald and others organized and hosted fourteen programs called ‘Access to the Arts’ for Cable 10 Community Cablevision. The local arts scene was featured with interviews of personnel from a variety of organizations.