Applications to the Community Arts Fund are reviewed by an Advisory Committee, typically comprised of arts professionals and local artists. Advisory Committee members are selected due to their strong connections to the Downtown Eastside community and to community arts within the City of Vancouver. No member of the committee will participate in the decision-making process for any applications from organizations with which they have an affiliation (e.g., staff, board members or volunteers) or individuals they have a personal relationship.
The Program Committee will consider each application on the weighted criteria and will recommend the allocation of funds to the Board of Directors of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.
2023 Advisory Committee – coming soon
2022 Community Arts Fund Advisory Committee Members:
Alison Fraser is an art lover and considers herself a community builder, whether she’s living in Toronto, New York City or Vancouver. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Alison switched from journalism to marketing communications more than a decade ago and works with clients in the health, technology and entertainment industries that are seeking growth in equity, awareness and engagement. When she isn’t working, volunteering, or completing assignments toward her third master’s degree, Alison enjoys visiting art galleries, seawall walks and spending time with her Labradoodle.
Beatrice Gill is a Project Management Professional (PMP) with close to 20 years of project management experience in a variety of industries, including financial services, higher education and the non-profit sector. She is also a Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner, having managed large and complex multi-year business transformation programs, primarily in the financial services industry. Beatrice has a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from UNSW in Sydney, Australia, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UBC. She is also a board member and volunteer with the South Granville Seniors Centre and supports both early career professionals and seniors through volunteer support and services, as well as through advocacy and mentorship.
Dan Small joined Cineworks as the Executive Director in 2021. He brings over two decades of experience within the non-profit sector, in addition to a wide range of academic accomplishments.
Dan has had a long-standing interest in film, culture and narrative. He is particularly interested in community-based collaboration, independent filmmaking, strategies to remove barriers to filmmaking and the power of film to challenge otherwise accepted assumptions about the social world. Dan’s expansive career in not-for-profit began in the mental health field in the 1980s and has included extensive proposal writing and fundraising within both the government and private sector, as well as the set-up, implementation and management of “low barrier” healthcare and housing projects designed to reach marginalized populations facing intersecting inequalities which put them at risk for social and healthcare exclusion.
Dan has made it his professional goal to use sociocultural analysis to unpack professional, institutional and societal narratives in order to help create more person-centred approaches to the delivery of community services. As an honourary research associate at the University of BC, Dan has a PhD in medical anthropology (UBC), an MPhil in circumpolar studies (Cambridge), and undergraduate degrees in sociology and anthropology (SFU) as well as psychology (SFU).
Mónica Reyes Gallery (MRG) has been backing the growth and development of emerging and mid-career artists at its current location since 2013. Serving the local and international art scene, MRG promotes artist initiatives invested in shaping the economies of art and culture. Located in the heart of Strathcona, the gallery is uniquely positioned to create dialogues with the artists and cultural engineers who call the neighbourhood home.
Our new outpost, located at 2895 West 33rd Avenue – at the intersection of Mackenzie Street, opened in February 2022. This new location in the very heart of Vancouver’s west side will provide a unique opportunity for the gallery’s roster of artists to connect with a new audience, to present new projects and participate in curated group exhibitions
With a commitment to advancing the cultural capital of the city, the gallery has since partnered with Pattison to present The Billboard Project (2020-2021), extending the public’s access to local artists and treating viewers to approachable yet thought-provoking contemporary art on the billboard. Featuring Kathy Slade, Annie Briard, Jack Chapman, Jessica Bushey and Robert Kleyn during a time when an in-person visit at galleries or museums was less possible due to the pandemic.
A project that was inspired by the pandemic and its need to return to the local and foster the community around us, Monica Reyes was one of the founding galleries of a new art fair called COMBINE. Its purpose is to serve as a platform for new and aspiring art collectors to learn about the West Coast art scene and as an opportunity for seasoned collectors to discover the latest local talents. The predominant concept of collaboration is visible in the make-up of the fair, consisting of five Vancouver galleries and the emphasis on interconnected elements of artists, collectors, galleries, and institutions of this inaugural fair.
Founder and director Mónica Reyes has been a longstanding figure in the Vancouver art scene, having served as Vice President of the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, the Board of Latincouver. Today she sits on the Board of the Strathcona Board Improvement Association. Reyes is committed to investing in art that gives voice to the cultural diversity of the Pacific Northwest.
MRG’s regular exhibition program and special events provide artists with opportunities for artists to show work that includes a range of practices from more traditional forms of painting, sculpture and photography to experimental video, durational performance and installation.
Olumoroti Soji-George (He/They) is an aspiring curator, film theorist and writer. Olumoroti is currently an MA candidate at SFU’S school for the contemporary arts, studying contemporary art studies. Olumoroti is also the curator at the Black Arts Centre in Surrey, BC and The Programming Coordinator at Gallery Gachet. Olumoroti’s curatorial practice revolves around unravelling the nuances regarding the multifaceted ways Blackness is embodied in the arts and conceptualizing the way Black Contemporary artists are presenting a post-modern perspective on the state of Blackness in the current world through their artworks.