The Cultural Centre is asking city council for $180,603 in funding next year — an increase of $11,815 from this year — and a one-time lump sum of $20,000 for marketing purposes.
Sarah Simison, executive director, spoke to council during its Nov. 29 third-party budget meeting and discussed the venue’s current and future activities.
The Cultural Centre estimates that it received nearly 32,000 visitors this year, which is 10,000 more than last year, said Simison. Additionally, 10 of 12 studio spaces are full and the building bustles with activity.
The Cultural Centre installed a new digital projector — the most modern in the province — and has begun hosting regular film screenings. It has also formed the new Capitol Film Society, a nod to the building’s history, where residents can join and help choose films.
Since last year, the venue has grown from two professional potters as tenants to six, while the Moose Jaw Community Theatre Players moved into the basement, she continued. Meanwhile, the Festival of Words and Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association (WACA) are also tenants.
Besides their work, these groups hold performances in the theatre, offer workshops and programs, participate in gallery exhibitions and mentor artists.
Renovations are desperately needed to the upstairs lobby after the venue installed a new bar because the old bar disintegrated when staff moved it this year to install carpet, said Simison. Meanwhile, the venue is repainting the exterior Mae Wilson Theatre sign and retrofitting it with LED lights.
The venue hosts roughly 200 events, meetings, and programs annually, and by the end of 2023, it will have sold about 17,000 tickets, a 14-per-cent year-over-year increase, said Simison. Also, about 20 per cent of attendees come from outside Moose Jaw.
The venue faced several financial issues this year and has worked to correct those errors, including terminating its external bookkeeping services contractor and bringing that activity in-house, she continued. Meanwhile, the Cultural Centre is still facing pandemic fallout since its insurance increased by $10,000 and ticket sales continue to lag.
The Cultural Centre is facing a branding problem since there’s nothing on the building’s exterior about what’s inside, preventing tourists and residents from discovering what’s happening there, Simison said.
Moreover, residents confuse the Cultural Centre with the Multicultural Council, so they will work on a rebranding strategy for the spring.
Other new initiatives include more pottery and youth art workshops, further renovations, finding sponsorships to bring in more immigrants and people with disabilities, and finding funding for a mental health-focused art project for first responders.
Simison added that the Mae Wilson Theatre has been nominated for a SaskMusic Award for Venue of the Year 2023, which is an honour and testament to the Cultural Centre’s good work.
Coun. Dawn Luhning wondered whether the Community Players paid for the spaces it rented.
Simison said the group pays rent monthly and pays to use the theatre, including access to the rehearsal hall and workshop; the latter spaces are usually empty when no larger shows are passing through. Meanwhile, the theatre troupe’s rental agreement will increase next year.
“It’s (the venue) never been used this much before … . We haven’t signed anything longer than a year because this has been a social experiment. We’re still learning as we go,” said Simison.
She pointed out that part of the agreement sees the troupe helping clean out the basement. Members have done an incredible job and enabled the venue to use spaces it never could before. Moreover, members also cleaned out space under the theatre and enabled better air ventilation.
Luhning said she was on the venue board before and understands how the business operates. She was “raising a few red flags” around costs for space usage and the “nominal rental fee” the Centre was allegedly charging the Community Players.
“… I’m a little concerned that there’s possibly a space that should be not all subsidized by the taxpayers … ,” she stated.
The venue board develops the lease agreement, which is why it’s only for a year and troupe members have limited access to spaces like the rehearsal hall and pay for additional services, said Simison. While they may receive a “good deal,” the troupe has helped the venue in many ways.
Coun. Crystal Froese said residents must “live under a rock” if they thought nothing happened in Moose Jaw, pointing to the many concerts and performers coming here. She suggested people visit the Centre’s website regularly to see what’s happening.
There has been so much empty space there since the building opened, so the board is fulfilling its mandate to bring in tenants like the Community Players, she continued. Further, the board has expanded programming and created stronger connections with the multicultural community and First Nations groups.
“The board is … being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money by ensuring that we’re supporting amateur artists and bringing in top-notch performers … ,” Forese added.
The next budget meeting is Wednesday, Dec. 6.
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
