Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 14, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - When the Aurora Arts Society (AAS) met for last year's annual general meeting, the turnout was pretty dismal.

"Last year it was kind of a depressing thing. We had about three people," said Terry Pamplin, who has until now shared the role of AAS president with Vivian Gustafson.

But though the organization was small, the few members involved pushed through.

"I'm in it for the long run because art is a commitment," said Pamplin. "If you don't have all the joy in the world with your Aurora Arts Society, you don't just give up."

This year, he said, things are looking up. At the AGM last Friday, he said about five times as many people showed up to join the board, share ideas about the past year and begin working towards next year.

"This year we did really well. We reorganized ourselves, we downsized our expectations," he said, explaining that they began thinking like a small organization and putting less pressure on themselves to act as a larger one.

The group found itself "spinning its wheels," according to the presidents' report. Their old mission statement was "to promote and support arts, culture and heritage in the North for the benefit of all," which was far too broad a mission for a small group to achieve.

Their new mission statement, which worked better for them this year, was "to build and maintain a community in the greater Yellowknife area that will support and advocate for the visual arts."

This year, AAS introduced social events, holding three. The events were designed to bring the city's artists together to mingle and network and knit the arts community closer together.

Next year, Pamplin said, "we're going to try and maybe squeeze another one in, make it four."

Other plans for next year include expanding the society's arts week in the fall and promoting the arts, as he's been doing with his live drawing class. He said the class has also done well this year.

"We've had more people than ever coming to draw and to model for us," he said.

Early in the year, the group also plans on hosting an art exhibit, which they hope to open just before the Arctic Winter Games in March.

For now, they are reorganizing themselves to get on track and come up with a plan for a successful year in 2008.