Yellowknife (July 16/04) - The consultant studying the idea of an artist-run centre in Yellowknife says it looks feasible, if government and private sponsors get behind it.

Greg O'Neill of Big Idea Consulting is in the final stretch of a study on the feasibility of an artist-run centre in Yellowknife for the Aurora Arts Society. - Jennifer Geens/NNSL photo

Greg O'Neill of Big Idea Consulting will present his final report at the end of July. He was contracted by the Aurora Arts Society to do a feasibility study on establishing an artist-run centre in Yellowknife.

The study is costing $26,000, with half of the funding coming from the City of Yellowknife and the other half from Canadian Heritage.

"It looks like it will be feasible if the money is available," he said.

O'Neill has spent the past weeks researching artist-run centres across Canada, including centres in Whitehorse and Dawson City, and talking to Yellowknife area artists and arts organizations about their needs.

"They've been overwhelmingly supportive of the concept," he said.

Though he promised confidentiality to the individual artists and organizations he spoke with, O'Neill said artists in the city have a number of shared concerns that would be addressed with the establishment of a centre for the arts.

"There's a real shortage of space in the community," he said.

"There's also a real shortage of dedicated equipment. Most of it belongs to the schools. And one of the general characteristics of the groups is that they're almost entirely run by volunteers."

Yellowknife's volunteers are busy people, often holding down full-time jobs while volunteering for more than one group. Most of O'Neill's respondents liked the idea of pooling their resources and hiring paid staff to run the artists' centre.

The space and equipment shortage and lack of permanent paid staff "inhibits the growth of arts in the community," said O'Neill.

Over the next few weeks he will be working on the dollars and cents part of the study, surveying government departments and corporations to find out whether they would financially support a new artist-run centre.

"The part I'm at now is looking at the nuts and bolts -- what facilities are available, what funding is available," he said.

There are at least three sites under consideration by the Aurora Arts Society for the centre.

"A lot of these artist-run centres have sprung up in former industrial areas," he said.

O'Neill said the typical successful artist-run centre is run as a non-profit organization, with some revenue from internally generated sources, such as renting out space and selling art, and major contributions from government and corporate sponsors.

He urges anyone who wants to give input on the centre to call him at 766-2975.