The ED Report, February 2021

Dear friends and followers of the BC Alliance,

When it comes to creating a strategy for arts advocacy at the BC Alliance, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into it that’s invisible but important.   

In the three decades I’ve spent at the helms of Canadian theatre companies and performing arts festivals, I’ve learned that having a personal connection with funders is paramount. And when I say personal, I don’t mean hanging out for drinks after work, but building an honest, empathetic connection, an understanding of the other’s role and responsibilities. It’s critical for many reasons, especially if your organization hits a wall. It’s happened to me more than once.

In the four and a half years I’ve been at the BC Alliance, I’ve learned that arts advocacy is about building those same kind of relationships with every stakeholder – from BC Alliance members, to colleagues, politicians, funders, policy makers and the general public.

At the BC Alliance, our primary relationship, since the start of COVID-19, has been with the executive directors of BC’s arts service organizations. We’ve been working collaboratively over ten months to secure our sector’s recovery. We’ve been especially fortunate to have access to Ministry staff, whose insights and guidance for working with government in a time of crisis have been invaluable. We’ve learned that diplomacy and collaboration are the most effective tools for success.

Perhaps the most valuable learning, however, has been the realization for the need to speak with a unified voice. This is not an easy task for the arts and culture sector, which has been struggling to subsist for nearly half a century. By nature, artists are independent, passionate individuals who need to think for themselves to build a career fraught with financial instability, rejection and constant criticism. It’s no surprise that we’ve kept ourselves separate, played our cards ‘close to our chests’ and protected our individual pieces of the pie.

My hope is that this can change. That we can work together, speak up for one another and have each other’s back. If we are going to survive and thrive in a society that is faced with challenges like we’ve never seen before, we need to find where our potential lies. The work ahead requires collaboration, solidarity and a united front. It requires us to break down the barriers between artistic disciplines, to defy the silos of professional versus community-engaged arts and play a leading role to ensure a more equitable society.

I know we can do that because our job is to build connections. Our sector will thrive when we understand and are understood.

Thanks for listening,

Brenda Leadlay
Executive Director
BC Alliance for Arts + Culture