The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) recently received a $44,000 Professional Arts Organizations Program grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board (SAB) to support its operations. They were among 61 applicants in this particular category.
The deadline for the grant was January. According to Amber Andersen, who is the EAGM curator-director, it was a fairly difficult grant to apply for in the sense of competition and planning, but the money they received will definitely help with their programming.
“What this grant goes towards is all of the art exhibitions that we have, this goes towards paying the artist fees and any expenses associated with an exhibition,” said Andersen.
The Professional Arts Organizations Program provides support to professional arts organizations’ programs and services, governance, management, administration and operational functions. The program is supported by funding from SaskCulture Inc. through the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation.
At the most recent grant deadlines, the Saskatchewan Arts Board awarded funding to more than 180 individuals and organizations, totaling almost $5.3 million. Arts Board funding supports a variety of initiatives, including organizations that provide ongoing programs in the arts, the creative work of professional artists, community art projects and the engagement of professional artists to work in schools with students and teachers.
The EAGM has been a recipient of this grant for quite some time, but throughout the last several years the amount they received wasn’t changing. This time the SAB decided to give them an increase.
“An increase like that is significant so that we can continue to bring excellence to the community and it just helps with the cost,” said Andersen.
This increase will allow the EAGM to be a bit more confident with their programming and may allow it to bring in a few more artists.
“There is a potential that we might be able to have maybe a couple more workshops,” said Andersen.
But even with this grant, the EAGM still heavily relies on fundraising and community support. And this year the Rafferty Rumble, coming up this weekend, is one of their biggest fundraisers that will help the EAGM get through some financial challenges that they are facing after significant funding cuts they went through before.
SAB is the oldest public arts funder in North America and second oldest in the world after the Arts Council of Great Britain. They provide grants, programs and services to individuals and groups whose activities have an impact on the arts in Saskatchewan and ensure that opportunities exist for Saskatchewan residents to experience all art forms.
