A grant program to support art and culture in Okotoks is gaining traction one year after it was approved.
The Arts and Culture Activation Grant, a Town of Okotoks program that provides funding for evening or weekend events, was approved last summer and has been in place since late last year.
Allan Boss, culture and heritage team leader, gave Okotoks council a progress report about the program during its meeting on July 15.
Six applicants submitted seven grant applications and three applications were successful, Boss said.
“We think it's, so far, going really well,” he said.
Successful applicants were the Okotoks Film Society for Pop-Up Flicks and Alberta Film Trivia Night, and the Okotoks Arts Council for its Acoustic Summer Nights & Arts Market.
Coun. Rachel Swendseid said she thought there would be more applications.
Boss replied that some groups are relatively new and that others don’t yet have the capacity to host events.
“Your first year is building,” he said. “You've got to start establishing what you're doing, you've got to figure out exactly how you're doing it and how you're serving the community.
“We've also got to build capacity within our nonprofit and charitable organizations, which are the groups that we're trying to bolster through this grant.”
He pointed to work with the Okotoks Art Council and said the Town suggested it use the grant to hire someone who could organize the Acoustic Summer Nights event.
“We're building capacity within that group and as soon as that gets out and people start to understand how it can function, I think there might be more pickup,” he said.
The grant is designed to promote arts and culture activity, draw visitors, and provide funding for arts development and local artists.
Boss said about $9,500 of the $30,000 in available funding has been spent so far. Three levels of funding are available that can provide up to $15,000 and can cover between 50 to 100 per cent of eligible expenses per event.
Coun. Brett Robinson said the update shows good progress, given the grant is in its first year.
“Most of these (events) are probably going to be summer focused, so really, people probably had to get (applications) in by April, May at the latest,” Robinson said. “I think it’s a pretty good uptake for the first round.”
The grant is open to community associations, groups in Okotoks or Foothills County, educational institutions and non-profit clubs.
Boss said a year-end report will have more details about how the funding was used, challenges or areas for improvement, and whether organizations plan to re-apply for future grants.
