The Saskatchewan Arts Board wants to know how it can better support the independent artists of the province. To that end, it is consulting with people at eight stops across the province to hear about what people want from their programs and where they can do better.
Michael Jones, CEO of the Saskatchewan Arts Board, says that the goal of the consultations is to review programs to better support artists in their careers and their parallel careers in the community. They are undertaking a review of their programs and want to consult artists in order to do that effectively.
“The best way that we can do that is to come out to the community, not just because these are the people who use the programs, but because these are the artists, these are the people who are creative and have totally new ways to approach things. This the place for us to start popping the kernels of new ideas and maybe even finding the kernels of new ideas.”
The Yorkton stop was the first in the consultation process, and Jones admits that as a result the city and its arts community were something of a guinea pig as they tested what questions to ask and what direction that the consultations would take. The consultations were successful, Jones argues, because people were engaged in what they want to see from the Arts Board and how they can improve, and he hopes for similar results from future consultations.
“It was really refreshing... It was really exciting and challenging. It’s always hard to sit and hear what people think is not working, but that’s really important, and part of the process of growing. It was great to have that animated conversation, and also not surprising.”
This is an extension of Jones’ philosophy as a CEO, because he wants the Arts Board to be responsive to the people it serves, whether that means the artists in the province or the people in Saskatchwan as a whole.
“I do this work because I am still an artist. I don’t want to sit in an office, I want to be out meeting new people, hearing about the work and hearing how we can work better. Hearing what makes everything tick.”
The end goal of the consultations is to look at the programs that the Arts Board offers and better adapt them to the needs of the province’s artists, with the board meeting their needs the best they can with the funds they can access.
The consultations are ongoing, and people can participate in a webinar that will be closer to the end of the process as well as online surveys. Jones also recommends people who want to participate to call the Arts Board and tell them what they want to see from it.
“There is always an opportunity to have input in this, whether it’s at a formal meeting or just by calling us. The joy, of course, of a formal meeting is that you can build your ideas on the ideas of others, and that doesn’t happen in a phone conversation, and that is why this sort of a meeting is so exciting.”
