ArtSea Needs your Support!

ArtSea Community Arts Council has proudly served the Saanich Peninsula for over 30 years, enriching our community life through a variety of vibrant programs including (but not limited to):

• ArtSea Gallery in Tulista Park
• Salish Sea Lantern Festival
• ArtSea Studio Tour
• Sidney Art Walk
• Sidney Seaside Sculpture Walk
• Diane Cross Award for the Arts Scholarship

Each ArtSea program reflects our commitment to bring creative opportunities and inspiring experiences to Peninsula residents and visitors alike.

ArtSea now faces significant challenges to meet its mandate to promote, encourage and develop arts and cultural events and activities on the Saanich Peninsula.  Increased costs and reduced grant funding have placed a strain on our resources and our capacity to seek funding and to support current programming.

What has ArtSea done to cut costs and save money?

The ArtSea Team has worked hard increase revenue and reduce costs through:

• Increased Grant Submissions
  • only 30% of the grant funding requested was provided
• A new sponsorship and donations program
  • 30% increased in sponsorships due to the efforts of the PR and Fundraising Coordinator.
• Increased membership fees for 2025
• Increased ArtSea Gallery rental fees for 2025.
• Requested additional support from our municipalities.
• Reduced printing and advertising expenditures.
• Reduced utility expenditures as much as possible.

Despite these efforts, ArtSea is forecasting a year-end loss for 2024 and we anticipate a similar financial situation for 2025.

ArtSea needs your help!

To ensure we can continue offering these meaningful programs, ArtSea is reaching out to the community for support. We ask you to consider making a financial donation (tax receipted) to help sustain our programs and secure the future of ArtSea on the Saanich Peninsula.  Additionally, ArtSea is seeking dedicated community members to join our Board of Directors. By bringing your expertise, passion, and vision to the ArtSea leadership team, you can play a vital role in shaping the future of arts and culture in our community. 

If you are a member who lives in the District of North Saanich, we ask you to call or email your councillors and mayor to request they increase the funding for ArtSea. We have met with them to request greater funding, and now we need your support.

Your support—whether through a donation or by volunteering your time on our board—will help ArtSea continue providing the creative programs our community values. Thank you for considering this opportunity to support ArtSea and help keep the arts thriving in our community. If you would like to speak further with a member of our team about supporting ArtSea, please send us an email.

Warm regards,

ArtSea Community Arts Council Society was established in 1991 as the community arts council for the Saanich Peninsula.

ArtSea is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes arts and cultural activities on the Saanich Peninsula. ArtSea is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and achieves its goals through the valued contribution of dedicated staff and volunteers. ArtSea operates within the unceded territory of the Coast Salish People.

ArtSea provides the following programs:

• The Art Gallery in Tulista Park – attracts over 20,000 visitors per year and features over two hundred artists.
• Art on the Deck – members can apply to have their art displayed in the windows at the gallery, clearly enjoyable from the outside deck.
• Salish Sea Lantern Festival – about two thousand people participate in making, parading, and celebrating; the production takes about 9 months and dozens of volunteers.
• ArtSea Studio Tour – about thirty-five artists open their studios, across Sidney, North Saanich, and Central Saanich, and thousands of studio visits over the weekend.
• The Art Walk – businesses in Sidney provide space for regional artists to display, and shoppers can follow a map to find the art. (partnership with SBIA)
• The Seaside Sculpture Walk – is now complete, a joint effort by the Town of Sidney and ArtSea.
• Diane Cross Award for the Arts – a scholarship for peninsula graduating high school students to continue studying art.
• The Saanich Peninsula Art and Culture Grants – ArtSea administers these grants for residents of the peninsula, for Arts and Cultural endeavors. This year, the majority of the funds were awarded for initiatives by North Saanich residents.
• The ArtSea Website records approximately four thousand visits per month; our social media posts reach over 20,000; the ArtSea Newsletter has over 1150 subscribers.

ArtSea serves a diverse audience from the Saanich Peninsula and Greater Victoria. The information presented in the graphs below was calculated in August 2024 when the majority of program registration was complete for the year.

ArtSea has come to a financial wall.
The Covid emergency funds, plus fewer expenses, gave us savings which carried us through 2020 – 2022, and helped us in 2023 to keep our loss to  ($24,550).

In that year we gave our staff a cost of living raises of 7.5% which added to the deficit.

• (a) Rent out the ArtSea Gallery during January & February ( currently Art on the Deck program with no income).
• (b) Cut programs
  • The Salish Sea Lantern Festival is our biggest program and major cost, in labour,
    materials, and volunteer time. It takes 7 months of volunteer labour, donated space, and rental space, the involvement pf SBIA, Panorama, McTavish Academy of Art, and ArtSea; huge hours of our staff, and a paid Director. It brings in a lot of donations and sponsorships. It is the second most widely enjoyed.The Sidney Art Walk requires a dedicated manager to coordinate all the
    businesses and artists, drop off, pick up, etc. SBIA helps with the contract to pay that person. Cutting the ArtWalk would leave that labour available for other things.The ArtSea Gallery in Tulista Park is our gem and enjoyed by 20,000 renters & visitors from far and wide per year. The first lady in, one day this spring, was from PARIS! So far, the gallery is  booked solid from May through December 2025, with just 9 weeks remaining available for rentals.
  • The ArtSea Studio Tour is the biggest program for the North Saanich artists. However, it is typically the biggest financial loser.

• c) Payroll
  •  One half-time employee, The Arts Coordinator, looks after the ArtSea Gallery, manages the ArtSea Membership Program,  runs the ArtSea volunteer program, and is our liaison with the Town of Sidney for gallery and Iroquois maintenance. If we cut this position, a minimum of 3, active, volunteers would be needed to do her jobs.
  • One full time employee, The Director of Programs and Communication, writes our essential, grant applications, administers our internet, interactive website, program promotional materials, , prepares our Annual Reports,  is the liaison to the ArtSea Board of Directors, attends all the community meetings , and maintains documentation. ArtSea could not function without this role.
  • ArtSea board was decimated during covid and has never recovered. Currently we have an active President, and active Treasurer & VP, and 4, non active members. We could not carry on without the staff and contractors to plan and present programs and maintain organizational operations  We have been actively recruiting for the board for 3 years, with limited success.
• (d) Request additional core funding from the municipalities.
  • Currently, ArtSea receives annual core funding from the District of North Saanich, the Town of Sidney to support arts and culture in the community. ArtSea also administers an Arts and Culture Grant program (SPACG) which is funded through the Town of Sidney and the District of North Saanich. The District of Central Saanich also has a four year agreement to provide core funding to ArtSea from 2023 – 2027.