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North Vancouver Community Arts Council Celebrates 35 Years of Shared Vision W h e n y o u d a r e t o d r e a m , it is a m a z i n g w h a t mira c l e s c a n b e a c h i e v e d . T r o u b l e is; m o s t p e o p l e never start d r e a m i n g their i m p o s s i b l e dream. _ --Noel Peebles t h e a t r e a n d t h e gallery. T h e N o r t h V a n c o u v e r M u s e u m a n d the Archives Commission were created to operate the m u s e u m . A n d a l t h o u g h t h e A r t s C o u n c i l n o w lives at 3 3 5 L o n s d a l e A v e n u e , P r e s e n t a t i o n H o u s e is still h o m e t o t h e N o r t h Vancouver Museum a n d Archives, the Presentation House Gallery a n d the Presentation House Theatre. R o b i n Inglis, c u r r e n t D i r e c t o r o f t h e N o r t h V a n c o u v e r ' M a c D o n a l d s t a r t e d d r e a m i n g . A n d in h e r b a s e m e n t , in 1969, the North Vancouver C o m m u n i t y Arts Council ( N V C A C , The Arts Council) was born. Alongside A n n e M a c D o n a l d was Ella P a r k i n s o n . S h e r e m e m b e r s it b e i n g a n u p h i l l b a t t l e a l l t h e way, b u t " f t ^ M J i t w e m a d e o u r n a m e k n o w n . " A s Executive Director of ffleLouncil f o r n e a r l y t w o d e c a d e s , Ella w i t n e s s e d Museum a n d Archives, speaks w i t h conviction a n d deepest respect w h e n h e s a y s , " O f all t h e t h i n g s t h e A r t s C o u n c i l h a s a c c o m p l i s h e d , t h e c r e a t i o n o f P r e s e n t a t i o n H o u s e as a n arts a n d h e r i t a g e centre, is b y f a r t h e i r g r e a t e s t a c h i e v e m e n t , t h e p i n n a c l e . . . t h e f o c a l point from which all else has flowed...and without this creation I believe o u r c o m m u n i t y w o u l d be i n c o m p l e t e . " m a n y miracles a n d today remains " p r o u d of w h a t the Arts Council has achieved." @ T h e A r t s C o u n c i l is a " g r a s s r o o t s c h a r i t a b l e o r g a n i z a t i o n " made Ella r e c a l l s a t i m e w h e n t h e N V C A C w a s n o t m u c h m o r e t h a n a picnic table a n d A n n e M a c D o n a l d ' s vision of a C o u n c i l that would of take art appreciation Arts Council beyond that the boundaries become the up of a volunteer Board of Directors, a n Executive D i r e c t o r a n d s u p p o r t staff, o v e r 1 0 0 d e d i c a t e d v o l u n t e e r s , a n d a membership comprised of individual artists, students, seniors, families, cultural groups a n d businesses. Throughout its l o n g h i s t o r y , t h e N V C A C h a s i n i t i a t e d a n d a s s i s t e d i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d success of m a n y projects a n d continues to o p e r a t e regular projects, p r o g r a m m e s a n d services, s u c h as the Arts Rental Programme. "pretty"--an would cornerstone of an "aesthetic quality of life" community--our community. From the for an entire table the picnic C o u n c i l u p g r a d e d t o a s m a l l r o o m in a R e c r e a t i o n C e n t r e . A t t h a t t i m e t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e i r art s h o w s t o o k p l a c e in service clubs a n d art rental halls. W h a t t h e C o u n c i l n e e d e d w a s a b u i l d i n g , a p l a c e t o call h o m e . I T h e P r e s e n t a t i o n H o u s e m a i n b u i l d i n g w a s b u i l t in 1 9 0 2 as a s c h o o l a n d in 1 9 1 3 w a s t a k e n over by t h e City of North V a n g e B r a s s a r d , a local artist w h o has b e e n i n v o l v e d w i t h the C o u n c i l s i n c e its d a y s o f c o n c e p t i o n , says s h e w o u l d "encourage involved all y o u n g a n d n o v i c e artists t o c o n s i d e r b e c o m i n g w i t h t h e A r t s R e n t a l P r o g r a m m e . " S h e c l a i m s it h a s p r o v i d e d a d e p e n d a b l e a n d s t e a d y b a c k i n g t h r o u g h o u t h e r career. V a n g e considers t h e A r t s C o u n c i l t o be a great support t o individual artists in o u r c o m m u n i t y , " a c t i n g as a g e n t s a n d a d v o c a t e s . . . they are always h a p p y t o give y o u a h e l p i n g h a n d . " V a n c o u v e r as a " t e m p o r a r y " C i t y H a l l , f o r 6 2 y e a r s . W h e n t h e City a n n o u n c e d t h e creation of a n e w hall e l s e w h e r e , the N V C A C p u t in t h e i r r e q u e s t t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l b u i l d i n g b e g i v e n t o t h e c o m m u n i t y t o b e u s e d a s a n art c e n t r e f o r t h e N o r t h S h o r e . A m o n g s t other N V C A C successes has been the creation and The A n n e MacDonald Studio b u i l d i n g , f o r m e r l y St. J o h n ' s p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e first N o r t h S h o r e arts p r o m o t i o n a l vehicles. A n g l i c a n C h u r c h , w a s b u i l t i n 1 8 9 9 . In 1 9 7 3 t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n decided to replace the church a n d so offered the building t o t h e C i t y o n t h e c o n d i t i o n it w a s m o v e d t o a n e w s i t e . T h e A r t s C o u n c i l r e c o g n i z e d t h e p o t e n t i a l o f t h e b u i l d i n g as a historical site a n d c h a r a c t e r s p a c e f o r t h e arts. T h e y s u g g e s t e d t h e b u i l d i n g b e m o v e d t o 3 r d a n d C h e s t e r f i e l d , in c l o s e p r o x i m i t y to Presentation House. Arts Access Magazine a n d Arts Access Television Thanks. Show, The f o r e r u n n e r s t o t h e c u r r e n t Arts and installation of a n u m b e r Alive Magazine. C o u n c i l is a l s o r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n , f u n d r a i s i n g of public art pieces in t h e at c o m m u n i t y , i n c l u d i n g D o u g l a s S e n f t ' s Cathedral Sculpture W a t e r f r o n t P a r k . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e C o u n c i l w a s i n s t r u m e n t a l in t h e c r e a t i o n o f a n A r t s C o m m i s s i o n d e s i g n e d t o a s s i s t in t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d p r o m o t i o n o f arts a n d c u l t u r e i n t h e c o m m u n i t y . ® Irwin O o s t i n d i e o f t h e Y o u t h A r t W o r k s Society r e m e m b e r s the 25th Anniversary of the N V C A C , w h e n "they sponsored a music which youth festival with hip-hop a n d hard-core And so it happened that the City donated both buildings...and the Arts Council had a n e w home. The N V C A C created the Presentation H o u s e Cultural Society to m a n a g e t h e o p e r a t i o n of the buildings, t h e p r o g r a m m e s of 10 S e p t e m b e r I O c t o b e r a t t r a c t e d 7 0 0 y o u t h -- p u t t i n g their arts d e v e l o p m e n t dollars