COMOX TOWN COUNCIL PRESENTATION

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

SHEILA POLLOCK – PRESIDENT, PEARL ELLIS GALLERY

I’d like to begin today by thanking the Comox Town Council for its support of the Arts in the Comox Valley.  Being named one of the five cultural capitals in Canada is a tremendous achievement and a tribute to the talent and dedication of all who live in our community.

Last year I appeared before Council in May – and – again in December – using only half of my allotted ten minute speaking time to allow five of those minutes for questions and answers.  I’ll do that again today.

 Shortly after becoming president last year, I (and the new executive) became aware that the gallery no longer had a long term lease with the Town and became anxious that we re-establish our connection with the Comox Town Council and ensure that Council members were not only informed about the activities of the gallery but also became aware of the feelings of the community in regard to the Pearl Ellis.   To this end, I presented a petition in May of approximately 500 signatures collected over a 5 week span that stated:

During the last civic elections held November 2005 a referendum was passed to allow the Town of Comox to proceed with plans to finance a new library.  This may or may not exclude the other tenants of the present building where the library is now located.  This petition is one method that the membership of the Pearl Ellis Gallery and visitors to the Gallery would like to use to express their feelings of how important it is that we keep the Gallery open.   We would like to encourage the Council to keep the Gallery in mind when selecting a final decision as to what is going to happen with the library.

In December I put forward our Christmas wish that we renew a long-term lease like the one we had from 1977 to 2001.

In January I met with you, Mayor Brass, to ask for advice to the Gallery for obtaining such a lease once again.   You recommended at that time to just keep running the gallery as we were and that council would contact us, possibly in the spring, when the new library construction was nearing completion.  I left that meeting very optimistic and looked forward to hearing again from Council.

Due to the time of year, and the visible construction progress on the new library, our Gallery executive has made the assumption that council will be starting their deliberations soon about the future of the building at 1729 Comox Avenue and that is the primary reason the Pearl Ellis has asked to appear here today.

Each of you has been provided with an information package containing highlights of the gallery’s activities in 2007 with an outline of what is scheduled for the remainder of the year; the show schedule for 2008; a brochure which describes the gallery and  the benefits of being a member; a brief description of the gallery’s website and the services the site provides.   It is my hope that each of you will take some time at your leisure to check into the website in order to fully appreciate what it offers.  Included also in the package of information is a sheet of statistics on volunteers and the number of hours they put into various aspects of the Gallery operations.  Two posters – one for the exhibit that has just opened today and the upcoming 30 year anniversary members show and sale, dubbed the Biggest Little Show in the Valley, are also included.  Of interest also are copies of thank you cards received from the recipients of the 3 bursaries granted this spring to the high school students.

It is my hope that you will read through this information when you can and I’ll be very happy to meet with you individually or as a group to answer any questions you might have.

At this point I would ask you to look at the sheet entitled 2007 Show Schedule.  Please note that as of Monday of this week (September 10^th) we have already had a total of 4008 visitors to the Gallery.  That is just  176 short of the entire year’s attendance in 2006 of 4180. That is double the attendance of the entire year of 2005.  By the end of this year we will probably reach over 6000 visitors.

The Pearl Ellis Gallery is a valuable asset to the town of Comox and the entire Comox Valley.   Once again I am asking you to restore the Gallery to a long term lease it once held so that the Gallery can move forward with its programming and tend to such routine upgrades and maintenance as may be necessary to sustain its operations.   I would also ask that Council consider allocating the $3000  it has been giving to the CVAG for the last 3 years to its own Gallery (the Pearl Ellis).  With the tax revenue CVAG receives – with the tremendous population growth in the Comox Valley and  increase in the property assessments, the Comox Valley Art Gallery -WHICH IS LOCATED IN COURTENAY – gets $1.09 for every $100,000 of assessed property value in the Valley.  THAT TAX BASE ALONE FOR THE CVAG SHOULD eliminate the need for Comox to give an additional $3000 grant annually to the CVAG.  In short – we suggest that you reallocate the $3000 to YOUR OWN LOCAL GALLERY – THE PEARL ELLIS.  As a further suggestion, please consider moving the Pearl Ellis Gallery upstairs into the space the library will be vacating.  This would allow for expansion of programming and become a long lasting tribute to Council for its recognition and celebration of the arts in the year we became a CULTURAL CAPITAL OF CANADA.  I would be happy to be part of any working committee you see appropriate to look into such expansion possibility.

 The year 2007 marks our 30^th anniversary.  It is a time to celebrate our achievements, a time to chart a new course as a vital link in the Comox Valley’s status as a Cultural Arts Centre.

Once again, thank you for your commitment to the arts in our community.

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