study are accepted and acted upon by the three North Shore municipal governments. The 36-page document, compil- ed and researched by the Cor- nerstone Planning Group of Van- couver for the North Shore Arts Cammission, was made public fast week foliowing interviews with over 70 local arts groups. facility operators and municipal repre- sentatives between December 1991 and the spring of 1992. It recommends: @ that a framework be developed by all three North Shore municipalities to create a regional performance centre (the perform- ing arts), a regional art gallery and a regional museum; @ that the structure of the centres be based on an_ independent, board-governed society model; @ that consultation take place with existing arts facilities to de- velop a concept for the regional centres; @ that North Vancouver's Pres- entation House not be considered as one of the future sites. The $45,000 report, phase one of a more detaiied study that is due out by the end of the year, By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter assessed current cultural condi- tions on the North Shore and identifies directions for future de- velopment. Local arts groups have fone complained of the tack of studio and performance space in both North and West Vancouver. With the exception of a handful of facilities. notably Presentation House and Centennial Theatre, there are few places on the North Shore for artists to rehearse, build and exhibit their work. And both Presentation House, and to a lesser extent, Centennial Theatre, suffer from serious design and structural problems, As the report points out, the "+ continued success of North Shore arts organizations is constrained by the lack of a clear regiona! mandate and inadequate resources, especially facilities. Brenda Berck, cultural devel- Questions raised over proposed arts centre A NEW study has recom- mended that three regional cultural centres be estab- lished on the North Shore. By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter But what would these facilities be fike for arts groups and paying audience members, and how would they be supported? These are some of the questions being asked about the first phase of the North Shore Arts Commis- sion’s $80,000 regional facilities study. . The report calls for the creation of a regiona! performance centre, art gallery and museum and offers suggestions on how they could be jointly supported by all three North Shore municipalities. One way a regional perfor- mance centre could be sustained, according io the study, is by creating an independent society to oversee operations. . The centre’s operating budget would. be shared by the municipalities, and the perfor- mance centre society would be responsible for its own program budget. . Revenue would come from renials, ticket sales, profit sharing, fundraising and private sponsor- ship. sp. envisioned by the report, the centre would heuse a 450- te g00-seat main theatre, a smaller 200- to 250-seat studio theatre, 2 dance and music studio plus a meeting room. it would act as a rental venue for both local and touring theatre, dance and music groups, develop a calendar of events, and it could, if it so chooses, have its own pro- duction company (cunsideration would be given to Presentation House Theatre). A regional art gallery would operate much the same way as the performance centre. It would consist of a main feature gallery, a permanent coi- lections gallery, smaller galleries, meeting rooms, working and storage facilities and a_ gallery shop. As outlined in the study, the gallery would: ® exhibit touring shows propriate’’ to the North Shore; @ curate and: exhibit shows that *“*could deal with focal themes’’; ©.provide ‘ta certain Jevel of ac- cess to North Shore artists and vi- sual arts groups’; @ develop outreach exhibitions. A regional museum would follow the same funding pattern as the performance centre and art gallery. Although that situation is more complex because’ North Vancouver Museum and Archives ajready operates like a regional - museum and West Vancouver has just opened a community museum. It is unclear whether West Van- couver would be willing to sup- port another museum; however, the report notes that an equitable level’ of support could be estab- lished. . _ No mention is made of where the centres would be located, but the study’s authors suggest that. each municipality could be assign- ed one of the three centres and assume responsibility for its de- - velopment. Specific proposals on site op- tions and how the centres would be financed are expected in phase two of the study, due out by December. index @ Trevor Lautens @ Mailbox & Automotive ........... 29 Classified Ads Editorial Page .... ® Home & Garden Saturday & Sunday, mostly cloudy, 40% chance of showers. . Highs ASC, low 7°C. * Canadien Pubtications Mail Sales Product Agreement Numbar 0087238 “ap. BRENDA BERCK, cultural de- velopment officer, North Shore Arts Commission. opment officer for the North Shore Arts Commission, said the study spells out what local arts groups have known for years. ““My sense of it is that people have been talking about this for a very long time, and we finally have, in black and white, some rea] data that talks about what ex- ists and what the real needs are."’ MEMBERS OF the North Van band. Freeway Persuasion, (left to right), Rob Darch, Richard Friday, October 9. 1992 — North Shore News - 3 Arts centres recommended for N. Shore Study sees need for regional art gallery, museum, performance space THE NORTH Shore could be home to three new regionai arts centres if the recommendations of a newiy-released 44 Deep Cove Cultural Centre began as a neighborhood thing, and as it got built it began to serve a larger area. 99 - Brenda Berck, N.Shore Arts Commission She said regional cultural cen- tres, which in this case would serve all three North Shore com- munities and be supported by the municipalities, are the logical step in relation to the future growth of ihe area. The study concludes that the North Shore’s population sill be significant enough to support three regional centres: the com- bined current population of the area is 152,376; that number is expected to swell to 173,000 by 2001. “Deep Cove Cultural Centre began as a neighborhood thing, and as it got built it began to serve a larger area,'’ said Berck. “It makes sense. In these econom- ic times everyone is doing things on a shared basis.’’ The report also found that there is a great unt4pped audience for cultural events on the North Shore. The authors stress that support for the centres must be expressed by all three municipal govern- ments if the joint regional projects are to succeed. “There are some concillors who see the importance of cultural activities on the North Shore and some who don’t,"’ said Berck. ‘‘I hope they all realize how much is happening and that arts groups are not a drain on the municipalities.’” Phase two of the $80,000 gov- ernment-funded study, which will contain more concrete proposals, is expected by December. NEWS photo Mike Waxefleld Downs, and Chris Garnier, can’t believe that after touring Western Canada without incident, they had three guitars stolen out of Garnier’s van minutes before a home-town gig. NV band’s equipment stolen Guitars lifted from van before recCentre show AFTER A successful tour across Western Canada, a_ occurred. North Vancouver band had the tools of its trade stolen from its van minutes before a show in the Capilano Room at recCentre North Vancouver. “It’s pretty ironic that we had no incidents like this while on the road, then at a home-town gig we get three guitars stolen,"’ said Freeway Persuasion drum- mer Chris Garnier. The guitars, customized and valued at over $6,000, were taken from Garnier’s locked ’77 Dadge van, which was parked behind the recreation centre, as the three-man band grabbed a quick dinner before the Satur- day, Oct. 3 show. | And from ali accounts, the crooks appeared to have known what they were doing. “The guitars were between the front seats and the bench seat, covered with jackets,’’ said -Gar- nier. ‘“‘There was no way that anyone could have just been By A.P. McCredie News Reporier walking by, seen the guitars, and taken them. “Whoever did this was wat- ching us as we unloaded the rest of our gear.’’ The three stolen guitars were: @ a white-sodied Hamer elec- tric guitar, serial no. 923-1381; @a white-bodied Squire Stratocaster, with customized pickups; .@a_sky-blue-bodied Ibanez electric bass. Garnier and band-mate Rob Darch returned to the scene of the’ crime a few days later, hop- ing to figure out how the theft “Considering how many peo- pie were around when the guitars were stolen, we think someone out there must have seen some- thing,’® added Garnier. Upon discovering that the guitars were missing, Darch cail- ed the police, who responded quickly and sent out dogs to try to pick up the trail. “The biggest thing to me is the sentimental value of the. in- struments,’’ said Darch. With a ‘show must go on’ spirit, the band played the Oct. 3 gig with borrowed instruments, but its members wonder how many people will be willing to pay to see them play air guitar. veeway Persuasion is offering a reward to anyone who helps the band members find their stolen guitars. . If you have any information about the guitars, call Rob at 988-4144 or Chris at 988-7119.