Art matters Cuitural development officer Brenda Berck emphasizes tne need for ongoing community port of North Shore arts and municipal sup RENDA BERCK hasn’t found inspira- B tion for her new job as the North Shore’s cultural development officer in dry reports or wordy studies. Evelyn Jacob SPOTLIGHT FEATURE She’s getting an education by strolling along the streets of North and West Vancouver, seeing what focal artists are up to. Her latest venture had her admiring artwork inside the men’s washroom at a West Vancouver soccer field. “What appeals to me about art in toilets,” the Winnipeg native muses in her East Second Street office, ‘‘is the element of sur- prise.” It’s no surprise that Berck was chosen to succeed former cultural development officer Carolyn Lair, who left last August after two years. Dozens of arts groups have sought her organizational skills, from the Royal Ontario Museum, where she worked as assistant to the associate director, to the Dawson City Museum. She sees herself as the ideal successor to Lair Eecause of her knack for problem-solving and her ability to get people thinking about the arts in ways they haven’t be- * fore. “1 believe art has a place in all of life. It shouldn't only be some- thing that happens in an art gallery,’’ she says — hence the public washroom tour. If there’s one area where Berck and Lair differ, it’s their working styles. “4 work more with community groups, where Carolyn worked more with municipal staff and on municipal projects,”” Berck says. From her first day on the job, Berck has listened to the concerns of local art boards, amateur and professional groups. These are tough times for the arts and Berck emphasizes the need for ongoing community and municipal support, and more links between the arts and business communities. But she’s a pragmatist when it comes to talk- ing dollars and cents. I don’t think we have the climate, especially during a reces- sion, when the first thing you talk about is money. Talk about that first and people will go nuts.’ Then, again, she doesn’t believe communities should have to choose between theatres and hospitals. As she sees it, there is phenom- enal potential for the arts on the North Shore, but too many arts groups are in ‘‘the child stage” — some are walking, some are running, but none are able to pro- gress into the teen stage without a healthy injection of both financial and human resources, Where the North Shore par- ticularly falls down, she says, is in supporting larger groups. “With smaller groups a $506 municipal grant goes a long way. It NEWS photo Mike Wakefield WINNIPEG NATIVE Brenda Berck has recently replaced Carolyn Lair as the North Shore’s cultural development officer. would mean more to Deep Cove Stage than to, say, Judith Marcuse Dance Company. But it’s abso- lutely essential to support Judith Marcuse. | mean, where are we going to go with Tiny Tots? | think that’s where we've been very weak.” Even if North and West Van- couver could support those groups there isn’t the space for them to store their work, rehearse, exhibit their work or mount their perfor- mances. it's been a chronic, frustrating problem for nearly every North Shore artist and Berck admits that the need for more space is ‘‘pret- ty desperate now. “l went to the pantomime at Presentation House at Christmas. The theatre is pretty tiny, and Presentation House gets up to 100 degrees in the summer. “There is a real need for an art gallery, for better theatre facilities, a need to make Centennial Theatre more accessible in the broadest sense of the word. What we really need is some medium- sized place, an art gallery that is bigger than a bread box.” She cites West Vancouver's Ferry Building as an example of a local success story. Since it open- ia Ne Environmentalists Start Here ed just over two years ago, the waterfront gallery has mounted solid exhibitions and attracted a fairly steady stream of people. “They do a fabulous job ina bread box,’’ says Berck, noting that the cramped building limits the Ferry Building’s potential for creating even better exhibits. Likewise, The Silk Purse is being welcomed as West Vancouver's first “art centre,” but Berck stresses that it is only a house and will therefore never be able to display large works of art. What she and many local groups are waiting for are the results of a major study of regional arts facili- ties, conducted by the Van- couver-based Cornerstone Plan- ning Group. The study will deter- mine which arts venues on the North Shore are being patronized and the kind of entertainment res- idents are seeking. “On the North Shore there isn’t only a money problem,” says Berck, “‘there isn’t the audience. 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