artsVest™ to Continue Building Partnerships in Saskatchewan

Released on December 2, 2015

Business for the Arts, Canada’s only national charitable organization of business members who support the arts, announced today the fifth cycle of its successful artsVest™ program in Saskatchewan.

The program will again be delivered with funding support from Canadian Heritage in partnership with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport with a provincial investment of $250,000.

The program continues to provide free sponsorship development training.  New this cycle is the addition of mentorship training.  artsVest™ is a Business for the Arts matching incentive and sponsorship training program designed to spark new business sponsorship of arts and culture.

Arts and culture organizations in Saskatchewan can apply for matching incentive grants, which they will have six months to match with new sponsorships from local businesses.

 “Saskatchewan has a vibrant arts, culture and heritage sector made up of talented and creative individuals and organizations committed to building strategic alliances with Saskatchewan businesses,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Mark Docherty said.  “With Saskatchewan’s renewed investment in artsVest™, these partnerships will continue to strengthen the provincial sectors, helping organizations realize their full potential while contributing to our growing economy and our enviable quality of life.”

“We are delighted to see Saskatchewan’s arts and culture community access the artsVest™ program for a fifth year,” Business for the Arts President and CEO Nichole Anderson said.  “We are seeing arts leaders forge important and lasting partnerships with the business community through the program, and are glad they will have more time to deepen relationships and form new partnerships.  I look forward to seeing another year of impressive results!”

An example of a successful artsVest™ Saskatchewan partnership came from Friends of the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon.  Through a partnership with Affinity Credit Union and BullFrog Power, the historic theatre was able to install a solar-powered energy system on the roof, thereby building the reputation of all the corporate partners and the theatre in the community.

Saskatchewan was the first province to join with Business for the Arts to offer a provincial program.

The first four years of the program saw 160 arts organizations create a total of 743 partnerships between arts and businesses province-wide, of which 438 are long-term and 475 were first-time partnerships.  Matching funds of $1.36 million generated more than $4 million in private sector sponsorship and resulted in an influx of more than $5.3 million to the cultural economy.

Also operating in Ontario, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, the goals of artsVest™ are to leverage public sector dollars to build partnerships with the arts community; stimulate new business investment in the arts; train arts and cultural organizations to approach the business sector with a partnership plan; and showcase what is possible when business invests in the arts.

Since the expansion of the program across Canada in 2011, a total of 1,913 partnerships have been created between arts and business, of which 1,181 are long term.

About Business for the Arts
Founded in 1974, Business for the Arts is Canada’s only national charitable organization of business members who support the arts.  Their vision is to inspire Canada’s business community to partner with the arts to ensure a thriving cultural sector.  They connect, educate and invest to bridge the gap between business and the arts.
For more information, visit www.businessforthearts.org.  Visit www.artsvest.com for information about artsVest™.

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For more information, contact:

Colleen Ostoforoff
artsVest Saskatchewan Program Manager
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-361-2312
Email: c_ostoforoff@businessforthearts.org

Sean St. George
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-9087
Email: sean.st.george@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8635