40 Years at the HeART and Soul of Whistler

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We’re not very good at keeping our art in museums, or drawing within the lines. We don’t always conform to the norm, and we certainly aren’t good at keeping quiet. We don’t believe art belongs just on walls or stages. But it helps that we know how to put on a show… though you don’t always have to buy a ticket. For 40 years we’ve lifted hearts in this community, creating a more colourful past. We look forward to the next 40 years, together fostering a more vibrant future.

40^th Anniversary Celebrations and Promotions through 2022-23.

Website: artswhistler.com/

HISTORY

The Whistler Arts Council (dba Arts Whistler) was established in 1982 as a registered charity by arts advocate Glenda Bartosh and a team of dedicated community volunteers, with the mandate to build and integrate arts into the fabric of the Whistler community. Today Arts Whistler leads Whistler’s cultural sector, with a permanent home in the Maury Young Arts Centre which it manages on behalf of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW).

Arts Whistler is a leading advocate for arts and culture in the Sea to Sky corridor and promotes all Sea to Sky arts, culture, and heritage initiatives through our website, social media and printed publication, Arts Scene. As a key stakeholder in the community, Arts Whistler regularly collaborates with the RMOW, Tourism Whistler, and the Whistler Chamber to engage residents and visitors in arts and culture.

Offering a diverse range of events, exhibitions, events, and festivals, Arts Whistler works to encourage self-expression, foster wellbeing and inspire creativity in Sea to Sky corridor residents and visitors of all ages. Arts Whistler has a commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion best practices and collaborates with artists and cultural leaders in the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation, as we seek to advance truth and reconciliation through the arts and celebration of creativity.

In a community obsessed with adrenaline-fueled sport, Arts Whistler keeps the arts exciting, accessible, and just saucy enough to keep people talking.

Arts Whistler Signature Event – Highlights:

Started Event

1983 Whistler Children’s Art Festival

1984 Arts Whistler Live! (founded as Performance Series)

1985 Arts Whistler Holiday Market (founded as Bizarre Bazaar)

2016 The Teeny Tiny Show – Size Does Matter

2017 The Anonymous Art Show

2020 Art On the Lake…literally

2021 Laugh Out Live – weekly comedy show

TIMELINE:

1982	Whistler Arts Council established.
1983	Whistler Children’s Festival debuts.
1980s/1990s	Programs increase to include adult workshops and live performance series, still volunteer-led.
2001	Resort Municipality of Whistler releases first Arts Plan.
2002	First staff member hired, Executive Director, Doti Niedermayer.
2004	Whistler Arts Council partners with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee to host annual “Cultural Cabarets” in the lead up to the Games.
2006	Arts Legacy Endowment Fund established with Whistler Community Foundation. Annual disbursement from fund supports Whistler Arts Council operations.
2008	Whistler Arts Council starts producing Whistler Village summer animation program on behalf of RMOW.
2009	Whistler acknowledged by Government of Canada as a Cultural Capital of Canada.
2010	Whistler Arts Council serves as Executive Producer for Whistler Live!, Whistler’s program of daily entertainment during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
2010	Whistler Arts Council takes over management and operations of Maurice Young Millennium Place (opened in 2000 as a community multi-faith facility), at the invitation of the RMOW.
2011-12	Alliance for Cultural Tourism formed by arts groups in Whistler, working together to implement Whistler’s Cultural Tourism Development Strategy “A Tapestry of Place”, and Whistler’s Community Cultural Plan is developed.
2016	Whistler Arts Council original executive director, Doti Niedermayer, leaves position. Maureen “Mo” Douglas hired as new executive director. Staffing at 14 full-time staff.
2016	Whistler Arts Council rebrands as Arts Whistler. Building renamed to Maury Young Arts Centre.
2016	Arts Whistler receives Government of Canada Canadian Heritage Strategic Initiatives grant of $489,500. This supports new digital initiatives, social media strategy, website upgrade, Fall for Arts, and Arts Scene.
2016–19	Arts Whistler creates and runs cultural sector-wide promotion and programs “Fall for Arts” elevating Whistler’s cultural scene and program offerings from September to December annually.
2020	Arts Whistler responds to COVID-19 health orders by offering online streaming programs featuring local music – “The Bike Shop Sessions”; “Hear and Now”; and “the Next Level”; and produces an all-virtual Anonymous Art Show Buying Night via Zoom with 500+ participants from around the globe.
2020	Arts Whistler establishes signature event “Art on the Lake…literally” an in-person event intended to lift community spirits during COVID. The event required a PHO exemption order approved and signed by Dr. Bonnie Henry.
2022	Arts Whistler celebrates its 40^th Anniversary