Recent coverage in the Georgia Straight determined that leadership was needed to take advantage of the opportunity to develop an Arts Centre from a soon-to-be decommissioned Community Centre building in the heart of Vancouver's Mount Pleasant district. The article read, in part:

The only trouble is, as of yet, no one in the cultural community has taken the lead on the issue. In an e-mail sent today to various members of the local art scene, Judi Piggott, who has been coordinating an informal ad-hoc group dedicated to the issue, stated: “As much as I feel this is important, as a resident of the area and a ‘friend of artists’, I do need to know that you are still interested, and supportive of this approach on your behalf. I’d love to get any responses—however brief—if you get this information and want to keep going. If I know that, I will happily keep volunteering to keep the communication links alive.”

See the full article online at Jessica Werb article March 23, 09

My comment in reply, posted online, follows:
A bit disappointing to read - out of context - that an email I sent to interested arts groups to roll-call their current status after a few months of less public activity is used as an indictment of the community's lack of interest or leadership. This is far from the case, as the process has been to develop a collaborative and concerted effort with the existing stakeholders who have spent many years on their work to save the building during these intervening months. Checking in with the people who met prior to the election in November is a reasonable thing to do as we build now to action.

Part of this process has been to bring things to the point of development where people are not working at cross-purposes, nor solely for their own specific benefit, but for an outcome that is sustainable and where everyone wins. Now that the brief reprieve is in hand, we must all work together to make the very best of the opportunity.

There is no shortage of leadership, quite the contrary, there is a plethora of leadership:
The Arts committee of the Mt. Pleasant Community Center Association, the Save the Pool Committee, and the Child Care Committee, as well as many individuals on the Association Board have a history and momentum of effort to save the building. They are supportive of the Arts Centre concept and we have discussed the compatibility of all these agenda and where they may conflict. Information is being gathered in more detail about costs and possible options, and plans for a more public meeting are underway.

It is time for the variety of groups to work together to frame a common outcome. That is what we are doing. Without this, we expend energy on duplication of effort, we potentially lose the support of key stakeholders whose efforts have not been incorporated, and we run the risk of missing key opportunities.

In addition, I know you realize that arts organizations do not have the resources for attending to all these details, on 'spec' as they fight for their very survival. They must take care of their immediate needs while this complicated process runs its course.

This is another reason why the City's Cultural Plan includes support for the development of an Artscape-like intermediary group to facilitate this work. Until we can determine - through a proper independent feasibility study of the building - what is possible and affordable to do with this particular building in this specific neighbourhood under these circumstances - there is no guarantee that any of the arts groups who have expressed interest could locate there. We are working on securing funding for this first step so it can be completed during the next few months and give us the business case for saving and converting the building.

In the meantime, existing task groups have met and plans are forming. It's unfortunate that the people you interviewed were not informed of this. So far this is all volunteer time from people who have heavy workloads and responsibilities, whose jobs and income are also insecure in these times of cuts and reductions. But they have dedicated themselves to doing this work in a manner that will create an irrefutable case, supported by community and sustainable over the long term.

Yes, it is essential to have a strong communications and PR plan to get the message out and update the press and the public on a regular basis, and we will get there. In the interim as you should also be aware, the effect on this project's viability from possible City budget cuts meant we had to redirect some of that energy to advocate for saving the Cultural Facilities Plan implementation.

For now, we appreciate the issue being kept in public view, but we know that work on a plan to use the building during the next year and have the resources and support to do that is the first urgent step. There will be legal and insurance and other considerations to negotiate. We can use all the help we can get.

For anyone who is interested in this project, we must make sure we are communicating with each other. Please put direct people to the website at www.sectorcouncil.ca for updates, or the facebook group 'Arts Hub at Mount Pleasant Community Centre?' or put them in contact with me jpiggott@sectorcouncil.ca so I can make sure the linking happens. That is the responsibility I have taken on and which everyone can help facilitate.