Bulkley Valley Addresses Cultural and Heritage Needs

The Bulkley Valley, together with the Town of Smithers, the School District and the Office of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, used its $5,000 Creative Communities grant to hire a consultant to draft a strategic plan to reflect the community’s cultural and heritage needs. This resulted in an Arts and Culture database outlining local artisans, groups, businesses, events, and related economic impact. The group conducted four community meetings and numerous individual interviews resulting in more than 300 records. This information now forms the Bulkley Valley Community Arts and Culture Directory, which is available to the public. The partners have been able to use the data for economic analysis, and artistic and cultural planning. The strategic plan has since been the guiding document for developing cultural and heritage practices, and services in the community. The second development phase has since centred around arts and cultural planning; including information management, physical space development and other management activities.

Creative Communities assists local governments to take stock of their cultural assets and identify strengths and challenges in their local arts and cultural sector. The program also guides governments through community consultations to determine how and where to expand local arts and cultural programs and projects. The program is supported by the Province of British Columbia.