Fort St. John Arts Council’s annual auction raises $30K for new ‘hub’

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — An auction hosted by a local arts organization has raised $30,000 to go towards its “art hub.”

The Fort St. John Arts Council and its partners organized the 40th annual Art Auction on March 7th at the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Sandy Troudt – past president of the Peace Arts Gallery Society, which has been dissolved and is now part of the Fort St. John Arts Council – told Energeticcity.ca the event was a success. 

She said: “What we have is $30,000 to put into the fundraising goals that we had, such as the building of a cultural creative art hub for Fort St. John.” 

In addition to this, the arts council will be contributing money to the Peace Gallery North to help meet more of its needs. 

When asked about the turnout for the event, Troudt said: “I think we were close to 135 or 140 patrons and I think I will be very safe in saying there were at least 40, maybe more, artists that actually contributed artwork.” 

The Art Auction saw donations from visual artists, potters, spinners and sculptors. 

Even the hosts at Moose FM, which is also owned by Energeticcity.ca‘s parent company Moose Media, submitted work for the show – created in just 30 minutes. 

This year, the theme for the Art Auction was the ‘Roaring 20s.’ Next year, Troudt said the Art Auction’s theme will be a ‘Tropical Island.’ 

“Going forward, we would love to be able to bring more people to the event, and we want to increase the live artwork that people can experience at the auction,” she said.

“Last year we had one live artist working, and this year two. So we may want to increase that, so we can demonstrate more types of art and people find it really interesting to watch and talk to the artists about that.” 

Troudt said although the council don’t have the final figures in, $30,000 will be around its profit after the council pays expenses. 

She said: “Most of that is going into the fund that we’re working towards…[a] creative art hub. 

“We’re going to need more sources, but the art community is very determined and dedicated to trying to make this vision a reality.” 

The council does not have a final number for the cost of the hub as it is still in the initial planning stage. 

Troudt said there will be a competitive ‘juried’ show in May with the Federation of Canadian Artists at Peace Gallery North and the dates for this will be advertised soon. 

To donate to the hub, call the Fort St. John Arts Council on 250-787-2782 and ask for the executive director.