Community Engagement

This section summarizes the findings from a series of engagement sessions with the community regarding their desires for creative facilities within Squamish.

Community Engagement Summary

To properly understand the needs of Squamish’s arts community our team conducted a series of engagement sessions. These sessions were divided into two typologies, listed below.

One-on-One Meetings

The community engagement process commenced with a series of one-on-one interviews with a diverse list of members of Squamish’s arts community.

Large Group Workshop

This open workshop, advertised through Squamish Arts and DoS channels, was attended by a diverse group of 50 members of the Squamish arts community. The workshop involved a series of exercises aimed at distilling a list of solutions to Squamish’s need for arts infrastructure.

One-on-One Interviews

The community engagement process commenced with a series of one-on-one interviews with a diverse list of members from Squamish’s arts community. Each interview began with an icebreaker exercise. The interviewee was shown a series of cards featuring images of creative spaces and asked to select the ones that spoke to them. Once a dialogue had been started, each interview was conducted using a series of long-form style questions.

These long-form questions revealed a unified desire for a multidisciplinary arts hub. While the disciplinary background of the interviewees were mixed, they all recognized the collective lack of studio/workshop spaces, no matter the artistic discipline. The need for these spaces to be affordable was also highlighted. Additionally, interviewees repeatedly expressed their desire for a theatre space. Opinions on this space varied however, while some stated they would be happy with a simple black-box theatre, others stated that nothing less than 400-500 seat venue would be sufficient to meet their needs. As for location, participants were offered a range of solutions. While most wanted a downtown location, the ideas of a Brennan Park location or having multiple neighbourhood locations were also popular.

“What kind of arts space does Squamish need most?

Half of the interviewees want a hub containing all of the creative spaces listed below.

“Where should Squamish’s arts space be located?”

“What services should be near the arts space?”

Half of the interviewees want a hub containing all of the creative spaces listed below.

Large Group Workshop

To expand upon the one-on-one engagement sessions, our team hosted a large group workshop at the 55 Centre. A diverse list of 50 members of the arts community participated in a series of exercises aimed at distilling a list of solutions to Squamish’s need for arts infrastructure.

The evening began with an icebreaker activity where participants placed coloured dots on images of creative spaces which they were drawn to or deterred by. Following this exercise the community members took part in a series of round-table discussions. These discussions revolved around participants ideas for short-term, mid-term, and long-term solutions for arts infrastructure in Squamish.

Participants stressed the immediate need for a socialization space for artists, as well as the lack of an ‘information hub’ where one could find information on all arts programs and creative spaces available in the municipality. In regard to short-term space solutions, participants concluded that at a minimum all they need is a ‘space with heat’. Many would be happy if there was a multi-disciplinary workshop with heat for them to use, noting that nothing fancy is needed in the short-term for production and rehearsal space.