Stronger Community Through Arts and Culture
The Spruce Grove Strategic Plan contains three areas for the city to focus over the next several years. One of these key strategic areas is to continue to make Spruce Grove a vibrant place for community involvement and social wellness. This strategic focus area explicitly mentions a diverse and high-quality arts and culture environment as being key to a strong community.
Spruce Grove has a long and interesting history that has become a cultural aspect in its own right. The Spruce Grove Agriculture Society have been the stewards of maintaining and promoting this history and now house many fantastic historic elements such as the Grain Elevator museum, the old Water Tower and the Spruce Grove Archives. It is important for us to support and promote the “Ag Society” as a key member of the community.
The Art Gallery and Horizon Stage give us a chance to gather and lose ourselves in another world. I am very excited with the plans for the new civic centre that is set to include a larger, dedicated space for our Art Gallery, as well as a new black box theatre to provide a complementary production facility to the Horizon stage. I am a big supporter of this project and on council I will work diligently to ensure this important facility meets our needs while having the least possible tax burden to residents.
In addition to these existing staples of our arts and culture community, we’ve seen new initiatives already underway in the city. The two beautiful new murals on just off McLeod Avenue are perfect examples of the ways that council has helped support the growth of our arts and culture. I support more of these sorts of projects to beautify our community and build a sense of pride.
I think we can do even more. The Strategic Plan makes reference to working with community groups and partners to facilitate a diverse range of events and programs that further build our reputation as a cultural centre. I will advocate for more events, for example events like Shakespeare in the Park or fringe theatre events that could take place in our many great parks. It will take working with these community groups to make these happen, but I will be a strong supporter and promoter of such initiatives.
Arts and culture are a core part of any strong and desirable community. Specifically in council, I will:
- Support the Spruce Grove Agriculture Society as a keeper of our history and a cultural icon
- Celebrate and promote building on existing arts and culture elements of the city
- Advocate for future arts and cultural events throughout the city
Through a vibrant arts and culture community we can continue to grow a stronger community and make Spruce Grove the most desirable community in the greater Edmonton area.