The business of arts and culture is exactly what Sean Farrell has been immersed in for most of his life. He finally gets to ply this trade in Prince George, after three years working here in other capacities.
Farrell was a child phenom at the piano. His concert pianist aspirations were well advanced - he has a master's degree in music from the University of Ottawa, among other marks on his musical resume - when a road incident injured his wrist too severely to carry on with that aspiration.
He switched gears, forging ahead into arts administration and business. It brought him out of Ontario to work in Vancouver for the society involved in operating the Baldy Hughes Recovery Community. That brought him to Prince George where the centre is based.
Seeing so much lifestyle opportunity in his new city, he jumped at the chance to be the executive director of the Community Arts Council.
"I think Prince George is a city in an awesome position," said the transplanted Torontonian. "I don't think there are as many cities of this size anywhere across Canada that has this abundance of amenities, and so many of those amenities are tied to arts and culture. That is really a testament to a pioneering spirit in Prince George's past that said 'we deserve it, we are the capital of northern B.C. and we have to act like it.' It is also testament to the thousands of years of First Nations culture here. People saw, so long ago it's impossible to really measure, that there was something special about this area, there are special qualities to this place, and that's why you have a community here now. So it has been the capital of northern B.C. for a very long time, and if we want to maintain that standing, we have to maintain our focus on having a thriving arts and culture sector. I have a lot of gratitude for this position, because I now get to wake up every morning, come to my office in this special facility, get paid to do this, get paid to be a voice in that really important conversation."
The CAC is an organization in flux. It's three buildings on the campus of Studio 2880 are all in a state of disrepair, or worse (he was interrupted by the wind blowing clean through the closed window in his office). The number of artists and arts groups headquartered there is maxed out, and they are limited in their activities by the condition of the space. And the old funding models that first established the CAC have now changed, leaving the region's premier arts organization struggling to pay its bills let alone grow to meet the new realities of the modern world.
Farrell feels energized to meet these challenges. They aren't just theoretical obstacles, some of that represents significant problems that must be overcome, but he feels well positioned by schooling, professional experience and artistic vision to do a lot of good on those issues.
"The pieces are all here, it's just a matter of tying it together through the bricks and mortar of Studio 2880, an online presence, and marketing," he said. "We have a number of entrepreneurial opportunities within the Community Arts Council, and a lot of things are already being done very well like Art Battle and Studio Fair and the Spring Arts Bazaar and being an important landlord to arts groups who need a place to do their work too. So how do we maintain those? How do we choose our expansion plans? How do we thrive as our own organization so we benefit the city's other arts organizations and not create wedge issues for them, our members? We are a 21st century organization that was founded in the middle of the 20th century, so we have to do some work to find our way right now. A tremendous spirit has been harnessed here, a tremendous legacy has been created here, and I have to respect what's been done in the past but let my intuitions and fresh eyes see what needs to be done to move it all ahead."
He is also grateful he's not alone in these endevours. He has a dedicated board of directors, a large and diverse community of paid artists and arts groups as grassroots members, and the existing CAC staff he now gets to work with.
An aggressive schedule is now set out for Farrell to meet the members and the public, learn the ropes of the CAC and Studio 2880, and maybe even play the piano a little bit to reignite those artistic fires. Read more about him in the Citizen Extra supplement where he will be writing a regular column about the local arts scene.
