The chair of the P.E.I. Council of the Arts, Dr. Greg Doran, has called for a special meeting to discuss the future ownership of the building that houses The Guild.
An informational forum will be held at the Guild Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. so those interested may attend, hear presentations and discuss the matter in an open and respectful manner.
A special general meeting of the council membership will then be held in late April to allow members to vote on the question of ownership.
There is a proposal that the ownership of The Guild be transferred from the P.E.I. Council of the Arts to Ars Longa Inc., the non-profit entity which manages the space.
The council’s board of directors believe the transfer of ownership could remedy most of the funding and support problems faced by The Guild and make great strides towards the long-term stability of this important building.
Doran is seeking input at this point from arts council members, the arts community, arts supporters and the public at large.
The P.E.I. Council of the Arts was gifted the former Royal Bank Building in February 1994.
After extensive renovations that year, the facility became a home for the arts in Charlottetown and housed a performance hall, a gallery, studio, art class space, and the Printmakers’ workshop, as well as the offices of various art groups and non-profit organizations. Subsequent years saw debts and necessary building maintenance issues increase, causing considerable financial and human resource strain on the Arts Guild Inc. and, with that, the council.
In April 2004, a memorandum of understanding was struck between the Council of the Arts, the province and the city of Charlottetown to create a new non-profit entity whose sole aim was the successful running of the Guild building.
All three organizations put forward substantial resources to make it work.
Shortly thereafter, Ars Longa Inc. came into existence with the purpose of running the building as per the terms of the memorandum of understanding.
The Ars Longa board and its staff have been operating the building ever since and are largely recognized now as The Guild.
Doran said that in recent years it has become more difficult for the Ars Longa team to meet the terms of the memorandum properly.
The issues of ownership without management, on the council’s part, and management without ownership, on the part of Ars Longa, have created numerous issues, all of which conspire to negatively impact the long-term future of the facility.
In several instances, Ars Longa has been unable to apply for, or has been turned down for necessary funds because it is not the owner of the building.
Conversely, the council is not able to access the funding because it is a provincial arts council. Situations such as these, and others, have become more and more common.
Those who wish to share their views in writing can write to Doran at chair@peica.ca.
The council encourages anyone who would like to make a presentation at the February meeting to contact Doran at that same e-mail address.
