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Our Mission
The purpose of the society is to encourage and foster appreciation of a broad spectrum of arts and culture in the Cowichan Lake Region (Area I, Area F and Lake Cowichan) by serving residents, of all ages, through the development of connections and partnerships, identifying and securing funding, providing advocacy and by enhancing both exposure to and participation in arts and culture.
Our Values Statement
To create an organization that operates in an exemplary and positive manner through the following values of Creativity, Sustainability, Diversity, Inclusiveness, Accessibility, Collaboration, Volunteerism, Accountability.
Creativity – We encourage creative ideas and approaches and recognize that innovation and learning foster energy, excitement and excellence – critical ingredients for a strong arts and culture community. While recognizing new approaches, we also value traditional methods of expression and delivery.
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Sustainability – We recognize the importance of sound financial planning with realistic and sustainable revenues to support our programs.
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Diversity – We recognize and value the diversity of the region that we serve. This diversity is one of geography, culture, creativity, attitude, genealogy and finance.
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Inclusiveness – We respect, embrace and actively encourage the whole community to participate and benefit fully from arts and culture regardless of the perceived skill level.
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Accessibility – We are visible in the community and actively reach out to the community to understand needs and ensure programs are appropriate and accessible. We structure ourselves so that we are easy to contact.
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Collaboration – we connect, cooperate, compliment and partner with artists, other arts and culture organizations, arts and culture-related businesses, local government, volunteers and other agencies and service providers in the arts and culture field. Through this collaboration we extend the connections to our members.
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Volunteerism - We value, appreciate, encourage, and effectively utilize our community volunteers.
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Accountability – We ensure transparency, clear delineation of responsibilities and best practices in all our activities with the overriding mission of service to our community in all our decisions.
Our Vision
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When we dream about what CLAC will be in ten years, we see an organization that has created programs and works that have made the Cowichan Lake Region an arts destination. Public Art created by local artists is everywhere, beautifying the area and demonstrating the uniqueness of our community. We see colourful banners, painted crosswalks, a sculpture garden, murals, old pianos in various locales, creative bike racks, unusual playground structures, musical soundscapes. Art is everywhere. We see people participating in CLAC’s presentations: festivals, exhibitions, and public performances.
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We dream of a place within the community that is strong with positive relationships with other not-for-profits, governments at all levels, businesses and CVRD, and is involved with most of the community. Because of our values, established citizens think of us as an organization that is “great to work with”.
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We dream of a home: our own space, where everyone in town knows CLAC’s building. We dream of holding exhibits and workshops there for people of all skill levels and in all disciplines. These workshops and exhibits are sought after by participants and attendees because of their superior quality.
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This is our dream.