UPDATE: Arts council gets 12k from the city

UPDATE: Arts council gets 12k from the city
Pictured are Carilyne Hebert

CORNWALL, Ontario – Unless a local arts council gets $35,000 from city hall, it will be dead in the water.

And that could be exactly what happens.

“We’re done,” said Your Arts Council (YAC) chair Betty Heatley at a city budget meeting Monday where the agency petitioned for the money to help cover the costs of paid staff and leverage other grant money from the United Counties and senior levels of government. “If we are not successful in getting funding from the city it really jeopardizes (YAC) for the future.”

The city’s budget committee only okayed $12,242 for YAC, which means its future appears in doubt.

YAC had secured a $100,000 grant from the Trillium Foundation two years ago, but that money runs out at the end of this month.

Heatley said further Trillium dollars can only be sought if community partners, like the City of Cornwall, come to the table.

“We cannot leverage unless we have a community partner…the city of Cornwall. And we have already been talking to economic development in South Dundas.”

This year marks the first time YAC has come forward looking for city money.

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