MISSION STATEMENT
The Society for Westside Arts & Culture (SWAC) is a non-profit, multicultural and diverse community of artists, currently residing in the Okanagan. We're passionate about inclusivity and are dedicated to fostering, supporting, and promoting local art, artists and their cultures.
HISTORY
SWAC began its life as Suk'ʷtəmsqilxʷ West Kelowna Arts Council, under the guidance of Julia Trops. In the intervening years the concensus grew that the name and the mandate were too exclusionary and too specific to the City of West Kelowna (WK) and Westbank First Nation (WFN), two governments that co-exist on approximately 130 square kilometers of land on the west side of Okanagan Lake. We decided inclusivity and cultural richness should become our focus, that the entire arts community should be incorporated, so we kept the acronym and in 2020 became the Society for Westside Arts & Culture. The Westside businesses and citizens are interspersed over many neighbourhoods, governed by either WK, Peachland, Summerland or WFN. Some residents live on land governed by WK and work on WFN lands, or vice versa.
MANDATE
-To create symbiotic relationships with all cultures and peoples
-To build partnerships and initiate projects that strengthen community awareness of the arts
-To seek opportunities to showcase, support and promote our artists and their works locally, nationally and internationally
-To support, inspire, educate, and acknowledge our young emerging artists; and
-To support and encourage business participation in the arts to invigorate local and creative commerce.
The Society for Westside Arts & Culture (SWAC) is a non-profit, multicultural and diverse community of artists, currently residing in the Okanagan. We're passionate about inclusivity and are dedicated to fostering, supporting, and promoting local art, artists and their cultures.
HISTORY
SWAC began its life as Suk'ʷtəmsqilxʷ West Kelowna Arts Council, under the guidance of Julia Trops. In the intervening years the concensus grew that the name and the mandate were too exclusionary and too specific to the City of West Kelowna (WK) and Westbank First Nation (WFN), two governments that co-exist on approximately 130 square kilometers of land on the west side of Okanagan Lake. We decided inclusivity and cultural richness should become our focus, that the entire arts community should be incorporated, so we kept the acronym and in 2020 became the Society for Westside Arts & Culture. The Westside businesses and citizens are interspersed over many neighbourhoods, governed by either WK, Peachland, Summerland or WFN. Some residents live on land governed by WK and work on WFN lands, or vice versa.
MANDATE
-To create symbiotic relationships with all cultures and peoples
-To build partnerships and initiate projects that strengthen community awareness of the arts
-To seek opportunities to showcase, support and promote our artists and their works locally, nationally and internationally
-To support, inspire, educate, and acknowledge our young emerging artists; and
-To support and encourage business participation in the arts to invigorate local and creative commerce.