Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts

Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts

Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts. Non-profit arts organization formed in 1974 with headquarters in Charlottetown. It is funded by, but has an arm's-length relationship to, the Prince Edward Island Department of Community and Cultural Affairs. The council's prime objective is "to make the arts integral to the lives of all Prince Edward Islanders."

The council helps with the co-ordination, planning, promotion, and development of the province's arts activities. It also administers awards and funding programs including the Island Literary Awards, the Father Adrien Arsenault Senior Arts Award for established artists, and the Art Education Bursary Program. With the cooperation of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, the council awards grants on a biennial basis to individual artists and arts organizations.

In February 1994 the Royal Bank of Canada presented the council with the old Royal Bank Building in Charlottetown. Soon thereafter, this building became known as the Arts Guild, an arts centre for public exhibitions, performances, meetings, and education. For two years, a for-profit group called the Arts Guild operated the building. In 1996, administration of the Arts Guild Building was taken over by the council.

Since that time, the executive director of the council has also acted as the Arts Guild manager. Its 12-member board consists of four members-at-large chosen from the community and eight elected directors, each representing the disciplines of music, theatre, visual arts, writing and publishing, film and video, crafts, environmental arts, and dance.