GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES SUCCESSFUL FIRST YEAR FOR ARTSVEST IN SASKATCHEWAN

Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Kevin Doherty announced today that partnerships between arts organizations and local businesses have generated $1.17 million for the province's cultural economy. These are the first-year results of the 2011-2012 artsVest^TM program in Saskatchewan - a partnership program with Business for the Arts, Canada's national association of business leaders who support the arts.

The Government of Saskatchewan is investing $500,000 over two years in artsVest^TM. This past year, the first year of the partnership, a total of $350,000 in matching funds was distributed to 51 arts and cultural organizations who partnered with 178 businesses across the province. This includes 139 who were first-time business partners. Commitments were also made for 63 long-term sponsorships. These partnerships generated more than $821,000 in new private sector investment in the province, so combined with the matching funds, resulted in $1.17 million.

"One of the benefits of our growing province is the ability to invest in our arts and culture organizations," Doherty said. "It is fantastic to see businesses getting on board with this program. These partnerships will improve our vibrant quality of life in Saskatchewan and encourage even more people to make Saskatchewan their home."

artsVest^TM is a sponsorship training and matching incentive program of Business for the Arts delivered in Saskatchewan with funding from Canadian Heritage, the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport and support from SaskCulture Inc. The program's goal is to assist Saskatchewan's small- to medium-sized arts and culture organizations in the development of new and mutually beneficial partnerships with local businesses.

"We congratulate our 2011 artsVest^TM Saskatchewan participants on a successful and rewarding year," Business for the Arts President and CEO Nichole Anderson said. "By offering arts and cultural organizations sponsorship training and the tools to generate new revenue streams, the artsVest^TM program is an innovative model that facilitates long-term partnerships with the business community, encourages private sector support of the arts, and helps to build the local creative economy."

Arts and culture organizations in Saskatchewan were invited to apply for artsVest^TM matching funds in November 2011 by submitting an application that included their sponsorship proposal and a list of businesses they intended to approach for sponsorship. The artsVest^TM program currently operates in Ontario, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Vancouver. For more information on the program, visit www.artsVest.com.

Business for the Arts aims to strengthen arts and culture in Canada by connecting arts organizations to business patrons and volunteers. For more information, visit www.businessforthearts.org.

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For more information, contact:

Sean St. George
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-9087
Email: sean.stgeorge@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8635