Capacity building efforts funded by 2010 Legacies Now and developed by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) have shown to have had lasting impact on the Indigenous arts landscape in BC ten years after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Cathi Charles Wherry, Special Advisor at FPCC, thinks the investment from 2010 Legacies Now was a catalyst for efforts to build Indigenous arts organizations that continue to this day, noting an increase in the number and quality of grant applications as a tangible impact of the outreach and workshops delivered by FPCC.
“Our Indigenous Arts Program has grown from 40 grants in 2007 to 140 in 2019, and available funding consistently increased during that time,” said Charles Wherry. “The support from 2010 Legacies Now allowed us to be strategic about how to deliver outreach across the Province and to make our services and grant programs more visible to Indigenous artists, communities and other funders.”
FPCC works to support First Nations communities in their efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages, arts and cultural heritage in BC by providing funding, resources, workshops, training and learning opportunities. It also provides policy recommendations for First Nations leadership and government.
Cathi Charles Wherry Special Advisor, The First Peoples' Cultural CouncilThe support from 2010 Legacies Now allowed us to be strategic about how to deliver outreach across the Province and to make our services and grant programs more visible to artists, communities and other funders.”
“Our goal was to provide easy access to information and materials that can assist Indigenous artists and cultural workers,” said Charles Wherry. “With the funding from 2010 Legacies Now we were to able realize our community development approach in a concrete way by providing educational sessions around grant writing, portfolio development and project planning that ultimately led to us doing cultural mapping sessions with Indigenous arts leaders from across BC, providing a foundation for the current First Peoples’ Arts Map.”
Charles Wherry says this was impactful and important work because a lot of healing takes place when communities are engaged in traditional arts and creative expression through visual, music, performing and story arts. “The arts are one way our communities are recovering from disruptions that were imposed on us. So much beauty, strength, brilliance and spirit are expressed in all our art forms,” said Wherry. “Our art reflects the resilience of our people.”
2010 Legacies Now was an innovative non-profit organization that leveraged the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to create tangible community legacies throughout British Columbia that would continue to live well beyond 2010. It is considered a best practice by the International Olympic Committee.
2010 Legacies Now was made possible thanks to invaluable support from the Province of BC, other government partners, corporations and foundations. Support and collaboration from communities, not-for-profits, agencies, VANOC, Four Host First Nations Society and others were also key in driving success.
LIFT Impact Partners evolved from 2010 Legacies Now into a national non-profit that builds the capacity of social purpose organizations Canada-wide to become more sustainable and effective at delivering greater social impact in the areas of health, education and skills development leading to employment.