New CVCAS board roles up its sleeves

Anew Board of Directors was voted in by members of the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society at its March 10 Annual General Meeting.

Bob Johns will be Chair; Bev Knight, Vice Chair; Kathy Wachs, Treasurer; Craig Spence, Membership; Val Bob, First Nations Committee; Craig Harris, Fundraising; Diana Durrand, Rainforest Arts Rep; and Barbara Allen, Accessibility Rep.

Those designations are only part of the story, though. Multitasking and hands-on is the order of the day for CVCAS directors.

Bob Johns is taking on the Chair’s role a second time, replacing Bev Knight, who will be Vice Chair. A musician and author, he is a key member of the CVCAS Performance Committee, and founding organizer of the Chemainus Valley Bluegrass Festival, which takes place in July.

Bev Knight heads up the Performance Committee, which is planning an entertaining lineup at the bandshell this summer, following up on last year’s upbeat musical breaks from COVID isolation. She heads up the Chemainus Blues Festival, also planned for July, and helps with grant writing.

Barbara Allen brings an awareness of the needs of ‘people with different abilities’ to the CVCAS. Events and facilities like the bandshell need to be accessible to fully serve the community, and she will be looking for ways support improved access. Val Bob represents the First Nations Committee on the Board, presenting the culture and heritage of the Hul’qumi’num Mustimuhw people in the unsurrendered territory of Penelakut Tribe and the neighbouring communities of Halalt, Lyackson, Stz’uminus and Quw’utsun.

Diana Durrand represents Rainforest Arts, a CVCAS venue that showcases visual artists. She organizes the Feature Wall at the gallery, shows that present the works of selected artists through display, videos and articles.

Craig Harris will be reaching out to potential partners in the business community in his fundraising capacity. He also volunteers at the Rainforest Arts gallery, and takes a lead role maintaining the Waterwheel Park bandshell and setting up for performances.

Craig Spence keeps in touch with the membership and handles communications. He has joined with other writers and poets in the community launching a Writers Forum, a venue where they can share and publish their material.

Kathy Wachs, as well as being Treasurer sits on the CVCAS First Nations and Performance committees. A longstanding member of the Arts Society, she is a past Chair and helps with grant writing. She also volunteers at the Rainforest Arts gallery.

Find out more about how you can help ‘bring the community together through the arts’ by joining and volunteering at CVCAS.ca.

CraigSpenceWriter.ca