Message from the CEO

WHEN I WAS OFFERED THE POSITION OF CEO AT SASKCULTURE IN THE SPRING OF 2020, AS YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED, I IMMEDIATELY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY SAID YES! AFTER A FEW WEEKS INTO MY TENURE, WHEN THE FULL EFFECTS OF COVID-19 TRULY STARTED TO IMPACT US, WITH NO SIGNS OF THE VIRUS SUBSIDING, I FELT OVERWHELMED AND WONDERED IF I WAS EQUIPPED TO LEAD SASKCULTURE THROUGH THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY FACING OUR SECTOR.

Through the subsequent weeks and months – and after a lot of sleepless nights – as I spoke with colleagues and organizations in Saskatchewan, I realized that I was not alone in my stress bubble and that we would have to push through this together. I want to thank all of you out there, both volunteers and staff, for showing your resiliency, strength, understanding and support. There are so many individuals out in the cultural community that I admire and respect. I genuinely believe that when we work as partners, we can survive, thrive and succeed.

I always say, with no doubt in my mind, that SaskCulture’s staff complement is one of the best in Saskatchewan. I want to thank our staff for pushing through and showing empathy, dedication and decisiveness through all of the uncertainty the past year dealt us. We knew some initiatives had to be put on hold in order to focus on our members and our network. We worked hard to provide content related to pandemic protocols and federal funding opportunities. We partnered with SK Arts and Creative Saskatchewan to assemble a Business Response Team Advisory Committee and held a record amount of online engagement sessions with cultural organizations. Our project grant programs were infused with a number of flexible options in order for communities and groups to either adapt to public health regulations or to shift to online options. Although there were less Creative Kids applications this year– understandably so – we were still able to support more than 920 children in 238 communities – again with accommodations being made for COVID-safe learning sessions. Culture Days moved forward with a new month-long format and hub sponsorship and our work with the Non Profit Lifecycles Approach program continued as planned in a virtual format.

This year in particular, our partnerships continued to be instrumental in helping us adapt to changing needs. We are very fortunate to receive funding from Sask Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation and work in partnership with Sask Sport and Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation to provide needed support to the community. Stable lottery revenues allowed SaskCulture to maintain status quo funding during a precarious time. Our thanks always goes out to the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport for its support on an ongoing basis.

We have also strengthened our relationship with SK Arts and maintained funding levels to the arts community over the past year. In addition, our continued work with the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre allowed our