Railway town, resource town, resort town…arts town?

Once upon a time, someone declared Nelson an “arts town.” While many think of Revelstoke as Nelson’s rough and tumble, sportier neighbour, popular for biking, skiing and the mountains, Revelstoke is also opening its arms to creatives.

The evidence in favour of Revelstoke being an arts town is seen in the rising tide of art and artists here, giving this once-frontier town a new aspect of culture as artists arrive and discover opportunities and a welcoming community. Where before you could only find weeds growing in the alleys, art has sprung up in many unlikely places.

Paving the way

To better understand the role of art in Revelstoke’s culture, The Mountaineer sat down with Carol Palladino, a long-time resident and advocate of art in Revelstoke. 

While she doesn’t describe herself as an artist, Palladino has worked on behalf of the arts the whole time she’s lived here. As she says, someone’s got to be on the boards, write the grants and attend and support the events and programs.  

One of Palladino’s greatest successes as part of the arts hype team was when she and a group of others reincorporated the Revelstoke Arts Council (also known as Arts Revelstoke) in 1997. This was a total revitalization of the organization, according to Palladino, who went on to hold director positions and serve as chair for many years.

A few years later, the Revelstoke Arts Council came to the rescue when the local art group was moving out of the Revelstoke Museum and Archives building and looking for a new space for studios and gallery space. The Arts Council helped to turn the old RCMP building into the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre.  

This paved the way for juried art shows and bringing in artists from away, Palladino said. Revelstoke started to grow in credibility and was able to start welcoming artists from all over.

Revelstoke arts in 2023

Fast forward to 2023 and with the help of the Art First Gallery, farmers’ markets and all of the retail opportunities downtown, making a living here as an artist has become feasible. 

The groundwork laid by Palladino and her contemporaries is the main reason artist Sarah Hicks made the move here last October. First having been introduced to the area through her ski lodge job, she found out from a friend about the Art First Co-op and said, “I want to be a part of that.”

Artist Sarah Hicks basks in the ambience of Art First Gallery. This Gallery is a big part of why she made the move to Revelstoke. Photo by Connor Arsenault

Hicks moved from Canmore, which she describes as not having nearly as much artist infrastructure as Revelstoke and a much more exclusive gallery.

Being a part of the Art First co-op has allowed her a place to network with other artists, sell her work and learn much more about people and how they buy art. 

She also cites the Visual Arts Centre as having been very supportive and a great resource. 

“Within walking there and asking them about it, right away they were like ‘you can bring your stuff here and we can sell it, also do you want to teach courses?’ like right off the bat,” Hicks said. “They were super welcoming.”

As a member of the Visual Arts Centre, Hicks is able to display her art three times a year, and anyone can be a member, even people who live outside of Revelstoke. This is a great opportunity for emerging artists because there’s no requirement to have had a gallery showing before being able to display your art and sell to buyers. The next gallery member show is in December, where the whole gallery becomes a market with artists’ work for sale.

Arts and tourism

All of this art around town, both for sale and just for viewing pleasure, like the Art Alleries downtown – a selection of art featured in alleyway – boosts the spirit of Revelstoke and adds to the enjoyment of tourists who come here. 

Meghan Tabor of Tourism Revelstoke puts it this way: “It’s kind of a bit of a surprise and delight, you come into Revelstoke, you maybe don’t know about the Art Alleries, and now you have all these arts and culture things to check out that you may not have known about or come to Revelstoke for, but it really elevates that visitor experience.” 

A Simple Joy by Kyle Thornley is one of the art installations that make up the ever-evolving Art Alleries project. Photo by Connor Arsenault

Arts and tourism go hand-in-hand and while historically people may not have been coming to town purely for artistic reasons, spaces like the Visual Arts Centre and events like Luna Fest and REVY.live bring a host of visitors here who have come because of art.

Tourism Revelstoke helps fund REVY.live, Luna Fest, and the Revelstoke outdoor art movement (ROAM) as well as many other events. This year, they are contributing roughly $160 000 towards arts programming and events. 

The tourism infrastructure committee also funds many kinds of art installations and improvements to cultural spaces. As a city committee, with funding from the province, this committee makes recommendations to city council on which arts events to fund. This committee is largely to thank for the Art Alleries that have been going in since 2019.

A huge benefit of increased art and tourism is the intersection point it provides for visitors and residents. 

“It’s really one of those places where residents and visitors collide in a really positive way,” Tabor explained. “Tourism Revelstoke did some extensive community surveying last fall and the one thing that was a resounding common theme was that residents value tourism for its impact on the arts and culture sector, more so than the impact economically.”

This is because tourism dollars don’t benefit every person in the community, but with this intersection of arts and tourism, the cultural and social benefit of art-propelled tourism has the potential to reach every single person here in Revelstoke.

Public input on Revelstoke arts

As part of the implementation of the official community plan there will be more conversations and consultations with residents about arts and culture, giving residents an opportunity to voice support of art in its myriad forms. Additionally, locals also have an opportunity to advocate for public spaces that inspire community and connection.

Palladino mentioned one possible way to foster a greater sense of community and allow for a greater influence of art in Revelstoke, the pedestrianization of streets. In Europe, where culture is the name of the game, pedestrianization is popular. More locally, Banff, Alta., has implemented mechanized gates on Banff Avenue and Kelowna is also catching on with their downtown. Pedestrianization, undertaken thoughtfully, allows for certain times of day or even entire seasons where car traffic can be restored.

There is also the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre, which is an under-utilized asset according to Palladino. Even though it is a big cultural asset, it isn’t too well understood by the community. The opportunity also exists to put on events in public spaces all throughout town.

There exist many avenues to craft Revelstoke’s growing arts and culture scene in ways that will benefit future generations. As Palladino puts it, “The work that we do, the public work that we do in terms of art is a statement about how we see ourselves and about how special this place is.”