Hornby Island Arts Council recently broken ground on the building of a new arts centre.
In attendance at the event were MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA Josie Osborne, and Comox Valley Regional District - Area A director Daniel Arbour.
Louise McMurray, president, Hornby Island Arts Council; Ted Goodden, vice-president Hornby Island Arts Council, members of the board and staff of Hornby Arts, and community members were also in attendance.
D’Arcy Jones Architects won a national award of merit in 2022 from the Canadian Architect Awards for the design of the building. The Galloway Brothers Construction have been awarded the contract to build the 3,000 square foot arts centre. Construction is expected to take one year.
“Creativity and the arts play a vital role on Hornby Island, whether it is inspiring young artists, providing space for emerging artists to show their work, or celebrating the contributions of more established artists,” said Osborne. “Art also brings people together, and this new space will be a centre for the whole community to be proud of.
“Projects like this take dedication, perseverance, and unflagging commitment, and it was a real pleasure to join the Hornby Island Arts Council for the ground-breaking of the new centre. Thank you to all the people, funders and partners who have worked so hard to make this project possible. I cannot wait to visit when it is completed!”
“As the elected representative at the CVRD, it has been a pleasure to support this project,” said Arbour. “Our financial contribution was also unanimously supported by other representatives in the Comox Valley, which speaks to the value of this project.
“Hornby Arts has done a phenomenal job of working towards a new arts centre, which will uplift current and future artists on Hornby.”
“We are very excited to start building the long-awaited arts centre. Hornby Island has been privileged with a rich history of art and artists. Finally, we will have the community arts space to support our artists and community,” said McMurray.