After over 50 years of being known as the Arts Council of New Westminster, the local arts organization is now shedding its old name for a shiny new one: Arts New West.
The Arts Council of New Westminster was born in 1967 within the quiet rooms of the New Westminster Public Library with one goal — to promote the arts in the community.
The Last Mondays at the Movies film series, concerts, the annual Christmas Treasure Room and Canada Day in the Park were among the first few events that the non-profit introduced in its initial years, said Laura Grady, executive director of Arts New West.
Its members met up at different locations, including the library and in buildings where the Justice Institute of B.C. now stands, before the organization got its own arts centre (called the Gallery at Queen’s Park now) at the Centennial Lodge in Queen’s Park back in 1985.
With a ton of programs, projects and events organized year-round, the Arts Council of New Westminster became a familiar name in the community — as the non-profit that connects people through the arts.
Now, it wants the community to get familiar with its new name.
Why a new name now?
“In an effort to stay relevant, welcoming and engaging to a diversity of artists and audiences, the non-profit group has decided to adopt a shorter, more memorable name and update its visual identity,” stated a press release.
And to come up with this new identity, the organization's board formed a communications committee with four board members who collectively decided on "Arts New West."
There were no contesting names, said Grady.
“Arts New West was the vision.”
While the longstanding organization now has a new name and a new logo (by graphic designer Johanna Bartel), its “values and vision” remain the same — it will continue to be a community-based organization that advocates for the arts and supports those engaged in artistic and cultural endeavours, as per the release.
“Our goal is to be a contemporary, inclusive and accessible organization,” said Grady.
“At the same time, we look forward to building more, stronger relationships with individual artists, arts and culture groups that reflect the diversity of our city,” she added.
It's just been a couple of weeks since the name change, but the old title — Arts Council of New Westminster — is already becoming a memory. All of the organization's social media handles now reflect the new name (a new website is set to launch soon).
And with the upcoming jam-packed season of events, the organization believes that Arts New West might soon not seem that new anymore.
Check out Arts New West website for the full list of events that are planned this summer, including the Summer Concert Series in Queen’s Park, the Queen’s Park Arts Festival, Summer Sketching by the River and more.
