The Central Interior Regional Arts Council (CIRAC) is a not for profit charitable organization funded by membership fees, donations and grants, the most significant of which is an operating grant from the BC Arts Council. We serve a vast area from MacKenzie in the north to 100 Mile House in the south, from Valemount in the east to Burns Lake, Vanderhoof, Fort St James and Bella Coola in the west.
Our territory thus includes all or part of four Regional Districts with CRD and Fraser-Fort George being the most populous. Our mandate is to initiate and promote the cultural enrichment of the lives of the people in the central interior. Our membership consists of the various Community Arts Councils in the region, together with sixty individual members. This mandate means that we must not duplicate what the local arts councils do, but rather seek opportunities to showcase regional work. We publish a quarterly journal, Arts North. We mount an annual juried arts show, with the best works touring throughout the region. We hold an annual “Book and CD Nook” in which published authors from the region are invited to display (and sell) their work. We hold regional meetings of arts council representatives twice a year, and every two years we try to mount a more significant seminar or conference.
