Image Credit: Curtis Goodrum / CFJC Today

By Curtis Goodrum

NON-PROFIT SOCIETY

Local arts organizations support creation of non-profit society to operate Kamloops Centre for the Arts

Aug 28, 2025 | 4:50 PM

KAMLOOPS – On Thursday (Aug. 28), City of Kamloops staff were asked by the Build Kamloops Committee to begin the process of creating a non-profit organization to run the day-to-day operations of the Kamloops Centre for the Arts. Staff looked at more than 30 different arts centres and are hoping to base their model on one similar to Chilliwack’s.

“The business case recommends a city-owned asset operated by a new, independent, not-for-profit society. It would have a board of directors that would oversee the strategic direction and then they would have an executive director to manage day-to-day, hire out the staff and build that team,” said Dusan Magdolen, the cultural services and events manager at the City of Kamloops.

The non-profit organization plan is incredibly exciting for local arts groups, including the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra.

“We are so happy with every step that we take to get this facility up and running. We are so excited to just be able to make more music happen here in Kamloops. As an organization that has been advocating for this since 1976, we are just so excited that the city is continuing to take these steps, to make sure that arts are really at the heart of Kamloops,” said Christopher Young, executive director for the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra.

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The committee voted unanimously in favour of the plan. It hopes the report will provide more insight into how the organization will operate.

“When we look at a board matrix, it’s not just about the arts, but it’s everything else — the legal side, the financial side, the business case,” said Kamloops city councillor Mike O’Reilly.

All council members agreed that the City of Kamloops should have representation on the board.

“With the start of a new society, we want to make sure that the city has representation on that board. We want to make sure that the board is very diverse. Representation, from the community as well as the city. That’s the direction that we gave the staff,” said Kamloops city councillor Kelly Hall.

“The entire ecosystem of Kamloops is really going to be transformed by this facility. It really does take a community to come together and have all different voices participate,” said Young.

The construction of the facility has not begun yet; however, it is believed it will sometime later this year.