Mission Statement
The Shelburne County Arts Council exists in order to support and promote the development of art, artists and art education in Shelburne County by creating opportunities for citizens to engage in a wide range of artistic endeavours.

Vision Statement
The Shelburne County Arts Council values artists, art and art education. The community celebrates and supports the artistic endeavours of its citizens.

Mandate
1. Support and promote the arts and artists in Shelburne County.

2. Educate through and advocate for the arts in Shelburne County.

3. Promote and support arts in education and education in arts in Shelburne County.

4. Provide entertainment through the presentation of art and cultural events.

History
The Shelburne County Arts Council was established in 2001. The members of SCAC have always been interested in running a small organization free of obligations that come with running an office or building. At the beginning, SCAC created two programs – Select Cinema and Arts Alive – to bring performing arts to Shelburne County to fill widely-expressed needs. As a spin off of these efforts, in May of 2003, the Osprey Arts Centre opened and took over the presentation of performing arts.

Change in Direction: After the Osprey opened, SCAC turned its attention to other cultural needs in the County. Following brainstorming sessions, which included representatives from the Osprey, SCAC focused on community arts development, innovation and youth. Our new vision and mandate identified and developed core programs that are now providing solid foundations for artistic and cultural development. A literary competition for youth, a visiting author program, the arts archive program, the commissioning program, an arts scholarship, SCAC Publishing, SCAC records (with a songwriting competition) and our community arts development fund form the core of our activities.

A Solid Foundation: With two part time employees in 2009, we accomplished a great deal through our established core programs and our innovative projects. We published an excellent newsletter, mailed it to our members and distributed it in the community. We developed an email system for arts news with a distribution of almost 500. Through pilot projects, SCAC will focus on adding new activities to its core programs. This year, we will investigate the creation of a web site.

In 2008, SCAC hired an Executive Director for the first time. Because operating funding did not increase as anticipated, we could only pay the ED for five hours per week. SCAC believes it has accomplished a great deal with such extremely limited resources and has demonstrated a true need for this position. With plans to greatly expand our work, we believe we have demonstrated a need to increase the amount of support the province provides through our operating grant.

Into the Future: Every January, the SCAC board, staff and invited guests hold a no-holds-barred brainstorming session. This session is the single most important event in the development of the organization. It is this session and the work that follows that makes our programs and projects as diverse and innovative as those of any other arts organization in the province.