Arts, Nature and Heritage

Chapter 9

What it's about

Nurturing Whistler’s Arts, Nature and Heritage (ANH) sector to enrich community life and the visitor experience, and to contribute to the tourism economy.

Our Shared Future

Whistler is a community of creative thinkers inspired by a rich heritage and by the natural wonders surrounding the resort community.

Whistler’s artists, naturalists, curators and other cultural workers are engaged in a rich, enduring and mutually rewarding conversation with residents and visitors about Whistler’s culture.

In return, residents have a deep appreciation for Whistler’s Arts, Nature and Heritage (ANH) sector and for the sector’s immense influence on community pride and in shaping Whistler’s ‘sense of place’ that is felt so passionately by residents and is so captivating to visitors.

Organizations and workers in Whistler’s ANH sector collaborate within and across disciplines to develop and produce a fascinating and often provocative range of initiatives, programs and narratives that emanate from within Whistler to inform, inspire, engage and entertain residents and visitors throughout the year.

The ANH sector plays a central role in identifying, protecting and celebrating Whistler’s places—natural and constructed, ancient and new—as well as traditions, lifestyle and characters.

Even though Whistler’s not-for-profit ANH-sector organizations are largely financially self-sufficient, they work closely with and receive support from private enterprise and all levels of government to provide a fertile environment for the continued vitality of the ANH sector, thereby enabling Whistler’s artists, naturalists, curators and other cultural workers to live and work in the resort community.

Current Reality

Whistler is home to several ANH organizations including not-for-profit societies, private enterprise—consisting of individual artists and performers, ANH consultants, commercial galleries and others—and public sector facilities, all of which contribute significantly to Whistler’s ANH sector.

Whistler enjoys a robust calendar of festivals, events and exhibitions, many of which include programs or performances created from within Whistler’s ANH sector. Six of Whistler’s ANH facilities—Whistler Museum, Whistler Public Library, Maury Young Arts Centre, Audain Art Museum, PassivHaus and Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre—are physically linked along the Cultural Connector in Whistler Village. Public art is showcased throughout the resort community and residents and visitors are informed and enlightened by numerous interpretive panels regarding Whistler’s biodiversity, geodiversity and human heritage.

Much of the work conducted by the ANH sector is guided by recommendations contained in Whistler’s Cultural Plan which, itself, is the recent (June 2018) result of merging the content of two earlier documents—Whistler’s Cultural Tourism Development Strategy (2011) and Whistler’s Community Cultural Plan (2013)—both of which involved significant community consultation and engagement.

As a result, Whistler residents increasingly recognize that the breadth of activity—and of creativity—in Whistler’s ANH sector is a hugely valuable complement to Whistler’s celebrated sport and outdoor recreation ethos, and that the ANH sector is an integral component of a healthy community and a healthy economy.

Even so, for many workers in Whistler’s ANH sector the opportunity to thrive is precarious; that situation persists across all ANH disciplines and genres—music, film, photography, literary arts, theatre, heritage, visual arts and natural history.

Click the 'Objectives & Policies' to display additional content.

9.2. Goal Support and enhance the growth and vitality of Whistler’s ANH sector, including fostering conditions that enable Whistler’s ANH sector workers to live and work in the resort community.

Objectives & Policies

9.2.1. Objective

Support programs, partnerships and venues to further develop Whistler’s ANH sector.

9.2.1.1. Policy

Support collaborative efforts within the resort community to strengthen Whistler’s ANH sector by implementing the recommendations in Whistler’s Cultural Plan.

9.2.1.2. Policy

Promote ANH programming and venues for residents and visitors.

9.2.1.3. Policy

Support the use of parks, civic buildings and public spaces, where appropriate, as venues for creating and expressing Whistler’s ANH including natural history, heritage, the arts, festivals, exhibitions, studios and workshops.

9.2.2. Objective

Increase opportunities for education, participation and enjoyment of ANH for residents and visitors.

9.2.2.1. Policy

Support non-profit and private sector efforts to increase opportunities for individuals to learn about and participate in ANH.

9.2.2.2. Policy

Collaborate with the appropriate agencies and stakeholders to showcase local ANH initiatives.

9.2.2.3. Policy

Work with external funders including other levels of government to secure funds for ANH infrastructure and ANH programs in Whistler.

9.2.3. Objective

Enrich the built environment through public art and other enhancements that promote awareness, understanding, as well as access to and enjoyment of art, natural history and heritage as part of everyday life.

9.2.3.1. Policy

Showcase public art as an integral ANH feature of the resort community.

9.2.3.2. Policy

Encourage the installation of art and other enhancements such as interpretive panels on or within the built environment, including private properties, public spaces, parks, trails and streets, where appropriate.

9.2.3.3. Policy

Encourage public and private art and other enhancements, including art created by the Lil’wat Nation or Squamish Nation artists or that includes First Nations themes and topics.

9.2.4. Objective

Celebrate and protect Whistler’s natural history and heritage.

9.2.4.1. Policy

Develop a Heritage Strategy and Plan for Whistler.

9.2.4.2. Policy

Maintain an inventory of Whistler’s heritage assets and ensure all identified heritage assets are considered in the review of new development proposals.

9.2.4.3. Policy

Encourage appropriate agencies and organizations to identify, manage, interpret, preserve and promote Whistler’s heritage.

9.2.4.4. Policy

Develop a Natural History Strategy and Plan for Whistler.

9.2.4.5. Policy

Maintain an inventory of Whistler’s natural history assets and ensure all identified natural history assets are considered in the review of new development proposals.

9.2.4.6. Policy

Encourage appropriate agencies and organizations to identify, manage, interpret, preserve and promote Whistler’s natural history.

9.2.4.7. Policy

Work with the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation to integrate both Nations’ history and culture within the resort community and to consider documented heritage and cultural resources for both Nations’ use.