One day earlier this year, while walking through Yorkville, I saw a beautiful historic house with a fascinating name: The Women’s Art Association of Canada (WAAC). After learning more about the organization, I realized that this historic yet progressive group of women (and some men) are a perfect example of how small organizations leverage fundraising, volunteer effort, and careful events planning to stay afloat decade after decade. I sat down with Association President Dale Butterill to talk shop.
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| The exterior of the Women’s Art Association of Canada at 23 Prince Arthur Avenue. (Image courtesy of Samantha Summers.) |
How would you characterize the Association’s mission and what it is you do here?
We’re the oldest arts association of its kind in Canada. We were founded in 1887 by Mary Ella Dignam, who was an artist in her own right. Her mission, which remains today, was to support women in the arts. We are a not-for-profit nationally incorporated charitable organization, which enables us to receive charitable donations and issue charitable receipts. Our current mandate is to support women and students in the arts, and to provide public education in the arts through lectures and workshops. We offer 21 scholarships covering seven top-notch arts institutions in Ontario. Each year we host an annual luncheon for the students and their faculty supervisors, an event our members take great pride in. We also offer the students the use of the Dignam Gallery in the summer free of charge, for an exhibition of their work. This gives them the opportunity to learn how to curate and hang a show.
What is your membership like?
We have 230 members. Our members consist of practising artists and those who support the arts. Many of our artist members are returning to the art world after child rearing and ending their careers. We depend on members to volunteer their time and help in the running of the Association. You could say we are a volunteer led organization with a skeletal staff. If it wasn’t for the volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to offer the exhibitions and programming that we do. One of the challenges that face organizations like ours is that of retaining members. We have plans in store to better engage new members early on. This is important because as we move away from being a club to a hub, new members come in without knowing anyone. Helping them to establish personal connections is increasingly important. I think we have a pretty big untapped pool of social capital, skills, and knowledge that can be engaged and we look forward to implementing our plans.
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| The installation of an exhibition for the F8 Photography Collective at the Women’s Art Association of Canada. (Image courtesy of Samantha Summers.) |
How does the WAAC go about making connections with new members? How do you maintain relationships with existing members in order to maintain their support of the WAAC?
It’s very important for us to bring new people in and to introduce them to the abundance of what Women’s Art offers. Participating in Doors Open has been a very good way for us to introduce the Association to the broader public. So many visitors told us: “I’ve always wondered what went on in here. I always walk by your building but didn’t know I could go in.” It’s a bit paradoxical having been around for 132 years and nobody’s heard of us. How did you hear of us?
I walked by.
Also I should mention that just about everything that goes on at WAAC is open to the public. We see this as a positive as we move towards becoming a hub for the arts. New visitors will frequently ask about the benefits of membership and how to become a member. We aren’t necessarily looking for a deluge of new members, because we are a small organization with limits to how many members we can effectively support, but we are definitely open at this point.
This year we became a member of the Bloor Street Cultural Corridor because we thought that would assist in achieving more public recognition. We’re also on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. What I’m seeing is that it takes time for these media to gain traction. Just because you have 1000 followers doesn’t mean that they’re all rushing to come through the doors and participate. There’s so much going on in this city, there’s a lot of competition. WAAC isn’t for everybody, but it does offer something that’s quite unique and special.
What unique challenges does the WAAC face as a smaller organization?
I mentioned earlier that we rely heavily on volunteers. So many people here have great ideas, and I have to say, “That’s a great idea. Who’s going to do it?” It’s very important for small organizations to engage members. Not just coming out to luncheons and shows, but in the work and operations. People find that when they’re sitting on a committee and they take on a task that there’s a certain degree of satisfaction. You’re investing in the organization and you’re getting to know people through work. That’s a really good way to meet people. I really try to emphasize the rewards of that. At the same time, I think it’s important for an organization to be able to accommodate people whose only interest is in receiving the monthly newsletter so they can know what’s going on. However, as a Board, reaching out, connecting with and engaging members in the work of the organization is important. Finding the time to do that is hard. None of us are getting paid, and we all have other things going on in our lives. You have to set some limits, so the more people we have engaged, the more we can take on.
Where do you get your revenue?
As a charitable, not-for-profit organization, generally speaking we are self-supporting. Our revenue streams consist of membership fees, donations, fundraisers, gallery and studio rentals (we have 11 studios) . We have not approached the city for grant money. With the scholarship program, the majority are funded by individual members. Without their support there would be fewer scholarships.
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| Photography from the F8 Photography Collective show at the Women’s Art Association of Canada. (Image courtesy of Samantha Summers.) |
It sounds like you have lots of flexibility.
Yes, we have flexibility within our limits (financial and human resources). Being an organization with such a long history we take pride in remembering where we came from and acknowledging our heritage. But we also recognize that this is 2019 and we need to move with the times as I mentioned before moving from a club to a hub. Organizations must adapt to the times if they are to ‘stay in business.’ It’s encouraging that we continue to be very good at attracting new members, I think because we remain relevant.
Since you joined WAAC seven years ago, what is the most exciting thing that you have seen accomplished?
That is a hard question because there have been many pivotal moments over the last 7 years but I’ll name a recent one. Last year we had an event called BASH - Bold Art Stars Happening. This was a celebration of women artists over the age of 80. We reached out to the Arts and Letters Club and the Heliconian Club and we collaborated on five days of programming. We had a cocktail party, a big BASH event, and I even learned how to make a Mai Tai cocktail. What was really quite wonderful was that everything on the walls were works created by older women, we had a woman from the theatre who performed, we had two workshops led by two women in their nineties, and we had an author from the Heliconian who had just published a book about Canadian history. It was a true celebration of the endurance of the creative spirit.
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| The exhibition space at the Women’s Art Association of Canada set up for the F8 Photography Collective exhibition. (Image courtesy of Samantha Summers.) |
That sounds really powerful.
It was and it also was also a successful fundraiser, raising $25,000. But most importantly it put the spotlight on women who have been engaged in the creative process their entire lives and are still thinking about their next work and are still active members of arts organizations. It was very inspiring for people of all ages to see the fruits of a creative life.
Visit the Women’s Art Association of Canada at 23 Prince Arthur Avenue, and check out these upcoming exhibitions and events: Friends in the RUG, The Artist's Hand, Literary Nites.
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