Castlegar Sculpturewalk is working with the city to deal with an insurance bill that quadrupled in one year.
Executive director Joy Barrett told city council last week that they expected their rate to increase after a sculpture was destroyed in a windstorm in 2022.
“However, we didn’t expect it to be raised from $2,500 to $10,000, which is the average cost of one of our sculptures,” she said. “This is untenable for us and is a clear threat to our program.”
Barrett said many arts organizations face rising insurance costs and other sculpture programs have been unable to secure insurance at all, putting the onus on the artists, most of whom are unable to cover the expense.
In the past year alone, three sculptures have been stolen or destroyed in those programs, she said, which leads artists to lose trust and drop out.
However, she said they are confident they can find a solution to their insurance problem. She said they are looking at increasing leasing prices and sponsorship fees by 15 per cent each, looking for new partnerships to increase sales, and at new grant opportunities.
Meanwhile, Dec. 16 will be Sculpturewalk’s second Night of Fire event, where a sculpture is ceremonially lit ablaze.
