As of 2023, ArtsForward is once again full to bursting with arts, cultural, and community events. After being closed for an entire year due to the pandemic, administrator Yvonne Sisley says that people were very ready to return to in-person events and it’s just gotten stronger from there.

In this episode of Coffee Chat, host Lyle Watson talks to Sisley about the programs that they have underway and her want to form partnerships with other organizations to make more things happen in Neepawa.

Sisley has recently taken part in a tourism summit in Winnipeg that was very clear with some messaging that a lot of people had already taken to heart: things are not going to go back to the way they were before the pandemic. People need to find new ways to engage and move forward. To that end, Sisley has taken note of the lingering effects of lockdowns and restrictions, and several newer activities are centred around health and wellness.

One of the brightest stars to emerge in the past couple of years has been Indigenous Culture Day, held on or around September 30 to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as well as engage with Culture Days. An entire day of gathering, teaching, pow wow dancing, and hands-on activities engages students from all local schools as well as the community at large. Partnerships with several local Indigenous communities has made the event not just possible but vibrant.

Partnerships, said Sisley, are absolutely key to the number and variety of options that ArtsForward is able to offer. For instance, their Mom’s Morning Out program, which is a mothers’ social and activity group that offers childcare, is a partnership with Miles for Mental Health, and a new partnership with the Kaleidoscope Concert Series, that will see the concerts become a cabaret-style event in the facility.

Sisley indicates that government funding is seeing a bit of a shift in the past couple of years, and they seem more inclined to support organizations that are active and less inclined to subsidize organisations that are seeing little activity or uptake. One of her goals is to ensure that activities are inclusive and inexpensive, to allow people from all areas of the community to participate. These include music lessons, a Saturday dance school, summer theatre camp, the RAFT summer arts festival, and much more.

Overall, Sisley says she just wants to see people come out, check out the facility, and see how it has something to offer to everyone.