Waterloo Region needs to step up for its arts scene

If the pieces of Waterloo Region’s high-tech sector puzzle are coming together nicely, there’s a large, gaping hole in the middle of it all.

Do we have a world-renowned tech community with large, established players as well as tiny start-ups driving our new economy? Check.

Do we have cutting-edge universities and a fine college to produce the new workers who’ll keep this economy growing? Check.

Are we witnessing a 21st-century urban revolution with billions of dollars of new development underway in our urban cores and a sleek, new light rail transit system poised to tie it all together? Check. Check.

And do we have the large, happening cultural community to draw all those young tech workers to this region and keep them here instead of drifting off to the bright lights of Toronto or San Francisco?

Well, sorry folks. Not quite. Not yet. That’s the missing piece. Culture.

And if you get that, if you agree this need is begging to be addressed, you’ll be thrilled by the plan announced this week to expand Themuseum in downtown Kitchener and transform it into a first-class hub for local arts and culture.

A generous offer from BMO to donate $1 million to Themuseum and give it exclusive rights to buy the BMO branch next door for $2 million has kick-started the expansion efforts.

If the vision of Themuseum’s CEO David Marskell becomes reality, he’ll have more space and local funding to partner with other groups in music, film, dance, theatre and the digital arts as well as bring international exhibits to the region.

There are compelling reasons why this region should enthusiastically support this venture. It would be a game-changer.

Richard Florida, a famed American urban theorist who teaches at the University of Toronto, argues “creativity has replaced raw materials or natural harbours as the crucial wellspring of economic growth” in today’s world.

To succeed in the emerging global economy, regions must develop, attract and hold onto creative people who will generate the innovations and new technology that fuel prosperity.

But to achieve this, Florida says, regions have to offer the arts, cultural and recreational opportunities this creative class craves.

This is where Waterloo Region can do better. While the region’s cultural sector has its share of gems like Cambridge’s Hamilton Family Theatre, Kitchener’s Centre in the Square and Waterloo’s Clay and Glass Gallery, much more can be done to take it to the next level with a facility that fosters and brings together a world-class arts community. Our talented local artists, musicians, film makers and writers are doing their best — but they deserve more help.

One ongoing problem is the lack of a coherent, unified, regionwide response to the arts community. But what else could be expected from a two-tier regional government with eight municipal councils all trying to manage things?

Is it any surprise our arts groups and facilities often work against each other as they try to survive on precarious funding that may or may not come from local councils?

Fixing this mess is a long-term project. In the short term, the region’s artists, arts organizations, postsecondary institutions, municipal leaders as well as the business community — and especially its tech sector — should accept the coming invitation from Marskell to decide what Themuseum could become, how to get it there and how to pay for it.

Art for all of our sakes, you might say.