Square Edge Community Arts back from the brink

Following a rocky start to the year, Square Edge Community Arts has a new lease of life thanks to new funding.

After missing out on a $60,000 council grant in March, the arts centre has managed to recoup its lost funding through other organisations and regain half of its council funding.

Square Edge artistic director Kane Forbes described losing the $60,000 grant as a ‘‘catastrophe’’ for the organisation.

When he took over as acting manager in May, Forbes’ priority was to secure funding from diverse sources, because Square Edge had been totally reliant on council funding alone. The centre now has funding confirmed from five sources for the 2019-2020 year.

Previously holding a fee-forservice contract with the council, it was one of several groups to miss out on the council’s first allocation of strategic priority grants.

But council community development manager Joann Ransom said there was $70,000 of funding to be allocated after the council set its budget, so Square Edge would receive $30,000 a year for three years.

It also received $13,000 from the Local Initiatives Fund and $3000, in May, from the Creative Communities Scheme, Ransom said.

Forbes said the organisation had ‘‘safely recouped’’ the $60,000, but he had about $30,000 of grant applications still to be considered.

Square Edge has had a longstanding arrangement with the city council to manage the building on The Square, the former city council chambers, as a creative centre for emerging artists and to promote community participation in the arts.

Forbes said the centre had been proving its value to the community. Events such as Art Night, where people gathered at the gallery to talk about hardhitting topics, showed the organisation was still relevant and interesting.

‘‘The ship was on the rocks, but it didn’t sink, it got off.’’