Arts, culture and heritage are central to the social, cultural and economic life of Nelson and the wider West Kootenay region. With the 2026 provincial election now underway, we invited local candidates in the Kootenay Central riding to share their perspectives on the sector and the priorities they would bring to the Legislature if elected.

The Provincial Arts, Culture & Heritage Candidate Survey is conducted by the Nelson & District Arts Council, Nelson Museum, Archives, and Gallery, Oxygen Art Centre, Kootenay Regional Arts Council, Tapatía Collective, Kootenay School of the Arts Society, The Civic Theatre, Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism, and The Capitol Theatre.

The 2026 provincial election will be held Saturday, October 24, 2026. You can find more information at Elections BC. 

In this survey, we hear from Brittny Anderson, a candidate running for the BC NDP Party. 

1. Your Experience & Connection to the Sector

What experience and perspective would you bring to the role of MLA?

I have been the MLA for Kootenay Central for the past six years, serving also as the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Premier’s Special Advisor on Youth, and most recently as Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities. Through my various roles in government, I have been consistently highlighting rural voices and perspectives as decisions are made.

I grew up in the Kootenays and I love my home and the arts scene is one of the aspects that makes this place an incredibly unique place to live and visit. I spent my childhood growing up at the Capitol Theater, Civic Theater and learning from the best like Allison Girvin and Geoff Burns. I value the arts for how they have helped me develop confidence and curiosity.

How do you currently engage with arts, culture and heritage in our region—as an attendee, volunteer, participant, donor, purchaser, practitioner or supporter?

I love the arts. When Premier David Eby recently visited Nelson, I knew that this would be an amazing opportunity to show him how strong our arts community is here. I invited Sydney Black and other members of the arts community to meet with Eby while he was at the Nelson Leafs game, so that they could demonstrate just how vital this sector is to our community, and so they could advocate for the importance of strong funding programs supporting it.

2. Understanding Arts, Culture & Heritage

What role do you believe arts, culture and heritage play in the social and economic wellbeing of communities like Nelson and others throughout the West Kootenays?

Arts, culture, and heritage are so central to our communities here in the West Kootenays. We are so lucky that so many talented, creative people choose to come here and contribute so much – just look at the incredible artisans on the East Shore, or the murals throughout Nelson. Arts spaces, like the Langham in Kaslo or NMAG in Nelson, provide a vital nexus for community connection and offer the opportunity to get to know our neighbours and laugh, cry, learn, and celebrate, together.

What do you see as the most significant challenges currently facing artists, cultural workers and non-profit arts, culture and heritage organizations in our region?

Something that I’ve been hearing about in my meetings with arts organizations are concerns around a lack of reliable funding. The grant application process puts a large strain on these often volunteer-driven organizations, and can be inconsistent.

3. Provincial Arts & Culture Funding

Many arts, culture and heritage organizations rely on provincial operating and project funding while facing increasing costs for wages, insurance, facilities, programming and artist fees.

What role should the Province play in ensuring the long-term sustainability of B.C.’s arts, culture and heritage sector?

The Province is uniquely positioned to support our arts, culture, and heritage sector. We need to recognize the significant economic contribution this sector makes to our communities, especially in the rural context.

Will you work to ensure that artists and arts and cultural institutions are sustainably funded? What improvements do you think could be made in this area?

Absolutely, and I have been doing this already. Here is a record of some of the funding I have championed for arts organizations in our riding:

• Kaslo – Kaslo Concert Society and Langham Cultural Society received $17,000 in Community Gaming Grants to help deliver services so people can be more active, creative and culturally connected.
• Riding-wide – 11 arts organizations received funding through more than $12.4 million in one-time funding to the BC Arts Council, which distributed $7.9 million in resilience supplements to over 300 organizations currently receiving operating assistance.
• Kootenays – Artists across the Kootenays received Artist Supports and Pivot grants totalling $120,600 to weather the pandemic, including: Elephant Mountain Literary Festival ($9,000); Nelson and District Museum ($50,000); Oxygen Art Centre ($25,200); Tiny Lights Festival ($36,400).
• Kootenays – A further $29,000 in Artist Supports grants went to: Jim Holyoak ($14,000); Massif Music Festival Society ($5,000); Nelson and District Arts Council ($5,000); Tiny Lights Festival ($5,000).
• Nelson – $16,914 for the Capital Theatre Restoration Fund for new speaker and sound systems.
• Nelson – The BC Arts Council distributed grants to multiple community arts and culture organizations in Nelson.

4. Rural & Regional Equity

Artists and cultural organizations in rural and remote communities face different challenges than their counterparts in major urban centres, including smaller funding bases, limited infrastructure, transportation barriers and fewer professional development opportunities.

How would you work to ensure provincial arts, culture and heritage policies and funding programs reflect the realities of rural and regional communities, specifically the ones we live in here, in this region?

A key piece of my work as Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities has been implementing the Rural Initiative. This initiative offers guidance to all provincial ministries to apply a rural lens to the decisions they make, in order to better account for the challenges that rural communities can face, and to better highlight their strengths. If I am able to continue in this role, I will continue to advocate for our rural communities.

5. Truth, Reconciliation, Equity & Accessibility

What learning or relationship-building have you undertaken related to Indigenous peoples, histories and communities connected to this territory, and to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility?

How would you ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion translate into meaningful access to funding, cultural spaces, leadership and decision-making, not only representation or participation?

Living and serving in the Kootenays means being rooted in the territories of the Ktunaxa, the Sinixt and Silyx peoples, and I take that responsibility seriously – not as a formality, but as an ongoing commitment to understanding the histories, rights, and present realities of the communities connected to this land.

My background in International Relations gave me a foundational grounding in Indigenous rights frameworks, including UNDRIP, and I’ve continued to build on that through my work in government, including supporting BC’s passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) in 2019, which every MLA in the legislature voted for unanimously. Since then, I’ve been part of a government that has worked to implement that commitment through concrete action plans, annual accountability reporting, and co-development with Indigenous governments across BC.

As a former board member of the Regional District of Central Kootenay, I worked alongside local governments and Indigenous communities on shared regional priorities, which deepened my understanding of what meaningful, on-the-ground partnership looks like beyond the legislature. Through my role as Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities, I continue to work directly with local governments on how they build and sustain relationships with First Nations in their regions – including on land use, housing, and service delivery.

6. Affordability & Cultural Infrastructure

The affordability and availability of housing, studios, performance venues and other cultural spaces directly affect whether artists and cultural workers can continue living and working in our communities.

What role should the Province play in supporting affordable cultural spaces and helping artists and cultural workers remain in the communities where they work?

Artists and cultural workers are not a luxury sector; they are the backbone of what makes communities like Nelson, Castlegar, and the Kootenays worth living in. When a musician can’t afford rent, when a visual artist loses their studio, or when a theatre can’t cover its operating costs, we don’t just lose individuals – we lose the cultural fabric that holds communities together. The Province has a direct responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.

I’ve seen this play out locally, and I’ve worked to address it. I’ve championed Community Gaming Grants that have put over $300,000 into Kootenay arts and culture organizations – from the Capitol Theatre and the Nelson and District Arts Council to the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council and the Langham Cultural Society.

These aren’t one-time windfalls; they’re the operating lifelines that keep venues open, keep programming running, and keep the people who deliver that programming able to stay. I also supported infrastructure funding through the BC Arts Council’s Arts Infrastructure Program that helped the Capitol Theatre upgrade its stage rigging – a direct investment in the physical spaces where culture lives.

At the provincial level, I’m proud to have been part of a government that in 2024 delivered over $37 million through the BC Arts Council to more than 1,300 artists and arts groups across BC – including nearly $15 million in operating support for established organizations, over $4 million for individual artists’ career development, and dedicated infrastructure funding to improve and sustain cultural spaces.

We’ve also committed $22.5 million through Amplify BC to support BC’s music sector through 2027, including funding for live music events and career development that reaches artists in regional communities, not just Vancouver.

But I want to be honest: the intersection of housing affordability and cultural space is an area where we need to go further. Artists need roofs over their heads just as much as they need studio space, and in communities like Nelson where the cost of living has risen sharply, those two pressures compound each other. I believe the Province should:

• Protect and expand operating funding for cultural organizations so venues and spaces can remain affordable to rent and anchor artists in their communities long-term, rather than forcing year-to-year uncertainty.
• Integrate an arts and culture lens into housing policy – including exploring models like artist live/work zoning and community land trusts that other jurisdictions have used to protect cultural space from speculative real estate pressure.
• Strengthen regional access to the BC Arts Council’s infrastructure and operating grants, ensuring that smaller communities and rural arts organizations aren’t consistently outcompeted by urban applicants for limited funds.
• Support local governments – through my role as Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities – in developing their own cultural space strategies, and ensure provincial housing investments don’t inadvertently displace the arts sector.

The Kootenays punch far above their weight culturally. My job is to make sure the Province keeps investing in that – and to push for policies that let artists not just visit our communities for residencies, but actually build their lives and careers here.

7. Your Commitment

If elected, what is one concrete action you would advocate for during the next provincial term to strengthen arts, culture and heritage in Nelson, the West Kootenay region and British Columbia?

My commitment is straightforward: protect what’s working, strengthen what isn’t, and build on the momentum we’ve already created together.

During my time as MLA I have championed direct funding that makes a real difference to arts organizations across our riding. The Kaslo Concert Society and Langham Cultural Society received $17,000 in Community Gaming Grants so they can keep delivering services that help people be more active, creative, and culturally connected. Pivot and Artist Supports grants delivered $120,600 to organizations weathering the pandemic – including the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival ($9,000), Nelson and District Museum ($50,000), Oxygen Art Centre ($25,200), and Tiny Lights Festival ($36,400). A further $29,000 in Artist Supports reached Jim Holyoak, Massif Music Festival Society, the Nelson and District Arts Council, and Tiny Lights Festival. The Capital Theatre received $16,914 for its Restoration Fund to upgrade speaker and sound systems. And riding-wide, 11 arts organizations benefited from more than $12.4 million in one-time BC Arts Council funding, including $7.9 million in resilience supplements to over 300 organizations provincewide.

These aren’t just numbers – they represent venues that stayed open, festivals that went ahead, and artists who kept creating. Arts, culture, and heritage enrich our quality of life in ways nothing else can. They bring new perspectives and challenge us to see the world differently. They offer opportunities for healing and personal growth – for youth finding their voice, for elders sharing their stories, for newcomers building belonging. And they bring people together in ways that are irreplaceable: a packed Capitol Theatre, a crowd at Mural Fest, an opening at NMAG – these are the moments where our community becomes something greater than the sum of its parts.