Many of B.C.’s struggling small towns are looking to tourism to bolster waning economies – but big cities are getting a huge advantage from government when it comes to funding for arts and culture, say those on the front lines.

Take the example of Island Mountain Arts, part of the Wells, B.C. community for more than 30 years, drawing roughly 150 musicians, writers and visual artists to its workshops and courses each year, as well as hosting the popular ArtsWells festival.

Even still, IMA struggles to obtain funding, with most grants coming from the Canada Council of the Arts and the B.C. Arts Council, says director Karen Jeffery, who used to run the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

She says that per capita funding in Wells equals $.75, whereas in Vancouver it's $3.75 -- a trend that has seen the province treating arts as an urban entity that is disseminated to rural areas: "Until fairly recently they believed rural areas didn't generate cultural activity," Campbell says. "You would think that funding for the arts, if it was going to be equitable, would be equal across the province, but it's not."

Just seeking funding can exhaust a small town arts operation, says Jeffery. "If they get $5,000 it probably costs them $2,000 in time and wages to get those dollars," she says, adding that things would be different if the centre was positioned in the Lower Mainland or on Vancouver Island. "When you're in the city, it's more obvious. Basically, there's little support in rural areas for the arts."

In its 2006-2007 annual report, the B.C. Arts Council recognized the importance of arts and culture in building community by noting that, "Cultural tourism, the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry, is emerging as a key element of new economic development plans in many communities. The need to develop the arts and cultural products in conjunction with the infrastructure of transportation, accommodation, restaurants and marketing is only now being understood."

Culture is key to attracting new, full time residents as well, according to B.C. Arts Council executive director Jeremy Long, "If you're going to come to a town, there has to be arts and culture there for your family."

Read The Tyee feature, Art as Engine for Small Towns, for a more in-depth look at this issue.