Small City, Big Arts!

This year, on February 21 st , the community came together for the annual Open House event to celebrate
and discuss the Cultural Masterplan project! SAEDS very own Caitlin Thompson and Lana Fitt presented
exciting updates and creative visual inspiration to lead discussion about the potential for district
development in Salmon Arm.

As part of the development of the Cultural Masterplan, SAEDS teamed up with the project partners from
the City of Salmon Arm and the Arts District Council, as well as community stakeholders, to investigate
the potential for district development. This included brand placemaking, and other goals, that align with
both the Destinations Development Project and new Two-Year Visitor Attraction Strategy.

As a result, there were two outcomes prioritized over the last two years; mapping and identifying
neighborhoods and unique district potential in Salmon Arm through public engagement and
consultation; And, the creative inspiration of District Development through mood-boards.

At the Open House event, SAEDS was prepared to show some examples of how the mapping translates
to the mood-board renderings. A specific theme was selected for the mood-boards, but this does not
limit the potential for more themes such as sports and recreation!

Over the past years, SAEDS’ Project Coordinator, Caitlin, engaged with the public in a variety of settings
to discuss, brainstorm and ‘THINK BIG’ about areas of Salmon Arm. Caitlin facilitated mapping activities
at events, at past open house events and through meaningful conversations. She also engaged with City
Staff to look at the geographical area of Salmon Arm, and different naming conventions. This aligns
seamlessly with other projects, the Relocation Guide produced by Kate Watson from SAEDS; which
included names of neighborhoods giving people a sense of belonging and helping us move throughout
our community.

In 2023, at the CMP OPEN House SAEDS invited marking strategy and tourism experts from the BC firm
Partner & Hawes to present and speak about district development. They presented case studies and real
examples of creative projects in BC including Chilliwack’s 1881 District. Additionally, last year, SAEDS
worked with P&H to develop clear visitor attraction strategies. This resulted in fitting together and
overlaying the strategies to produce mood-boards!

Take a look at these incredible mood-boards! Consider if anything you see makes you smile or curious?
Does anything you see make you want to visit that location and why? What features or elements in the
board images could you see in Salmon Arm?

Notable features include:

o Banners, use of SCBI brand
o Creative seating
o Use of shipping containers or creative market areas for events, festivals, performances,
markets
o Showing musical performers/street performers
o Shade concepts for hot weather/rain (providing a year-round experience)
o Selfie or ‘take a picture’ type of feature/art/image/structure

o Active transportation, creating a ‘walkable’ experience
o Lighting features
o Wayfinding signage

What’s next? The team members working on these projects are committed to staying connected, and
aligned to support the City of Salmon Arm and the CMP partners with both the CMP and the Art Policy.
The goal is to be curious, and explore opportunities and the right moments, taking small steps in the
right direction. The team will also not limit their BIG thinking, and BIG dreams for district potential in the
community!