Patricia Ainslie lives and breathes the arts, travelling the world to experience culture in all its glorious diversity.

But that doesn’t mean her head is in the clouds: As an art historian and founder of Kelowna’s Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre (CNPAC), Ainslie is also a politically savvy force who can find her way around the corridors of power.

“Culture,” she explains softly, in her refined British accent, “feeds my spirit. It enables me to feel things in a different way.”

But you have to invest the effort, she says, by carefully studying works of art, listening mindfully to music, and observing the rippling muscles and the creative choreography of dancers.

“The arts are meant to inspire, to encourage people to learn and to see things differently,” says Ainslie, who recently retired from CNPAC’s active Board duties and was named Honorary Chairperson. “Culture brings forward another dimension of existence.”

Born in England and raised in South Africa, Ainslie had a long and distinguished career in the arts, including 25 years as art curator and then vice-president of collections at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum.

In 2006 she moved to Kelowna where, as an independent writer and curator, she began her significant role in boosting the arts in the Okanagan Valley. Among other things, she wrote an illustrated book, Okanagan Artists in their Studios, which showcased the work of 13 local professional artists of national and international renown.

Supporting the arts

“If we want the arts to thrive, we need to support them,” Ainslie says. “We do that by attending events, helping out with mundane tasks or on the boards of arts organizations, or by donating.”

It’s sage advice that she herself follows.

Ainslie was widely applauded for her role in building and supporting Ballet Kelowna. Then, in 2019, she established CNPAC, aimed at pushing Kelowna City Hall to create an iconic, contemporary, and significantly larger successor to the existing community theatre that would better serve people throughout the Okanagan.

“I wasn’t very political before,” she chuckles ruefully. “This was a startup operation, and there was no road map for navigating it. But I did learn a great deal.”

One setback hit immediately. After recruiting a board of directors for an inaugural meeting in February 2020, Covid shut everything down.

Still, Ainslie and her group persevered, through Covid and a change in City Council. Looking back, the largely self-funded, all-volunteer CNPAC can take credit for raising public awareness and enthusiasm in the community, commissioning important research, and lobbying politicians and staff at City Hall.

“Patricia’s deep devotion to the arts drove her to champion a much-needed replacement for the Kelowna Community Theatre, and to create something more aligned with our city’s current and future needs and desires,” says Myles Bruckal, who succeeded Ainslie as CNPAC president. “Her inspiring leadership easily rallied support from all sectors of the arts community, and helped our board make great strides towards our goal.”

Progress made

Indeed, over the past five years, the group’s energetic advocacy persuaded Kelowna’s new mayor, Tom Dyas, and his Council to set aside $1 million to study ways to develop a new performing arts centre. Acting on an idea first put forward by CNPAC, the mayor also established and chaired a task force to further advance the issue.

As she switches to a purely advisory role with CNPAC, Ainslie hopes that this progress can be sustained and expanded upon.

In particular, she would like to see City Hall demonstrate a concrete commitment to a new performing arts venue, including proposing a site and a project timeline.

She also hopes that the City will strengthen its partnership with CNPAC, capitalizing on the group’s work, and the trust and contacts it has built within the cultural community over the past five years.

But while Ainslie will step back from the front lines, she won’t be idle. She’ll continue to garden, exercise, travel, and practise her beloved Argentine tango.

And, of course, you’ll always find her attending one or another of the region’s many cultural events.

“I’ve had an incredible life in the arts,” she reflects. “And for me it’s always been about supporting the community and giving back.”

For more information on Citizens for a New Performing Arts Centre, please contact us at kelownaperformingarts@gmail.com