A donation of $4,000 from ECPOR to the Wheatland Society of Arts will go a long way towards making arts programming accessible to everyone.

The generous donation came from EPCOR’s Heart + Soul Fund. The funding will go towards the Adaptive Art program instructed by Megan Fachini, which allows people with intellectual and physical disabilities to explore their creative side while socializing with their peers. As well, a new mentorship program led by Nancy-Lynne Hughes, which is aimed at helping participants build on their technical skills.

Sarena Dobmeier, President, Wheatland Society of Arts says of the funding, “I think it's fantastic. We can make a $4,000 donation stretch a long way, and Wheatland Society of Arts is a non-profit organization. We try to offer programs to Wheatland County residents at a small fraction of the cost of similar programs that larger centers like, Calgary, would charge.”

“This means most of our classes are running at a loss because we were offering them for so low cost.

This funding and all other funding is crucial for our mandate, and our mandate is ‘Art for All’. We can offer that with these kinds of donations,” she said.

EPCOR established the Heart + Soul Fund in 2020 with the aim to support charitable organizations that enhance the community and support the community during the pandemic.

“The arts are a vital part of our community, connecting us through unique experiences,” said Christian Madsen, EPCOR Director, Regional Operations. “The Adaptive Art and Mentorship programs will provide creative and therapeutic outlets for residents of all ages and abilities that EPCOR is pleased to support through its Heart + Soul Fund.”

Currently, local programming is run in-person at Strathmore.

“We run them in-studio, which is a fantastic relief because, after the year of having to close our doors quite often due to restrictions, we had a lot of time where we couldn't run classes,” said Dobmeier.

“We want to get people out as best we can, and socialize while they share a common interest. We follow all the Alberta Health safety guidelines, above and beyond, and we currently run much like a classroom with our physical distance desks,” she said. “People are masked as well and we also follow the Restrictions Exemption Program as laid out by AHS.”