Ingenuity At Its Best: The Vault Cultural Collective - 2021 In Review

In 2021 a group dedicated to growing the arts and culture came together to bring a new place to gather, learn and explore our history.  The Vaults official grand opening was held on September 18th this year. 

Original story posted on July 13, 2021

An exciting new hub in the community for arts and culture is blooming in downtown Strathmore. A group of local non-profit organizations have come together to form the Vault Cultural Collective. The cultural collective is based out of the former Standard Shoe Shop building in Strathmore.

Carolyn Steeves who is the Chair of the collective explains, “There are 6 organizations that have come together, the Strathmore Children Choir, Strathmore Performing Arts Festival, Strathmore Theatre Players Guild, the Western District Historical Society, the Wheatland Society of Arts, and Arts On 817. We’ve elected a board. We've been working since August, so by the time we open, it's going to have been almost 11 months to put this all together.”

“It's very exciting,” she says as Strathmore currently doesn’t have a comprehensive public space where each of the community groups can host special events like plays, concerts, music classes, dance classes, museum exhibits, and more.

Steeves says at the moment the Western District Historical Society is getting artifacts together to display. The group has assembled cabinets in the building to install and display historical artifacts.

The Wheatland Society of the Arts is also working at hanging art and will be displaying other artworks for shows and sales.

She explained that the presence of the Strathmore Theater Players Guild and Strathmore Performance Arts Festival, Strathmore Children’s Choir, and Arts On 817 is not visible in the building yet.

“Our motto for the fall is Spark to Flame Igniting Passion for Arts and Culture. We've got a lot of events planned with all the organizations actually, from some free concerts and family concerts, or seniors concert, a band day, a choir retreat, reading through plays all kinds of things that we've put together arts wise,” said Steeves.

The space can also be used so that local artisans can display their wares.

“We just want to get our doors open and let people come in and see what we've done with the building and the displays,” said Steeves. “We're going to be a one-stop resource for arts and culture in Strathmore.”

She said they hope to be open in a few weeks, in time for the Strathmore Stampede weekend.

“We just want to get our doors open and just kind of get going,” she said. “We’re planning a grand opening on September 18th.”

Steeves also noted that the Vault Cultural Collective has partnered with The Town of Strathmore, The Strathmore Lions Club, and the Vault Local Emporium.

They will have a website up and running in the future when they open their doors.

You will also be able to find them on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.