LAKELAND – From giving to winning – in just one year, the Clayton Bellamy Foundation for the Arts is turning heads.
On April 2, the Clayton Bellamy Foundation took home the Alberta Country Music Awards’ Community Spirit Award in Calgary.
What first started as a platform to invest in the education of Lakeland students pursuing fine arts in post-secondary, the foundation is now being used as the engine to build a fine arts theatre in the Town of Bonnyville that will serve the entire Lakeland community.
“It was really exciting and incredible to be honoured by my country music community,” local musician Clayton Bellamy told Lakeland This Week. “And I think that it's really going to continue to bring awareness to what we're trying to do here in the Lakeland.”
Bellamy, along with some of the board members from Strathcona Resources, which is the naming sponsor of the soon-to-be theatre, were on hand to except the award.
“This is definitely a team effort and none of this would get done without amazing volunteers and community dollars,” Bellamy said.
Located in Bonnyville Centralized High School’s former gymnasium, construction and retrofitting of the space will begin mid-June with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30 of this year, he said.
The Strathcona Performing Arts Centre is expected to cost $1.7 million, of which the foundation has raised approximately 65 per cent of the cost through municipal funding, provincial grants, corporate sponsorships and in-kind donations from community groups and members.
The foundation is working with Workun Garrick Architecture and Interior Design from Edmonton, and work has been put out for tender to transform the old gymnasium into a multi- purpose performing arts theatre.
To make the theatre a success in the long-term, the foundation entered into an educational partnership with MacEwan University and Portage College, providing a level of sustainability to the project. Also partnering with the theatre is Invictus Entertainment. The organization will focus on bringing in high-caliber and quality entertainment to the intimate 340-seat theatre.
Making things happen
Bellamy acknowledged that creating a bursary for Lakeland students had been the primary focus of the foundation. However, when the opportunity presented itself to build a theatre in his hometown after the loss of the Lyle Victor Albert Centre in 2020 – it was a no brainer.
RELATED STORY: Demolition begins on Lyle Victor Albert Centre
“It was the timing... If we hadn't jumped on the opportunity when it was there, it wouldn't have happened because there were already things in motion to use the space for other things. So, we needed to either agree to step forward and take on the project, or there would be no theatre,” shared Bellamy.
“I couldn't turn away from that. I had to say yes, and just make it work and that's what we've been doing.”
The Strathcona Performing Arts Centre will support and expand on underserved areas like arts-based youth education and Indigenous culture through its programming.
The venue will focus on offering space for music camps, lessons, live theatre productions and concerts, cultural performances, dance competitions, as well as conferences, meeting events and aims to be a gathering point for community groups.
With a big vision and high hopes for the project, Bellamy said that while he has not taken his foot off the gas in his musical career, the support from the foundation’s board and partnering organizations has made the project manageable.
“A lot of people in the community got behind it too. If it had been just me, we'd still be in the same place. But our community, our schools and everyone really rallied behind this cause and before the year is out, we're going to be celebrating a new theatre in the Lakeland.”
Bursary still accepting applications
The deadline for the first $2,000 Clayton Bellamy Scholarship Fund for Music and the Arts is just months away.
Closing on June 15, the bursary is open to high school students in their graduating year who have a 65 per cent average in their Grade 12 year and are entering a fine arts program at a recognized post-secondary institution. Each year, one student will be awarded the bursary.
“This will be our first year and our first recipient. So, we are looking for candidates and we have been encouraging people to apply online,” said Bellamy.
Details on the bursary program can be found at www.claytonbellamyfoundation.org/scholarship.
First annual Celebrity Gala & Golf fundraiser
To reach the final dollar amount needed to complete the Strathcona Performing Arts Centre, the foundation is hosting its first annual Celebrity Gala and Golf Fundraiser scheduled for the September long weekend.
In vintage Hollywood style, the foundation will be holding a Celebrity Gala on Sept. 1, at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre. The evening will include dinner, music and special guests including The Road Hammers, Tim Hicks, Mike Plume and Dan Davidson, with more celebrities to be announced soon.
Special guest and emcee Danny Hooper will be auctioning off celebrity guests to the highest bidder for a round of golf at the fundraiser being held at Bonnyville Golf and Country Club the following day on Sept. 2.
Bellamy noted that both events are open to everyone and that participation in one event is not required to attend the other – “So, save the date,” he said.
The golf fundraiser will feature a pancake breakfast, door prizes, musical performances, a steak dinner and Alberta’s first Million Dollar Hole in One.
“We will be selling tables first and then individual tickets,” explained Bellamy. Gala tables and golf teams go on sale April 17.
Anyone inquiring about a table, ticket or sponsorship opportunities for the gala can contact Brent Mattice at (780) 812-0946. For golf team registration and sponsorship opportunities, contact Tim Graham at (780) 812-6500.
“We're just going to be waving the flag from now until September so we can sell this thing out and make a big splash,” said Bellamy.
RELATED STORY: Proposed Bonnyville theatre to be named Strathcona Performing Arts Centre
