Carly Butler (she/her)

Organization: Carly Butler
Role: Development, Arts & Cultural Strategist
Bio: Carly Butler is an interdisciplinary artist and Executive Director of the Tofino Arts Council. She has nearly three decades of experience in the arts and nonprofit fundraising and development, including major capital campaigns in both Canada and the UK across a range of sectors, from healthcare and housing, to community museums. With a background that spans both the creative and administrative sides of the arts, (including galleries, museums, and auction houses), Carly has a unique perspective on how to advocate for the arts and support artists, while ensuring that creative communities and organizations have the resources they need to thrive.
In her art practice, Carly has been collaborating with Indigenous artists on projects focussed on decolonizing and developing rural arts strategies, including the Canada Council funded Hiis?uuwaa: collaborations in the Alberni/Clayoquot region, and is the Outreach Officer for the Arts Territory Exchange, a global network of artists in remote areas. She also runs UMD Gallery & Projects showing experimental work in Ucluelet.

Carly holds a BA in Sociology/History of Art from the University of Leeds, a BFA from NSCAD, Halifax, and an MA in Post-War and Contemporary Art from Sotheby’s Institute/University of Manchester where her research focussed on Iranian women artists in exile.

Areas of Interest: 

• Strategic leadership and planning, particularly in rural arts and underserved communities

• Fundraising

• Building a creative economy for artists

• Research

Things you want to learn: New models of governance for nonprofit boards; policy development, creating something radically different to encourage healthy, trustful, nurturing, functional systems in our sector.
Things I want changed in the sector: More collaborative efforts, both within the arts and outside; greater focus on what actually helps support artists, better advocacy, improved nonprofit governance