Serving the Williams Lake Arts and Culture Community for 54 years

About Us

Founded in 1969, the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake is a vital voice for local arts and culture in the Cariboo Chilcotin. Founding members, including playwright Gwen Ringwood, publisher Clive Stangoe, potter Anna Roberts and thespian Anne Hornby, envisioned a collective and collaborative organization charged with invigorating the creative community.

Since then, CACWL has produced and supported public art and arts education, all while encouraging strong social connections that celebrate culture. CACWL serves our 14 member groups, individual artists, youth arts and the community at large through performances, workshops, funding and arts and culture experiences.

CACWL continues to enrich the arts with these inspired initiatives: Art in the Park, Cultural Events (The ComeUNITY Event, ), Cabin Fever Workshop Series, Art in the Park, Earth Friendly Holiday Event, Feature Artist Series, Lake City Secondary Art Student Bursary, The Giving Tree and Performances in the Park.

We commit to continuously evolve, adapt, and respond to change in order to better serve and support creative and cultural expression.

We gratefully acknowledge that we live, work, play and create on the traditional and unceded territory of the Northern Secwepemc nation. We dedicate our work and our ongoing education to the Indigenous People who have lived and persevered on these lands despite consistent colonial efforts to perpetuate forced assimilation and cultural genocide.

As a grassroots arts organization, we commit to personal and organizational education and change as we strive to implement action and policies that support and uplift equity-deserving members of our community.

 As a settler organization, there are many pathways to pursue and investigate for understanding: what is my role and responsibility as a visitor to traditional territory? Explore the links below to find out how CACWL has approaches this work.

Feature Artists

Community Arts Council has been busy setting up a series of events to entertain our local audiences! On February 18th, we team up with Arts on the Fly to present Dream Heavy with Cole Patenaude and the Screech Owls at The Limelight Theatre.

On February 25th, Terri Smith of ‘Something Magical’ hosts an instructional needle felting workshop! Finally on March 9th, Danny Bell plays at Fox Mountain Brewery.

News & Events

Art and community happenings in the Cariboo-Chilcotin? Read about them here. From touring musicians to cultural events, our intention is to keep you informed and engaged (and excited!) about amazing local events, like our upcoming season of Performances in the Park! Season Gets started on Thursday July 6th.

Presented by the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, this series takes place every Thursday in July and August, in downtown Williams Lake.

Here's what we've been up to in recent months...

Member Groups

Supporting our local art groups is the essence of what CACWL is all about. Through grant funding, enhancing exposure, and facilitating collaboration, our organization serves as a 'hub' for the abundant creative community in our area. If you are creating an arts-related or community group in the Cariboo-Chilcotin or are an individual or association that just really wants to support art in your hometown, we want to meet you!