By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The Station Arts Centre in Rosthern is on the road to financial recovery thanks to a combination of staff cuts, fundraising and forging a new relationship with the local town.
On January 30, 2025, a public meeting was held at the performing arts centre/art gallery to announce the Station Arts Centre was facing an $84,591 operating deficit and had been forced to close its craft beer and coffee bar.
The centre’s difficult financial situation was, at least in part, the result of stagnant grant money and rising electricity and maintenance costs.
Recently, the Station Arts Centre held its annual meeting on May 25. In a 2025 annual report that was posted online prior to the meeting, director of programming Nicole Thiessen acknowledged they had to “pull together as an organization” and face their financial challenges head-on in order to find a way forward.
“What stands out to me is how, with incredible volunteer and community support, we were able to continue offering concerts, classes, workshops and special events ‘as usual’ on the surface while undergoing very big changes on the organizational level underneath,” Thiessen said.
“Managing to do this allowed us to continue to access core grants and sponsorships while coming up with solutions for the future. I am amazed at what we have accomplished this year.”
Board chair Brad Nichol also thanked the community and individual supporters for their dedication to the organization. “In this period of challenge, our community supported generously in word and in deed,” he said.
Some of the steps taken over the past year to right the ship included reducing their staff from seven to one full-time director and a volunteer bookkeeper, as well as shutting down the centre for seven months (aside from concerts and classes).
A former board member, Kathy Ayers, became that bookkeeper and was able to help the board organize the books and stay up to date. A part-time bookkeeper and marketing manager has now been hired.
A fundraising committee was also formed in early 2025 to execute a strategy of raising more than $20,000.
Some of the committee’s initiatives over the past year included a sold-out Puzzle Palooza in March 2025 that raised over $1,000; hosting beer gardens at the Rosthern Harvest Festival that raised nearly $4,400; a “With A Little Help from Our Friends” event in November that raised over $10,000; and a Summer “Land of the Loon” raffle that brought in $5,000.
Nichol noted that Thiessen also worked to develop a new relationship with the Town of Rosthern with a new focus on building maintenance that has “significantly reduced” their operational risk.
“In turn, the organization welcomes the role of the Town Representative(s) to regular board meetings for the purpose of maintaining a strong and collaborative relationship,” Nichol said.
As well, the centre also received $59,660 in various provincial, municipal and arts organization grants, a small increase from last year’s total of $53,603.
The centre’s balance sheet demonstrates the efficacy of these measures, as the organization nearly halved its expenses and achieved an operating surplus of $44,349.
2025 programming
Looking to the year’s other highlights, a newly-formed café committee was able to lease the kitchen and gallery to Twinses Café and Catering in June 2025, which was just in time for the summer tourism season. Thiessen said that Twinses has been amazing to work with and they make everyone feel welcome.
“Their food soon became a huge attraction for business meetings and special event catering which increased the Station’s rental and everyday visitor traffic,” he said.
A total of 22 live and local events were hosted this year, ranging from local musical performances and artist talks to art activity nights and workshops. The 2026 concert series featured seven professional shows by Canadian touring artists, beginning with the Prairie Sons in March and concluding with the Thalea string quartet in November. They also implemented a new way of purchasing season tickets was implemented that allows ticket-holders to attend all seven shows.
The Saskatchewan Arts Council (SAC) hosted Channel Theatre’s popular 11-show production of Stag & Doe in July and brought Professional Youth Theatre’s production of “Where Have All the Buffalo Gone” to students at Rosthern Community School.
Finally, an estimated 4,090 people viewed the exhibits in the Kathy Thiessen Art Gallery, which featured Indigenous artists in roughly one third to one-half of the touring shows.