A public-private partnership called Arts Partners in Creative Development will give British Columbia arts organizations $6.5 million in new funding over the next three years.
  
The money, which comes from half-a-dozen sources, will be given to B.C. arts groups to help develop original works in the performing arts, the visual arts and literary arts, it was announced Monday in Vancouver.

The federal, provincial and Vancouver city governments have contributed to the fund, along with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympics, which chipped in $500,000.

The money will help arts groups prepare for the Olympic Games, said John Furlong, chief executive of Vancouver's Olympic Committee.

"The games are an extraordinary catalyst for bringing people together, for community development, for creating lasting legacies, for triggering new things to happen," he said at a news conference.

"We spend a lot of time talking about helping our athletes prepare for the 2010 games and they can indeed be the best in the world by 2010. This is our way of standing up for the artists so they too can be seen on the world stage as the very best that they can be."

The Canada Council for the Arts is working with VANOC, 2010 Legacies Now, the Vancouver Foundation and the governments of B.C. and Vancouver to create the new fund.

The partnership combines public and private money to increase the impact of the arts funding, said Faye Wightman, president and CEO of the Vancouver Foundation, which distributes about $4 million in arts funding annually in B.C. 

"We've had the opportunity to provide funding for creative and production works in the past but to a limited degree, given the small amount of funding that's available," she said.

"Collectively, this puts a much greater capacity out in the arts and culture community."

Last week, Vancouver city councillors voted to invest $1.3 million in the arts and culture sector in 2007.

The news was a welcome boost to B.C. arts organizations as the province ranks eighth out of the 10 provinces in level of arts funding.

Individual groups will be eligible for up to $300,000 in funding over three years to develop new artistic works.

Dance, theatre, music, new media, literary works, visual arts and festivals are all eligible to apply.