So when was the last time you did something that could be considered “cultural?”

Maybe you caught some live music in the Village last weekend, bought tickets to a concert, attended a reception at an art gallery or even took part in a painting workshop.

I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty lucky to live in a small, yet sophisticated, town like Whistler where a variety of cultural opportunities abound.

But if you haven’t heard, these are tough days for the organizations and amazing individuals who put their hearts and souls into bringing concerts, theatre, festivals, dance, art exhibits and more to Whistler and many other towns and cities in B.C. and beyond. There have been deep, devastating cuts to arts funding in this province and things got bad enough in recent weeks to prompt the head of the B.C. Arts Council, Jane Danzo, to publicly resign.

Despite the Herculean efforts at the Whistler Arts Council and other local arts organizations to bring quality, affordable and engaging cultural programming to the resort, Whistler is not immune to the cutbacks and looming shortfalls. Have you noticed all the Whistler Arts Council fundraisers taking place lately?

You also might remember an article in The Question’s arts section a couple weeks back about the Whistler Writers Festival and its funding woes. After five years of consistent funding from the B.C. Arts Council, festival organizer Stella Harvey was notified (too late for planning purposes) that no money would be coming for this year’s festival in October.

Despite facing a $4,000 shortfall, Harvey decided to not only to persevere — she refused to pass the buck on to festival participants. Workshop fees and ticket prices are staying super low again this year, with tickets for the Oct. 16 gala just $20. For that price you get to hear eight different authors read their work and discuss their lives as writers in an intimate, up-close venue.

Keeping the festival open and affordable for everyone is central to its mandate, Harvey said.

Thankfully, festival organizers announced this week that several local businesses have stepped up to support individual seminars planned for the 2010 writers fest. Props go out to The Grocery Store, Street to Peak, Performance Painting, Pasta Lupino, Burnt Stew Computing, Don Wensley, Scandinave Spa, Guestfolio and Routley Consulting for stepping up to the plate. The fest’s funding gap is now less than half what it was.

It’s worth noting that these are mostly small, independently owned Whistler businesses — not multinational corporations — that are contributing in a challenging economic climate. Certainly the business sector is one piece in the puzzle to help keep the arts sector afloat during these tough days.

So where do you come in, dear reader? Well, you may also remember another arts story in last week’s edition about the Blank Slate Theatre Festival (on now through Saturday, Sept. 4) in which Director Sam Trounce issued a plea for people to come watch Almost an Evening and The Big Oops at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.

The Blank Slate festival can only continue if people come out and support it, Trounce said.

I know — your budget is limited too, and there’s lots out there competing for your entertainment dollars. But think about the cultural events you have gone to, remember how they enriched your world, and perhaps consider being a bit more intentional about supporting the local arts scene.

Maybe writing a letter to Kevin Krueger, B.C.’s minister of tourism, culture and the arts, protesting funding cuts isn’t really your style. So how are you going to show governments, business and perhaps most importantly, arts organizations that you think cultural opportunities are not optional?

It might seem like a small thing, but you can vote with your hard-earned cash, trust that the organizers are doing their best to keep ticket prices as low as possible, and get out there and enjoy a play, a concert, a writing or art workshop, or countless other events. If you think culture is important, do something about it.