At their conference in 2019, the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils recognized four prominent volunteers from different arts councils through the province. In Yorkton, they recognized long-standing volunteer Merle Sherwin, who has been volunteering with the Yorkton Arts Council since the later 1970s and early 1980s.
She joined the board of directors of the Yorkton Arts Council in 1991, and served as president from 2010 to 2018. She was chairperson of Renaissance Yorkton, a group whose mandate was planning for the beautification of the downtown through the installation of two public murals, and the development of two walking tours. She has also been a聽 member of the Yorkton Housing Authority Board for many years and for much of that time, chairperson of their Personnel Committee. She was a founding member of the Yorkton Nursery School Co-operative Association as well as the Yorkton Dance Association. In addition, she has been a member of the Board of Westview United. Sherwin was on the Saskatchewan Arts Board for six years, which oversees activities from across the province. She鈥檚 presently the secretary for Parkland Victims Services and has been a member of Beta Sigma Phi since 1968, and is part of the Canadian Federation of University Women, Yorkton Branch.
鈥淚 am kind of busy,鈥� Sherwin joked.
She said it鈥檚 a real honor to have been recognized by OSAC.
鈥淚t means that perhaps all of the time and effort you put in has been appreciated.鈥�
Always interested in the arts, Sherwin said that she got involved through the Sunflower Arts and Crafts show, which was the first area where she became interested in the Yorkton Arts Council. That lead her to different areas of the arts in the council itself, working on the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery committee and the performing arts committee.
鈥淚t was rewarding to be involved,鈥� Sherwin said.
Her work with Renaissance Yorkton was involved in creating public murals in the community, and Sherwin said she believes strongly that art is a great way to bring people into a community.聽 They brought in Dr. Karl Schultz, one of the people responsible for the Festival of Murals in Chemainus, B.C., to consult on the project.
鈥淎s he said, people don鈥檛 come to your community to look at your sidewalks. They come to look at your art.鈥�
But it鈥檚 the new things that keep Sherwin interested in the arts, whether it鈥檚 new artists, new experiences or new people.
鈥淵orkton is very fortunate in that we have a lot of very talented artists here.鈥�
A retired teacher, she said that she met a variety of people in that career, but that getting involved in the arts meant that she was able to meet a wide variety of people, and that meeting聽 people from different worlds is what makes her most interested.
鈥淚 enjoy volunteering because it鈥檚 an important thing for our community. Organizations depend on volunteer work, and I don鈥檛 know how we would survive without some of it.鈥�
Sherwin said that she feels lucky that she has the opportunity to take part in the wide range of things she has been a part of over the years, and encourages others to volunteer as well. She noted that there are fewer volunteers now than there used to be, but that they are needed for things to happen.
鈥淭here are a lot of things that wouldn鈥檛 happen without volunteers. When we put Sunflower on it鈥檚 the volunteers that do it, we only have two paid persons on our payroll, and we鈥檙e very fortunate because most arts councils don鈥檛 have any paid personnel. We depend on the volunteers to bring the shows in, to bring in the art, to bring in Sunflower. If the volunteers don鈥檛 step up, these things don鈥檛 happen. It鈥檚 the same in all things.鈥�
Sherwin said that no matter what kind of activity you鈥檙e looking at, the volunteers make it work.
鈥淭here are all kinds of activities for people, including sports, and we need the arts as well.鈥�
