Resource Centre for the Arts is a thirty year old artist-run organization dedicated to the development, promotion and presentation of indigenous Newfoundland art and artists. It makes its home in the historic L.S.P.U. (Longshoremen's Protective Union) Hall in the heart of the province's capital city, St. John's.

The "Hall" hosts a vibrant and diverse arts community and continues to be regarded as the backbone of artistic infrastructure and development in downtown St. John's.

RCA acts as an umbrella organization for two main divisions: a theatre company, RCA Theatre Company; and a rental facility, Hall Operations.


Mission Statement
The following Resource Centre for the Arts Mission Statement was developed and ratified during the Capacity Building process.

"The Resource Centre for the Arts aims to provide accessible, supportive and well-resourced programs and venues for the performing arts, with a primary focus on the creation, development and advancement of the indigenous arts in Newfoundland and Labrador"

The long-established dual Guiding Principles of RCA, used to steer the operation of the Centre for thirty years, are Openness and Accessibility.

As stated in the objectives of the Capacity Building Project, an overriding priority of RCA is to work toward fiscal and organizational sustainability over the 2004 – 2007 period.


RCA's Role in the Community
It was the conclusion of the capacity building process that, while it is challenging for a small organization such as RCA to maintain four operating entities (theatre, dance, visual art and venue rental), each is responding to a defined current need in the community and should continue to be part of the RCA vision. The reasoning leading to this conclusion includes the following:

  • Emerging performing and visual artists throughout the community are still in need of assistance and this must remain a primary motivation for all that RCA does. Other companies (eg, Artistic Fraud), organizations (eg, Eastern Edge Gallery) and venues (eg, Masonic Temple) are playing very valuable roles and are potential partners for future projects.

  • RCA remains the only artist-run centre in the province and its theatre company serves the artistic community year-round, providing valuable employment for artists during the winter months. It therefore must remain a well-resourced space.

  • The Hall is a subsidized rental venue for the arts (the prices charged for rental are far below cost) and it needs help in order to maintain this service to the arts community.