For more than three years, the arts council has been trying to get funding included in the city’s budget.

“We’re not asking to become one of the city’s departments,” she said. “But we can’t do this every year. We want to change the relationship with the city moving forward.”

Currently, the arts council runs on a community based model, where the council raises funds through sponsorship and fundraisers.

That is not sustainable, Hallquist said.

Other arts councils receive operational funding from their municipality. ARTS Richmond Hill is included in the town’s budget process and has received a $10,000 grant from the town each year. Both Newmarket and Toronto also help fund their arts councils.

The Markham Arts Council hosts several events each year, including Markham at the Movies, International Festival of Authors, YorkSlam, Arts Exposed and a local one-of-a-kind show. This year, the council is hosting an Arts Day as part of the Unionville Festival on Sunday, with hopes of growing the event into an annual Art in the Park event.

The council supports several other sub-groups, including the Markham Creative Photography Group, Markham Teen Arts Council, Markham Group of Artists, Writers Community of York Region, PechaKucha Nights in partnership with Varley Art Gallery and Markham Public Libraries and Markham Public Library’s One Book One Markham program.

Last year, the arts council introduced its LaVaLab project, an online literary and visual arts hotspot, which is expected to open in the fall. The program is a one-stop-digital-shop for York Region artists and authors.