There was a new crowd who attended the Steinbach Arts Centre's annual fundraising Celebrate The Arts Gala.

Chief-Creative Officer Cindi Rempel-Patrick says their goal this year was to attract more young adults and about 40% of those who attended had never been to a gala before. She adds this year's theme "Jeans and Jewels" had a country flair with a youthful, cool, funky, and fresh atmosphere.

"It's really great when we see the next generation of those families coming to the gala and supporting the arts community, just being a part of it all. So, like I say, our patrons are very dedicated and committed and when they start bringing the younger employees and their younger managers and their family members."

Rempel-Patrick says the biggest challenge in the arts community is keeping things fresh and finding new audiences.

"So, we're very, very fortunate, through the arts centre we have a lot of programming for young families and young kids. Then we have a lot of people who come to our concert series," she notes. "Then we plan fun events like this, celebratory events which fit that niche for that middle crowd, the young adults that are coming up in businesses and just young people in the community who love the arts and they want to celebrate that."

From impersonations of Carrie Underwood by Michelle Sawatzky, Keith Urban by David Klassen, and Garth Brooks by Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen attendees were also treated to a sketch comedy piece by Sidetrack Bandits. During the night of Celebrating The Arts with Jeans and Jewels, there was also a small jail with a Sheriff played by Alan Fehr. Gala-goers could pay to have people put in jail, and then they would have to get people to pay and get them out. In fun, Steinbach City Council was put in jail with a bail set at $200. After a short time limit, all of council was released to enjoy the rest of the night.

Rempel-Patrick says, "it's our biggest fundraiser for the year and all the funds go right back into program development. It goes into making sure we have programs available for the community and for all ages."

Kim Friesen from Friesen Drillers was at the gala and says the arts centre does a lot for the community and they want to support them to see their work continue. During the art auction, Friesen Drillers won the bid on two pieces; a Dennis Fast photograph for $5,000 and a Melanie Penner custom order for $3,600.