Three of the cultural community's key players opine on funding, venues, and the Olympics.

It's a tale of two cities. On the one hand, Vancouver's arts scene is thriving, with everyone from indie-theatre troupes to veteran visual artists winning international attention. On the other, some artists are harbouring concerns about what the future holds as far as government financing, venue shortages, and the ever-elusive Cultural Olympiad. As the spring season gets into full swing, we talk to three influential members of Vancouver's arts scene in separate interviews about the happenings that are pumping them up and the issues that are bringing them down.

David Pay is artistic director of the new Music on Main series, which presents offbeat classical and contemporary works at Heritage Hall and the Cellar jazz club. He's also on the board of the Coal Harbour Arts Complex, a proposed multipurpose facility vying for a place in the cultural precinct currently being planned for the downtown core; he also serves as chair of Vancouver's Music Alliance, an association of local classical-music presenters. Heather Redfern has recently taken up the post of executive director of the Vancouver East Cultural Centre after several years at the helm of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, the Vancouver-based arts-advocacy and networking group. On top of that, she's a founder and board member of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, an Ottawa-based showcase for contemporary Canadian theatre that is scheduled to take place in Vancouver in 2008. Diane Brown is an award-winning stage director who serves as artistic director and cofounder of Ruby Slippers Theatre, which is gearing up for the play Trout Stanley, which will run from April 7 to 22 at Performance Works and April 25 to 28 at Burnaby's Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Ruby Slippers is also developing a major new social satire from playwright in residence James Long for next year; with the working title Visions of Roland, it's a coproduction with Théí¢tre la Seizií¨me. Brown was also recently named president of the show series See Seven, which she cofounded.

Where do you see the most exciting energy in the Vancouver arts scene right now?

David Pay: “I have a really strong bias toward new music, so I do see that these emerging, newer presenters are really thrilling—organizations like Redshift [Music Society] and”¦Colin MacDonald's Pocket Orchestra, a new band that he's put together. Although that energy is below the radar, I do see it as very exciting. But what I see probably having the greatest impact in the coming years, as a sort of a ferment that's bubbling to the surface that I'm starting to pay more attention to, are neighbourhood-based art, which I'm obviously involved in with Music on Main, and also social and environmental issue–based art, the type of work that Judith Marcuse [at DanceArts Vancouver] has been doing, or the galleries in the Downtown Eastside, things that are situating art practices in various geographic communities.”

Heather Redfern: “Theatre is totally exploding right now. And certainly the increase in civic funding has had a huge impact on that, because it's allowed some of the younger, more diverse companies to really take some risks and do some projects. And also, I think one of the really interesting outcomes has been that their projects have had a longer life, too. They're doing this really interesting creative work, but they're getting a second and third go at it. So it's really raising the bar and creating work that is of a much higher standard than we were seeing.”

Diane Brown: “There's a lot of exciting energy in the independent-theatre world and emerging companies and artists are talked about a lot, but what isn't talked about and what I find really inspiring is the mid-career artists and companies right now. Not that the emerging guys aren't doing great work, but what I'm talking about here is a generation that isn't really getting recognized and is doing some of the most emotionally complex, thoughtful work, with really good technical skills. These are the people that are at the top of their game, so to speak.”¦We've been at it for 15, 20 years, so the independent scene really is growing up, it's maturing, it's coming of age. And it started in the late '80s and early '90s, really, a lot of it, and here we are two decades later and the whole scene has grown and matured and has these really high production values and aesthetic values. I find that inspiring and comforting—that it didn't dissipate into nothingness; it's become a vibrant culture.”

What's the single biggest issue facing the local arts scene?

DP: “For me, the biggest issue facing the local scene is the need to contextualize art production vis-í -vis global production. I see the glass being half-full here, but it's also half-empty. The more we can situate our work in the context of work globally, the better our work will become. I think immediately of the first generation of Vancouver School photographers, who situated their work here, continued to create their work here but almost bypassed the regional and national level and immediately began working in a global context. And so I look at that and see a really great model for how we can operate at the highest level when we're stuck in a region that is so geographically isolated from the centres for each of our disciplines. The more we're able to get out and see and the more we're able to read and the more we're able to talk with colleagues in other centres, the better and more confident our own productions will become.”¦The other thing that I think will happen to that is the more that we start to look at what goes on around the world, the more that we'll become insistent about building really excellent arts facilities too. I mean, can you name another significant city globally that does not have a proper concert hall in its downtown core? I can't.”

HR: “First of all, it's getting to be difficult for arts organizations to afford the very few venues that there are, and the venues that we do have are in a really appalling state of disrepair—the Cultch being one of them. It's basically falling down around our ears. So I think it's a huge issue. It is a crisis. As the creativity explodes, the work gets better and reaches international standards, and you've got international presenters coming here to go to the PuSh [International Performing Arts] Festival and all of that kind of thing. And your venues are very compromised, and your access to them is very compromised. There's just so few, and they can be expensive because of insufficient operating funds, which means that the companies running them can't afford to subsidize the renters.”

DB: “It always comes back to funding when I look at issues, because without it—without that investment—there's nothing. None of the levels of government are completely arts-friendly, but the feds are the biggest concern, I think. Here's an example to back up why I feel this way: as most people know, the Liberals promised to double the Canada Council [for the Arts] funding to $300 million by 2008, and that was going to be for good, whereas the Conservatives committed to increasing the funding by $50 million over two years only [a $20-million boost to $170 million in the 2006–07 budget, plus a $30-million boost to $180 million in the 2007–08 budget]. So there's just a huge discrepancy between their attitudes toward arts and culture.”

Do you have any concerns about what is happening to arts funding—at any level of government?

DP: “My gut reaction to this is really about the number of labour hours that go into each single grant and each final report. It's absolutely brutal to smaller and emerging organizations, especially, and to midsize organizations, too, because it's not like they're flush with staff. If there was a streamlined system for presenting budgets and applications and final reports, that would benefit the funders, the arts organizations, and the public, because we could all focus on what's central to our business: creating art and presenting art.”¦We have to re-present each of our budgets and each of our projects in a different way for every single application, whether it's the city or whether it's the province, whether it's ArtsNow, whether it's Canada Council, whether it's [the federal department of Canadian] Heritage—you know, we just have to constantly redo it. And so you can't even choose one model as the basis for your annual finances. Each model is different.”

HR: “Provincially is the biggest worry right now. We've seen some real movement at the civic level: $1.7 million in the last two years and hopefully another million in this budget. It's there right now, which is great. As I said earlier, it's having a real impact. And there's a beginning at the federal level, with $20 million for the Canada Council this year and $30 million next year. So that's a start. That money isn't necessarily permanent; it's only been promised for the two years, so it needs to be made permanent. And it's just starting to be distributed right now, and it is having an impact, and I think the success rates of the Canada Council are going to be significantly improved because of it. But at the provincial level, it's been stagnant—well, there was a $3-million increase in 2004, and that was to a budget that had been stagnant for 20 years. So it's in crisis. And it's two things: it is funding to the B.C. Arts Council and it is infrastructure. The Cultch is a perfect example. We've got $2.5 million committed from the federal government, $2.5 million committed from the city, zero from the province—and there's not even anywhere for us to apply for money.”

DB: “If Canada Council is cut back the way the Conservatives are doing it, it's just a matter of time before that whole attitude trickles down to other levels of government.”¦I think this is going to impact the arts in general. The national concerns are the local concerns. It's all interconnected. Doesn't it get tiresome that we need to constantly argue for the need for the arts—for the investment in our community and for future generations' health? That it's profitable, that it makes sense economically and spiritually and all that? It's too bad that we need to continue to argue it, but we really do: we can never take it for granted, ever.”¦I would not want to be starting a little theatre company right now.”

Do you think the initial promises about the 2010 cultural funding are being lived up to, and are we seeing any evidence of those on-stage yet?

DP: “I should say I do think we're seeing some evidence of it on-stage, through the funding through ArtsNow [via 2010 Legacies Now]. I do think it's having some impact around the province in terms of getting funds into production and arts administration. But there was a promise made to the IOC [International Olympic Committee], and it was the same promise to the citizens of Vancouver and to the local arts community, and that was for a significant and transformative festival that was supposed to start in 2006. And all we had in 2006 was the embarrassing closing ceremonies in Turin.”¦So it's 2007, and we don't really know what's going on. If we wanted to have real global impact—if we wanted to have significant commissions and to have the essential artists—we'd have to have planned for that already. And for a significant commission, it's too late to do anything.”¦Promises were made without the money in place. And I think that when the money wasn't in place and wasn't forthcoming, there was a total lack of communication with the arts community at large. So we all just started making our own plans.”

HR: “We haven't seen anything on-stage yet, as I know you're highly aware. And we've been told that the earliest we're going to see anything on-stage is 2008. So are the promises being lived up to in terms of four years of performance? Absolutely not.”¦You'd have to ask them why not. I try to stay out of their business. I have all kinds of ideas about that, but I'd probably rather not say. I notice they're hiring more staff, though.”

DB: “I'm not sure the initial promises of the 2010 funding are being lived up to. I was talking to a colleague the other day about the fact the Cultural Olympiad is not starting till 2008 and it was promised to start in 2006. So that's very telling right there. Another concern is that if you are part of the Olympics and you have sponsorships for your piece of work or your company, you can't actually acknowledge them because your company or show sponsors cannot be associated with the Olympics. Only the Olympic sponsors can be. So where does that leave us? What, do we blow off our show sponsors? It just seems completely not thought through. And with the [provincial] Liberal budget, I'm not sure where the money's going to come from to include local arts in their [the Olympics] programming. One thing that is working, but it's not really directly part of the Olympics, is the B.C. government has set up [2010] Legacies Now”¦and through that we've definitely seen some things already on-stage as a result of that, like commissioning grants, opportunities grants. Those are having and will have an impact on our stages. But again, I'm not sure that's strictly Olympic money.”¦It's supposed to create cultural legacies that live beyond the Olympics.”

What show (other than your own) are you most looking forward to seeing this spring or summer?

DP: Just one? I immediately had four. The first one for me is [pianist] Murray Perahia, which the [Vancouver] Recital Society is presenting this week [on Saturday (March 3) at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts]”¦because he shows that classical music is spontaneous and relevant and absolutely heart-stopping. And then I'm also really excited about Crystal Pite's remount of Uncollected Work at the Cultch [March 13 to 17]. I know some people will say that we've seen it already, but that's exactly why I want to see it again. Great artists have to be given the opportunity to remount their work. Also in dance, Dana Gingras's new company, Animals of Distinction—Dana from Holy Body Tattoo—has a show called Smash Up, and it's at the Cultch [May 8 to 12], and I'm just excited to see her new incarnation as a solo choreographer.”¦The last one that I'm really interested in is Theatre Cryptic's Each”¦and Every Inch. I think it's one of the last shows happening at the Cultch this year [April 18 to 29], and it sounds like something I've never seen before.

HR: “Rumble Productions' TREMORS Festival of Emerging Arts [March 14 to 31 at Performance Works] has three or four really interesting, cool little pieces in development, including a piece by Maiko Bae Yamamoto called Yu-Fo [March 27 to 31], which I'm really interested in seeing in its early stages. And the really cool thing is they're also bringing work in from Calgary and Montreal, I believe, for that festival. So I think it could be a really good opportunity for the artists to cross-pollinate, as well. So there's that one. And I haven't seen the program for the kids' fest [the Vancouver International Children's Festival] yet, but it's usually fabulous. I did just get the brochure for the Vancouver International Dance Festival [runs until April 1], and it looks like there's some gorgeous stuff in there, as well. So there's lots right now.”

DB: “Hands down, I am looking forward to seeing the Robert Lepage show [The Andersen Project, May 4 to 27 at the Vancouver Playhouse]. I bought my tickets in September. Every time I see him, I'm just so inspired—he's just so unique. He and his collaborators have come up with such a unique theatrical vocabulary.”¦When I first saw him, he wasn't the big megastar that he is now. I saw him doing a show called Echo at a little theatre in Toronto—I mean, he had a following in Quebec at that time, but he wasn't the cultural icon that he is now. So he started out in the indie-theatre world collaborating with other indie artists, and look what happened.”