B.C. is only province to cut arts funding, according to Canadian Conference of the Arts

New research by the Canadian Conference of the Arts reveals that in the current economic climate, only the province of B.C. has made cuts to arts and culture budgets.

The CCA examined what the various provinces are doing to help arts organizations and arts sector workers deal with the economic downturn. It found that all other provinces had at least maintained cultural funding. Some provinces, notably Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, increased funding to the sector.

Ontario’s most recent budget proposed $100 million in additional tax relief, and investments of close to $30 million. Quebec announced a new $1.6 million fund to provide expert support for administration, artistic direction, development planning, and governance, which will be administered by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

And in Newfoundland and Labrador, $250,000 has been promised to replace funding received from the cancelled federal PromArt and Trade Routes programs. In addition, a new $25,000 arts and letters award was created, along with an additional $225,000 in funding for film production.

Comments

4 Comments

Rain

May 22, 2009 at 4:44pm

BC is also in the best financial situation of all the provinces. What does this tell us?
Poor, hungry and unemployed people don't need ritzy government funded gala's? Sending rich friends to Europe on 'art-exploration' tour's is not a top priority?

Remember that the arts are still being greatly funded, our gallery's, theater and museums are doing great. It's the waste that BC has cut.
As a student of art, government funded art is a fraud anyways. Real creativity comes from the streets, from day to day observations of real people and real situations.
It should be a reflection of our society... not a group of people who routinely apply for grants, then decide to do something if they are 'get'n paid'.

Sunny

May 23, 2009 at 1:10pm

BC cuts the arts because BC doesn't care about culture. The only culture that seems to be important is sports/outdoor culture, hence lovely spending sprees on the Olympics.
And while I may dislike that, I will not say that athletes do not deserve to receive funding. If you show enough talent and tenacity to go after something you love, whether it is sports or arts or whatever, you should be able to at least make a living wage to be able to pursue this.
Its fine and dandy to say that "real" art comes from the streets...but try making art when you have to hold down 3 jobs just to pay rent and eat. Rain, once you finish your schooling in the arts, what sort of job do you expect to get? Don't look for anything in the arts sector unless you enjoy living below the poverty line. Then you can work your arts jobs at a barely livable wage, and try to make some art out of ..what? How can you afford art supplies, never mind a studio? How can you find the time or energy to be creative when you are constantly worried about money?
Galleries are constantly shutting down due to lack of funds, all sorts of arts organizations are slowly cutting back just to survive.
Good luck to you when you get out of school Rain, have a huge student loan to pay back, and can't find any work in the sector you have been trained/educated in. Maybe then you won't be so critical of those few (and it really is only a few) artists who are able to get grants to continue to pursue their passion. And perhaps then, you will look to your colleagues in the arts as your partners rather than your competition, and work with them to fight continuous cuts and help build BC into a place that truly values arts and culture.

Rain

May 23, 2009 at 9:50pm

I am a graphic designer and an artist in my spare time. I make a very comfortable living. I shoot photography, paint, carve, sculpt and just started a DJ gig. On top of this I run my own marketing company.
While doing corporate design can get a little tedious at times, it funds my other artistic endeavors.
At no time do I feel that taxpayers owe me a living because I'm creative. Why should the government fund my personality?
While things like large public displays are nice, what good are they if they are draped with homeless people? I'd rather see public funds go towards shelters and feeding the hungry... then supporting some artist who feels he is entitled to tax dollars because he took some art classes.

Sunny, don't worry about me man, I'm not a pretentious kid with some perverse sense of entitlement, waiting for the government to hand me riches. Art will always find a way, people's minds will always be opened and enlightened, our culture will not be forgotten... even without government intervention.

Sick of Rain

Jun 4, 2009 at 9:50am

Rain, you fucking suck. You have no idea what culture is or how it works.