Message from our Executive Director / Wednesday's Meeting

Please have a look at this website: www.wsartsalliance.com
Washington State Arts Alliance

From the home page, follow the links under "Advocacy". You might be amazed.

Tom

Who could we trust to speak on our behalf? and become a spokesperson for our cause? To reinstate the very real facts the media is not portraying, and to describe the reality of what this means for not only the arts sector, but for the well being of the entire province. We will all suffer great impoverishment if we are too slow to act up now.

'Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable'. ~George Bernard Shaw

We need to book CBC radio, prime time TV, all news stations, papers, etc. And get a clear, concise message across. Let's find a committee to specifically deal with the media and get them up to date on the facts and the arguments that will win the public over. In working with the public and the media simultaneously we will have our best chance, and we must be intelligent about it. If there is any sector that can out smart this government - it's our sector.

We could work it like infomercials - I vote for Amir this week to get it rolling, and then someone famous for next week, and another famous artist the week after that, youth / students the next, and just keep it going right up to the olympics and beyond, until we tire them out. Bringing about clear, reasonable messages, that makes this government look like the fools they really are.

If anyone knows famous artists, media strategists, call them, we need them now.

I suggest that a reality check is in order. The media is displaying headlines that the cuts have been reversed. It is important to quickly state the real situation. What dollar$ were expected this year by all groups in the province, and what is actually going to be received this year. How many groups are affected. What percentage of cuts have been made over the last 5 years. etc.

The way the headlines appear, the fire has been put out.
State the facts.

the "Best Place on Earth" deserves Great ART

I too am frustrated that there was no direct action plan that came out of the meeting yesterday. I attended the meeting thinking that we were organizing a public demonstration against the BC Government's treatment of it's artists. We must DO something with the significant energy that the hundreds of outraged artists are experiencing and we must do it soon - before that energy dissipates and people begrudgingly accept the monies that were handed out yesterday to silence us.

I had hoped that a significant portion of the meeting yesterday would be spent organizing this event. Unless the proposed rally next Wednesday is a well-organized and intelligent response to these cuts, I agree that it will not serve our purpose. Is the Alliance going to take the lead in organizing the event next Wednesday?

In my opinion, the Alliance must develop at plan; both a short-term and a long-term plan to deal with the various ministries who connect with art and culture. I thought the meeting today, although it showed that hundreds of people were ready together on a moments notice, was weak and unfulfilling. I don't think that the Alliance was prepared for it. And for that, I'm quite disappointed. For Amir to stand up at that meeting and say "what does a lobbyist do, anyway?" says it all. That's what The Alliance is, a lobbyist. You lobby government for artists; you tell politicians about us, what we do; our needs, our desires and the financial conditions under which we work; you encourage them when they are attempting the wrong tact and you correct them with it's clear that they are moving in the right direction. You are prepared for what's to come (which didn't seem apparent at all today) and with us, you plan direction for the future. You are our face to government. Through you, they understand us. That's what a lobbyist does for their client. Put their client at the top of the politicians world. Get things done for their client.

I'm sorry to say that The Alliance has not been a worthy leader during this campaign. Culture critic Spencer Herbert has been telling anybody who would listen about the draconian cuts coming to the Arts and Culture sector and no body believed him - or at least it seems so from the pathetic response of the Alliance with the phrase "we've only had three days to organize this", repeated numerous times today. We've known these cuts were coming for months. Sure, the cuts have been worse than imagined and what did the Alliance have ready for us? Nothing. Not a plan, not a position, not a slogan even - except near the end when one frustrated attendee asked what we were leaving with - and the innocuous phrase "Culture Matters" come out of the ether for us to use in our fight with the BC Liberals. Pathetic.

No, the Alliance was caught flat-footed on this one; ill-prepared and without ideas for their membership. Frankly, that's the worst part. When you have the creative sector angry about their cuts, your job is to come up with options that are going to harness that anger and turn it into creative power that will beat these bean-counters at their own shell game. Was there even a direction to the discussion? Not really, it wandered from person to person hoping against hope that someone would articulate SOMETHING that would encourage us, something that would lift the pall of a meeting with no clarity, direction or, most of all, bereft of IDEAS for what the strategy would be. It was heartbreaking.

Some suggestions were good. Like the one from Katrina Dunn who relayed a story of how France brought it's angry, dispossessed cultural sector into a elegant fighting force by publishing a 'brand' that represented and encapsulated their cause. That "Brand" appeared in every concert venue, art gallery, outdoor concert, and gathering where artists were present - and soon EVERYBODY - lay people and artists alike - knew what this symbol meant and when you see it, you understand that your brother and sister in the arts were fighting mad and they wanted their funding reinstated. It was a great success and the government re-thought it's plan for cuts to the cultural sector.

Our friend from Quebec stated the famous example of funding in Quebec. It's high and it's consistant. They KNOW that supporting the arts means supporting their language in a sea of English. Lay people and arts professionals alike - they understand that it's a common cause benefiting everyone.

The $1.38 argument is the best one we've got so far and it's very simple because it's easy to explain. $1 of government investment in the arts brings back $1.38 in taxes! And that's just taxes. It doesn't include other economic spin-offs that the arts generate. A 38% return on any investment is better than most people are getting these days, so the numbers tell a better story than someone's tale of why the arts are important to the quality of life. To convert people who offer right-wing, anti-culture views and who write letters to the editor telling artists to get "real jobs", give them the simple equation $1=$1.38. It will stop them in their tracks. It's the sweetest equation since E=Mc2 and it's way easier to understand.

I"m sorry to be hard on the Alliance because I think you are all fine and hard-working people. Please understand my critique is about the way you do business and represent us and our cause. It's not personal. But you were unprepared for a cause that was forecast over a year ago; you were unprepared for a meeting with angry artists on how to organize a response to a serious cut to our sector and you had NO IDEAS about how to move forward in a time of great uncertainty. And I must say, that we, the artists, weren't well prepared either. The collective sigh of relief at the beginning was simply hearing emotional release of a bunch of people grateful they have a season this year. But when we all left, was there a rallying cry of pumped people ready to do battle with the BC Liberals. No, because there was no plan. Just a bland slogan of "culture matters" and maybe a gathering at Robson Square next Wedesday that the Alliance wants us to have colourful costumes, songs, props etc. But what are the artists going to do, to say, to act, to sing? Are they going to interrupt traffic? Are they going to look like a high-school happening? What is an Art-in in the 21st century? It needs content that is substantial, otherwise it looks like high-school drama club doing an clown workshop. It's so bloody amateur that I'm shocked that it's going forward as is. That is not art; people on the street will think it's ridiculous and TV viewers will concur.

This is the most important cross-roads that the artists of BC have faced in many years. The future is unclear, the money is low and inconsistent, the role of the BC Arts Council has been reduced to a fuzzy-little-money-giver that is without power and, meanwhile, gambling seems to rule the roost. We need to take control of the situation by playing the economic argument. It's the only one that "they" understand. It's sorry, but it's true.

We need strong leadership on this. We need Amir to step up and organize and inspire the troops. If you don't feel you can do it, step down and get someone who will. It's a powerful position for somebody. We have the artists of our province ready to go, ready to do what needs to be done. Do we have the leadership in the Alliance that will harness that energy and help us win this fight? If we don't win, you know, we're toast. And young artists, seeing no future here with no consistent funding - even money tainted by gambling - will leave. And the Olympic legacy will be nothing, because the arts community didn't rise to meet the challenges offered by a government who didn't care if they lived or died.

With best wishes for a better future,
David