April 23, 2009
Submitted by Alliance
Tell your story
In February’s budget, the BC government announced that investment in the BC Arts Council was being cut drastically. While supplementary funds were found to maintain the government’s investment for the current year, arts groups around the province are looking at a reduction in government funds of 40% in 2010 and 2011. With the May 12th provincial election coming up very quickly, it’s important to drive home the message that arts and culture do matter. We invite everyone who works in or supports the arts to tell their story in the comments field below. Tell us how the cuts will affect your organization. Tell us why you think the arts are integral to a healthy society and a healthy society. But, most importantly, tell us why the arts are important to you, the voters. We look forward to reading your stories...
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This 40% cut to the Arts in
This 40% cut to the Arts in BC is a tragic proposition. We live in one of the liveliest, vibrant, remarkable places in the world where artistic expression is vital to our core. The funding can be afforded. With this cut, job losses are one gross blow to the population, but further to that is the abortion of the future growth and flourish of the Arts. This cut must not happen.
Well articulated Ian. I think
Well articulated Ian. I think most organizations of our size would face very similar realities to those you list.
Losing that amount of funding really just pulls the rug out from under a small organization.
Great idea, Ian. Seems like
Great idea, Ian. Seems like this is the reason Flickr was invented. Any volunteers to set up a wall of lost souls?
I wonder if it would be
I wonder if it would be possible to ask people working in arts, culture and heritage to post pictures of their families. Sort of like the wall of photos in Battlestar Galactica - the wall of those lost in the battle. As a reminder of what these cuts might mean to our sector.
As I look at my budget and
As I look at my budget and try to determine what a 40% cut in our BC Arts Council funding will mean I see the ramifications shake my organization to it's core.
If I were to cut this money from my administrative budget, I will lose a full time staff person. For an organization with three full time staff, running two venues and year-round programming this would mean being unable to serve the needs of people using our venues. We would lose the administrative capacity to organize the various contract employee schedules to serve the needs of our own programming, let alone the schedules of the community groups using our venues. Our remaining two staff would be even more overworked than they already are to keep up with the demands of our organization and its programming. Our third employee would no longer have a job, no longer pay taxes and no longer be able to contribute to the economy
If I were to apply this cut to my promotions budget, which is already minuscule, we would be cutting our marketing in half. It would mean not being able to hire graphic designers to create creative and exciting materials for our programming. This in turn would lead to a significant drop in attendance. It would mean not being able to purchase print advertising to promote our festivals and presentations, a loss in revenue to the already struggling print media. It would mean not being able to hire people to distribute our posters and brochures. It would mean not being able to produce posters and brochures - a loss in income to local printers. It would mean being unable to do our direct mailings - a loss of income to our direct mail provider as well as the potential loss of audiences due to the fact that we are not able to make them aware of our programs.
Turning to my programs (festivals and presentations). This cut would mean cutting the budget for artist fees and technicians in order to make ends meet. In the case of my presenting series it would mean a 60% cut in what I currently budget for artists fees and technicians, shrinking a thriving and exciting year round international presenting series in order to continue to balance my budget. This would mean less money spent on travel, a significant cutback in hotel room bookings for artists, a major loss of contract income for technicians working on the series and fewer artists coming to Victoria from around the world enriching the cultural landscape of our region and the province.
In the case of one of Uno Fest, my artists fee budget all but disappears, as does my technicians contract fees. The festival would have to shrink to the presentation of three or four artists (from over 20) in order to reduce travel and accommodation costs to stay on track. The result of this cut would be less employment for our technicians, a loss in hotel accommodation revenue, a loss in travel revenue, fewer artists and the vibrant art that they bring with them coming to Vancouver Island. This would lead to a larger drop off of earned revenue for Intrepid and lead to even more hardships which would cut across the entire organization's budget.
In the case of the Victoria Fringe, the Islands largest theatre event, we would have to shrink the Festival by two venues, having been able in the last few years to expand from 4 to 7 venues. This would impact the number of technicians and support staff hired by the festival. This would also dramatically reduce the number of artists that would be able to participate in the Fringe as well as dramatically reduce the festivals impact on the local community both economically and socially. Festival spending on outfitting and promoting would be reduced as would public participation as a result of the reduced programming.
If these cuts proceed, Intrepid Theatre has some difficult choices to make in order to remain financially solid.
Less support means less art and less opportunity for our sector to "help to shape our vision of who we are... to bring us together, entertain us, intrigue us, and challenge us intellectually.” as Finance Minister Colin Hansen put it in his Budget speech.