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Home | Resources > Newsletter | Synergy - October 17, 2006
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Synergy October 17, 2006 -- Volume 17 Number 10 IN THIS ISSUE: A word from the Executive DirectorA word from the Editor 1. Federal budget cuts take a toll on arts and culture sector 2. Federal Heritage Committee votes to restore museums funding 3. Provincial Arts Summit report now online 4. Canadian Heritage funding in the hot seat during House of Commons Debates 5. Vancouver arts community members in Asia with Canada Council mission 6. Vancouver launches film-TV task force 7. Free weekly legal advice clinics start at the Alliance for Arts and Culture 8. Arnold Aprill to present free Arts and Effective Eduction lecture and panel 9. Member news 10. Calls, grants and awards 11. Kudos 12. Media spin 13. Calendar 14. Endquote A word from the Executive Director This is the week to take action! Over the past month, delegations of citizens have been making presentations to the provincial finance committee at public meetings throughout the province. Based on these meetings and on the written submissions they receive, the committee will make recommendations to the Finance Minister about what should, and should not, be included in the 2007 provincial budget. The Alliance has been working with many other service organizations across the province, under the banner Arts Future BC, to ensure an increased investment in the BC Arts Council is part of the 2007 budget. Our efforts have really paid off and I believe we have made a strong impression on the finance committee. Presentations were made in Nanaimo, Courtney, Vancouver, Surrey, Nelson, Fort St. John, Prince Rupert and Victoria by artists, business people and other interested citizens about the importance of the arts in creating sustainable and healthy communities. In addition, a significant number of arts supporters attended the presentations to provide moral support for presenters and also ensure the committee understood there is grassroots support for this increase and that we are well organized and united across the province. A copy of the Arts Future BC brief is available on the Alliance website. There is still an opportunity for you to get the arts message to the finance committee but you have to ACT NOW! The deadline for written submissions is this Friday October 20. Please support the hundreds of other arts supporters who have made their voice heard by visiting www.leg.bc.ca/budgetconsultations and letting the committee know that you support our key recommendation, which is: To ensure an adequate investment in sustainable communities throughout British Columbia, Arts Future BC is recommending all-party support for an increased investment of $32 million in Arts and Culture through the British Columbia Arts Council, in the 2007–2009 budgets. Please remember to CC your MLA, Minister Stan Hagen, Finance Minister Carol Taylor and the Alliance when you make your submission. Addresses for all MLA’s are available at http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm. It is important that our message not be diluted, so please emphasis that you are supporting the key recommendation stated above. Finally, I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to make a presentation, attend a meeting and show support by writing to the committee. Over the next few weeks we will be asking you to act again: by calling and writing to your MLA’s and Minister Stan Hagen to ensure the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts requests an increased investment in the BC Arts Council when they make their submission to the Treasury Board. Watch for it and be ready to act. Heather Redfern Wow. It has been heartening to watch the arts community respond over the last few weeks to the Alliance's various communications regarding current political activity. We've seen dismay over the federal cuts to the Museums Assistance Program translate into letters and visits to politicians, extensive media coverage and most recently, a vote from the Heritage Committee to restore that funding. On the provincial front, large numbers of arts supporters have stood up at finance committee hearings all across the province and the Alliance has been CC'd on many correspondences to MLA's that state support for an increased investment for the BC Arts Council in the 2007-2009 budgets. Thank you. This united action is how the message gets through. In politics, every person that takes the time to express an opinion to their elected official is taken to represent several others of the same opinion who have not gotten around to it. Your time and efforts count! Laurie Guy The federal government announced a series of budget cuts on September 25 that will impact Canada’s arts and culture sector on a number of fronts. Included in the news was a $4.6 million cut to the Museums Assistance Program, which is half the funding for the program administered through the Department of Canadian Heritage. This will further strain a sector that has been working with all political parties on a new Museums Policy and a new investment. The Alliance stands in support of both the new policy and investment and registered concern for the Canadian Museum Association after hearing the Association state: “We are shocked, puzzled, and feel betrayed by these cuts.” The CMA also stated that it obtained a complete commitment in writing from the Conservative Party to bring in a new policy and a new investment during the election campaign. The Alliance is also greatly concerned about where the $11.9 million in cuts announced for the Public Diplomacy Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will be made. Cultural programs are a part of the Bureau’s brief. There is no indication yet as to where that money will be cut from the department. Concern across the sector has been expressed as these programs recently stopped accepting applications while they are under review. The arts and culture sector will additionally feel the strain of cuts to Human Resources and Skill Development, where $17.7 million was cut from Adult Learning and Literacy Skills Programs and $55.4 million was cut from youth employment programs. Visit the media spin to read related stories. Read about funding cuts to the Canada Volunteerism Initiative. 2. Federal Heritage Committee votes to restore museums funding On October 4, 2006 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage passed three motions related to the Museums Assistance Program (MAP) cuts and a new Canadian Museums Policy. Bloc Heritage Critic, MP Maka Kotto, put forward a motion that the Committee recommend that the government maintain MAP at pre-cutback levels, and that a new museums policy be established as soon as possible. NDP Heritage Critic, MP Charlie Angus, put forward two motions designed to ensure that the Committee is well informed about the current issues facing the museum sector, and the potential impact of the cuts announced on September 25, 2006. The Committee will invite officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage to clarify where the cuts will take effect within the department’s various programs. The Committee will also invite the CMA, the Société des musées québécois, and the Alberta Museums Association to speak to the impact of the cuts across the country. The Heritage Canada
3. Provincial Arts Summit report now online The summary report of the Arts and Culture Summit held on April 11, 2006 in Vancouver is now available online at http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/csb/summit.htm. The report, Building From Strength, was prepared by Max Wyman, Summit moderator. 4. Canadian Heritage funding in the hot seat during House of Commons Debates House of Commons Debates, Wednesday, September 20, 2006 Mr. Maka Kotto (Saint-Lambert, BQ): Mr. Speaker, several organizations submitted funding applications 11 months ago to the Minister of Heritage and are still waiting for an answer. They are desperate and some are living on credit or loans from members of their board of directors. Does the minister agree that taking more than one year to provide confirmation of an annual grant is no longer a reasonable period of time but rather an excessive, even absurd amount of time? House of Commons Debates, Thursday, September 21, 2006 Mr. Maka Kotto (Saint-Lambert, BQ): Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a number of cultural groups who have waited eight long months for her to act, the best the Minister of Canadian Heritage could do was accuse them of waste and mismanagement. Rather than make unfounded accusations to justify her failure to act, can the minister tell the House which programs she thinks are responsible for this waste and mismanagement? Hon. Bev Oda (Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, CPC): Mr. Speaker, as the House can appreciate, I have heard from many organizations and women over the past few weeks. In fact, they are quoting studies, surveys and consultations. We have the information. We understand what the issues are. We are a government that will act and will take dramatic steps. 5. Vancouver arts community members in Asia with Canada Council mission A number of performing arts agents from across the country are currently in Asia on a 10-day mission organized by the Canada Council for the Arts. The trip will include visits to Seoul, Shanghai and Beijing. Additionally, the Council will have booths at two major arts and culture trade fairs in China and South Korea. The trip is intended to "acquaint Asian arts presenters with Canada’s most talented musicians, actors, dancers and other performing artists." The delegation includes four members of Vancouver's arts community:
In addition to participation in the arts fairs and various meetings, the delegation will attend a networking reception for Korean presenters who will be attending the CINARS conference in Montreal in early November. CINARS, also known as the International Exchange for the Performing Arts, is a non-profit organization which promotes and markets Canadian artists in foreign countries. They will also attend a luncheon with Chinese presenters in Shanghai hosted by Canada’s new Consul General, Susan Gregson. 6. Vancouver launches film-TV task force Vancouver Mayor, Sam Sullivan, has announced the development of a new task force to address the film and television industry in the city. In announcing the task force, Sullivan stated that the industry’s guidelines are out-of-date and there are issues, such as the impact of filming in neighbourhoods, that need to be resolved. Sullivan said: "We want to make sure we have good education for the citizens to know the importance of this industry. And we want to make sure that we have guidelines that help regulate the effects of the industry on residents." 7. Free weekly legal advice clinics start at the Alliance The Alliance for Arts and Culture is pleased to announce that the Artists' Legal Outreach (ALO) has begun offering free weekly summary advice clinics. The ALO will offer legal advice in 30 minute sessions with a volunteer lawyer. The clinic is open to artists in all disciplines to discuss art, entertainment, business and intellectual property law issues and is available, by appointment, on Wednesday nights, from 5 pm to 7:30 pm at the Alliance for Arts and Culture. Click here for more information. 8. Arnold Aprill to present free Arts and Effective Eduction lecture and panel Arnold Aprill, Executive Director, Chicago Arts Partners in Education will present: “The Arts and Effective Education in the 21st Century,” as a free public lecture and panel discussion. The event will take place on Thursday, October 26 from 9 to 10:30 am at the Fletcher Challenge Theatre 1900 atArnold Aprill is an award-winning director, producer and playwright. He has taught at the For info, contact creativity@artstarts.com
Three festivals to create Vancouver Festival Centre at the new CBC production centre The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Vancouver International Children’s Festival and Vancouver Folk Music Festival have announced a partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada to create a Vancouver Festival Centre in the new Vancouver production centre currently under development at 700 Hamilton Street. The partnership follows CBC/Radio-Canada’s search for a community partner to occupy 8,500 square feet of community use space in the redeveloped production centre. Plans also call for a 4,000 square foot performance studio with an outdoor stage fronting Hamilton Street Plaza. The Vancouver Festival Centre will create a central festival box office, library, resource and information centre accessible to the community at large, provide a meeting place and focal point for the local festival community and deliver reliable and sustainable production facilities for the three festivals. Judith Marcuse Projects to enter new phase of operations Judith Marcuse and the members of the Board of Directors of Judith Marcuse Projects (JMP) have announced that the company will move into a new phase of operations over the coming 18 months. Judith Marcuse, Founding Artistic Producer of JMP, intends to focus her energy on the development of several significant “arts for social change” educational and professional development initiatives, while continuing to choreograph and to speak, write, consult and teach in Canada and abroad. Playhouse Theatre Company production centre rezoning approved The Playhouse Theatre Company has received full approval from the City of Vancouver to proceed with redevelopment of its production centre, currently housed in a converted sawmill, on West First Avenue in south-east False Creek. The redevelopment will see the current space of 25,000 square feet demolished to make way for a new development consisting of multi-unit residential towers, street-level retail space and a new 43,000 square foot centre for the Playhouse Theatre Company including administrative offices, rehearsal halls, production shops for sets, props and wardrobe, and a 250-seat studio theatre and street-level lobby. The theatre company will vacate its current space at 160 West 1st Avenue in mid-2007 to make way for construction and will occupy its new home at the same location after the close of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Arts Club Theatre launches anniversary project to commission four new works The Arts Club Theatre has launched the Silver Commissions Project, an initiative meant to foster new works by the region’s up-and-coming playwrights. In honour of the 25th anniversary of the Arts Club’s first premiere, the project will fund the creation of four new works. An anonymous donor provided the seed money for what is hoped to be a multi-year initiative. New Executive Director for the Kay Meek Centre Paul Gravett has been appointed Executive Director of the Kay Meek Centre. He brings extensive experience as an arts administrator, facility manager and performing arts presenter to his new role at Kay Meek Centre. For the past six years, Gravett has served as executive director of ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island’s centre for the performing and visual arts, where he was responsible for artistic direction, fundraising, audience development, budget control and staff management. Gravett currently serves as a board member at the British Columbia Touring Council and is a member of the Association of Cultural Executives and Made in B.C., a society to promote dance within the province. British Columbia Community Achievement Awards The British Columbia Community Achievement Awards celebrate British Columbians who go above and beyond in their dedication and service to others and who devote time and energy to making their communities more caring, dynamic, beautiful, healthy and unique. Any current or former long-term resident of British Columbia is eligble for nomination. Nomination deadline: November 15, 2006 For more information visit www.bcachievement.com Vancouver Office of Cultural Affairs Operating and Project Grants Operating grants are available to large and small Vancouver-based arts organizations that have ongoing operations and a track record of quality programming or services. They are provided for a wide range of artistic activities reflecting diverse cultural traditions and forms of expression. Project grants are intended for arts organizations that have been active in Vancouver for at least six months, and that do not receive civic operating assistance. They are the City’s main form of support for new and developing groups, as well as for established groups that work on a project basis. Application deadline: December 8, 2006 More information can be found at www.vancouver.ca/culture or by calling 604-871-6434. The Alcan Performing Arts Award The Alcan Peforming Arts Award is a $60,000 production fund open to performing arts companies resident in British Columbia. The award was conceived to recognize the achievements of British Columbia performing arts companies and to foster the creation of new work by providing a significant financial investment in a new production by the chosen company. The 2007 award will be a Music/Opera Award. Application deadline: December 8, 2006 For more information, visit http://www.vecc.bc.ca/ or call 604-251-1363. Vancouver artist Matthew Brown has been awarded $15,000 as one of the finalists in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition. His work will be displayed with the 14 other semi-finalists at the Contemporary Art Gallery from November 14 to 19. Four non-fiction titles have been selected as finalists for the 2006 City of Vancouver Book Award. The finalists include: Jean Barman for Stanley Park’s Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch and Brockton Point (Harbour Publishing); James P. Delgado for Waterfront: The Illustrated Maritime History of Greater Vancouver (Stanton Atkins & Dosil); Derek Hayes for Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley (Douglas & McIntyre); and Abraham J. Rogatnick, Ian M. Thom, and Adele Weder for B.C. Binning (Douglas & McIntyre). , a biography of the mid-century modernist artist, architectural innovator and arts educator which looks at his influence in Vancouver’s cultural community. The four shortlisted titles were chosen by an independent jury that included bookseller Rod Clarke; University of B.C. English professor Glenn Deer; and Laurie Roggeman, former president of the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library. This jury will also select the winning entry. Mayor Sullivan will present the award and the $2,000 cash prize to the winning author on October 17, 2006.
Cuts 'devastating' to local museums A $4.6 million cut to federal arts funding was described Tuesday as "devestating" for Lower Mainland museums and galleries. "It really feels like the rug has been pulled out from under us," said Joan Seidl, curator of history for the Vancouver Museum, about the Harper government's decision to slash more than half the budget for the Museums Assistance Program...read more. Flaherty scrooge to Canada's museums Jim Flaherty, the federal finance minister, giveth money for the arts ... and Jim Flaherty taketh away money for the arts. This week, in the course of slashing $4.6 million from the Museum Assistance Program of Ottawa's heritage ministry — not to avoid a deficit but to fluff up a surplus — Flaherty seemed to be grabbing money from one culture-world pocket while only midway through putting money into the other pocket...read more. How Tory government found $1 billion in savings It wasn't conventional penny pinching by any standard. With an annual program spending budget of $189 billion, Treasury Board Secretary John Baird decided to look into a lot of places to find $1 billion in savings...read more... Federal spending cuts attacked The opposition lashed out at the Harper government during question period Tuesday for the spending cuts it announced a day earlier. Opposition Liberal Leader Bill Graham led the charge, followed by Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton and other MPs...read more. The first cuts are not always the deepest Yesterday's announcement unfortunately does not mean that the worst is necessarily over for the arts and culture sector. For instance, the Government has already committed to reducing federal spending by the same amount once again in 2007-8. The government also announced yesterday that the budgetary surplus for 2005-06 rang in at $13.2 billion, all of which will be dedicated to paying down the national debt. None of the surplus will be used for new support to programs or other federal initiatives, which is problematic given the chronic nature of under-funding and a general lack of resources for our important sector....read more. Federal cuts to hit small museums hard The Museums Assistance Program aids small museums with projects such as preserving their collections, allowing exhibits to tour and creating websites. In 2004-2005, it funded projects ranging from the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation oral history project in the Yukon, to drawings of the Group of Seven exhibit at the McMichael Gallery in Ontario and the conservation of artifacts at the Crowsnest Historical Society in Alberta. Heritage Minister Bev Oda's office said the program provides $11.8 million in funding annually and was cut as part of the review process seeking to provide "value for money to Canadians."...read more. Children's art gets its own gallery ArtStarts, a 5,000-square-foot, two-floor facility in Vancouver, is the latest result of the city's cultural amenity bonus program, which allows land developers to increase the density of their projects if they also provide space for arts organizations. The centre also contains a first in Canada: an exhibition space dedicated entirely to the work of children and young people....read more. Arts Notes: Back from the Fringe Early figures show an increase in attendance at the latest Vancouver Fringe Festival, which wrapped up last Sunday (September 17). Organizers of the 11-day event have announced that turnout this year climbed by four percent over the previous edition of the annual event....read more. Arts Notes: Awards all round The Vancouver East Cultural Centre has, in a sense, returned the favour done by the Vancity credit union a few years back. In 2002, the VECC won the annual $1-million Vancity Award, which proved to be the base for a capital campaign to add performance spaces, a lobby, and an art gallery, among several other amenities in upcoming renovations. Now, based on this success and on the VECC's own nomination, Vancity has won a 2006 Globe and Mail Business for the Arts Award, in the category of best arts/entrepreneur partnership...read more. Olympic opposition fizzles In Vancouver, three-and-a-half years before the 2010 Games there are no upcoming referendum and no noisy protests. Even though the September 14 B.C. auditor general's report predicted the Games could cost $2.5 billion — far above the original estimates — activists have been curiously silent...read more. NEWS FROM AWAY… Arts groups scramble to keep staff in boom times In Alberta, professionals in the cultural industries are accustomed to operating with embarrassingly tiny budgets. In the late 1990s, when smart young people were clamouring for jobs in the arts -- as publicists, managers, book editors and festival programmers -- the Edmonton and Calgary seasons continued to hum along. Now that just about every post-secondary graduate can pull in at least $60,000 a year, to make less than half of that while working 12-hour days isn't all that attractive...read more. Former convicts bring Bard to Toronto high schools This week, former convicts turned professional actors Darren Raymond and Fabian Spencer are participating in a high school drama program called Shakespearience in Toronto, including in areas notorious for drugs, gangs and gun violence...read more. SEARCH, the Alliance for Arts and Culture's four-week job search and employment assistance program for artists and the creatively inclined, has spaces available in its last two sessions for 2006. Click here for further details, contact information and how to apply. Session #112 October 23 - November 17 Session 113 November 27 - December 22 “In every city, it’s the creatives who lead changes in these sort of forgotten neighbourhoods.” -- Scott Hawthorn, co-owner of Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley Our thanks The Alliance for Arts and Culture gratefully acknowledges the support from the following: City of Vancouver, Service Canada, the British Columbia Arts Council and the British Columbia Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. Comments? Send a message to: SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE You can subscribe to receive Synergy by emailing info@allianceforarts.com with the “Synergy Subscribe” in the subject line. To remove your name from this email list, please email info@allianceforarts.com with “Synergy Un-Subscribe” in the subject line. We do not rent, exchange, sell or give this email list to any other organization. Unless specifically stated, any part of this newsletter may be reproduced with appropriate credit given to the Alliance for Arts and Culture. If you have any questions about your privacy, please call 604-681-3535 or email privacy@allianceforarts.com. Last Updated:
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