 |
 |
 |
|
Home | Resources > Newsletter | Synergy - October 17, 2003
|
||
 |
October 17, 2003 -- Volume 14 Number 16 Synergy, the electronic newsletter
I have been in Newfoundland for the last two weeks - far away from local news and, quite frankly, ignoring all news. During my absence, governments have been elected, elections have been called, the insanity of the US invasion of Iraq continues and, imagine my surprise, some poor bureaucrat in Victoria has decided The Georgia Straight isn't a newspaper. I didn't live in Vancouver when The Straight was born and went through its original trials. I only have a 22-year history with the paper. But never once in that time have I questioned its existence as a newspaper. In fact, in Vancouver it's pretty much considered the "third" newspaper, after the two major dailies. It's printed on newsprint with ink that rubs off on your hands. It arrives every Thursday, like clockwork. It has editorials, columnists and reviews that you sometimes agree with and sometimes don't, articles that spark debate or invoke indifference, and an annoying amount of advertising. You know, a newspaper! The Straight has come out declaring a vast governmental conspiracy to close it down. Perhaps given its history, that I have already agreed I wasn't around for, that isn't an unreasonable response. However, I believe the situation can be attributed to what I have already alluded - a poor, unknowing bureaucrat (and I hardly ever use the term, but I think it applies in this case), who knows nothing about the history or even the current reality of the paper. S/he is sitting in a cubicle in a vast series of cubicles in a government that has been downsizing and therefore transferring people with expertise in one area into other areas where they are fish out of water and have no expertise. What they have is the Social Service Tax Act and a direction that it must be followed. And there, in my opinion, is the actual problem. The Social Service Tax Act is anything but precise as it applies to calendar listings - not just in The Georgia Straight, but in any paper. The situation revolves around whether calendar listings are editorial content or advertising, as defined by the Act. If the listings are deemed to be advertising, then The Straight does not meet the minimum 25 percent editorial content the Act demands as a requirement for tax exempt status. If the listings are defined as editorial, then the tax exemption applies. One must look to the source for clarification, and the source is seriously wanting. Under the definition of advertising for newspapers, the Act states: "advertising and promotional contents include (a) all advertisements, promotional material and promotional articles, irrespective of who bears the cost for the publication of the advertisement, promotional materials or promotional article..." The same Act states that editorial content includes: "the editorials, news, and articles of local or common interest, other than advertising and promotional content..." You can understand how an over zealous bureaucrat could consider listings as promotional materials paid for by the newspaper itself. And since the Act says "irrespective of who bears the cost", the fact that it is not the organization mentioned in the listing or a third party that wishes to promote the activity is irrelevant. Let's go, however, to the step the bureaucrat evidently ignored. According to the Act, editorial content includes articles of local or common interest. One could, and should, argue that the calendar of events is of great local or common interest. Why would The Georgia Straight give up so much editorial space if it was not of great local and common interest to its readers? Surely readership surveys would have nixed the whole concept long ago if they were not appreciated (and even anticipated, if I may interject a personal note here). I am encouraged that the minister responsible, Bill Barisoff, has indicated that his department, under the direction of the Premier, has been asked to review the policy and its application. He has also clearly stated that The Straight is a newspaper. One can only hope that the bureaucrat responsible for the audit gets some further guidance before s/he moves on to some other un-suspecting publication. Lori Baxter,
1. Performing arts revenue up: Statistics Canada
Following on the heels of its release in August on government spending on culture, Statistics Canada, in the September 9 issue of The Daily, reports that Canada's not-for-profit performing arts companies - theatre, music, dance and opera - started 2001, the year for which data is currently available, with a financial surplus thanks to revenues of $543.7 million. Orchestras, however, didn't fare as well, with an overall financial deficit of $4.1 million in 2001, up from $3 million in 1999. Canadian orchestras, according to the 2001 data, had an accumulated debt of $18 million. Overall, performing arts groups recorded a surplus of $3.6 million in 2001, a turnaround from a deficit of $4.9 million in 1999. Theatre companies were the major contributors to the turnaround, with the highest surplus. The total revenue of $543.7 million was up 14.7 percent from 1999, with total operating expenses reaching $540.1 million in 2001, up 12.7 percent. Attendance rose seven percent in 2001, to an estimated 14.2 million, still lower than the 1993 peak of 15 million. Attendance declined for theatre, dance and opera companies, but rose 15 percent for music organizations. Earned revenues (from ticket sales, subscriptions and so on), accounted for nearly 50 percent of total revenues in 2001, while government grants accounted for 30 percent and private donations, 21 percent. Private sector funding has grown much faster than government support. In 2001, private sector donations amounted to more than $114.2 million, up 17.6 percent from 1999. Government grants increased 16.2 percent to $165.5 million. All disciplines recorded an increase in private funding from 1999 to 2001, but opera companies saw the largest jump, up almost 35 percent to $16 million. At the same time, corporate donations for large theatres doubled from $3.2 million to $6.5 million. Large orchestras attracted more than 2.7 million people in 2001, up 36.2 percent from 1999, and their revenues rose just over seven percent to $45.2 million. Small and medium-sized orchestras, however, recorded declines in attendance and earned revenues. Overall operating expenses for orchestras increased nearly 13 percent to more than $150.4 million in 2001, though there was a 17 percent decline in the number of paid staff and volunteers. In fact, in 2001 there were almost as many volunteers (10,090) as there were paid employees (10,438). Data was collected from the Survey of Performing Arts, which is conducted every two years. Performing arts refers to any live theatre (excluding dinner theatre and commercial theatre), music (orchestras, ensembles, choirs), dance (classical and contemporary ballet), and opera. Presenters and for-profit performing arts companies are excluded from this survey. The survey targeted 583 organizations, with the reporting period between September, 2000 and August, 2001. Read the September 9 version of The Daily at: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/030909/d030909.pdf
The Canada Council for the Arts recently released its 46th annual report, and called upon the federal government to increase its arts funding to affirm the importance of arts in Canadian Society and to meet the challenges facing Canada's artists and arts organizations. "The Council must ensure that it has sufficient resources to provide the services that artists, arts organizations and the Canadian public expect it to provide," wrote Canada Council chairman Jean-Louis Roux in his introduction to the report. In his own introduction to the report, John Hobday, the Council's recently appointed director, noted a number of positive trends affecting the arts in Canada, including an increased interest in technology-based artistic work, a growing public appreciation of the work of Canadian artists from many cultural origins, increasing numbers of Aboriginal artists, marked interest and success in developing Canada's international reputation in the arts, and new commitments by both federal and provincial governments to the renovation of aging art galleries, concert halls and other arts-related buildings. Hobday also expressed concerns about several other trends, including a decline in audiences in some areas of the performing arts and the number of arts organizations which are financially unstable, at least partially due to a drop in corporate donations and a loss of endowment income resulting from the turmoil in the world's financial markets. Over the past three years, artists and arts organizations in 1000 Canadian communities have received funding from the Canada Council. In 2002-2003, the Council awarded nearly $142.3 million in grants, prizes and payments. Read the full annual report at: Artists who donate artwork to a registered charitable organization have some options under Canada's income tax rules and regulations. First, artists must ensure that the charity warrants this support because, assuming that the artwork is saleable, it is the same as giving cash. In some cases, it may be easier to make a smaller cash donation, sell the artwork and retain the proceeds. If the charity warrants the support, there may be an income tax advantage for the donating artist. For tax purposes, there are two transactions that occur at the time the donation is made. First, there is the deemed sale of the work and, second, there is a donation made to charity. Both transactions must be reported as the same amount. However, artists have an option that is not available to normal taxpayers in that they can set that amount anywhere between zero and the fair market value. The greatest benefit of this option is derived if the artist is in the lowest of four tax brackets and the benefit decreases as the bracket increases. For example, an artist in BC with a part time job earning $28,000 and a break even on art income and who donates a work with a fair market value of $2000 would have a taxable income of $28,000 without the donation, and would pay $4204 in income tax. With a donation, the taxable income is $30,000, however the income tax is reduced by $410 to $3794. The reason for the net tax reduction is that the additional income of $2000 is taxed at the low rate of 21 percent, increasing the tax by $420 whereas the donation credit on $2000 is calculated at the high rate of 41.5 percent, decreasing the tax by $830. The result is a decrease in income tax by $410. It pays to explore your options when donating a piece of art, and when filing your return. Adapted from an article by chartered accountant Robert H. McMurray in the October, 2003 edition of the Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter. New Media BC recently announced the launch of the Vancouver International Digital Festival, which will take place May 7-8, 2004. The festival will include panels, a new media art exhibition, public screenings, an interactive design room, a student competition and a world video game championship. "We are very excited about VIDFEST and the networking and profiling opportunities it provides the local digital media community," says Jane Green, executive director of New Media BC. "This festival will help to further establish Vancouver as an international hotspot for digital content creation." For more info, visit: www.vidfest.com. Adapted from New Media BC's NewsPak. Yes, that MIT: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will eventually be offering all of its courses online. The institution will post video lectures, class notes and tests on the internet for a project called OpenCourseWare. You won't get any credits, degrees or certificates, but you will be able to follow along to courses such as Virginia Woolf's Shakespeare, Foundations of Western Culture, Composing with Computers, and Culture Shock! along side courses in aeronautics and nuclear engineering. Visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html
Earlier this month, the Vancouver Sun reported that a writers' conference scheduled in Banff in October may be the work of a scam artist. Banff RCMP are reporting that the conference organizer, who also had plans to stage a charity event to raise funds for autism, may be wanted in the US for "property-related" and fraud offences and may also have up to 16 aliases. The organizer has disappeared and as far as the RCMP know, the conference, scheduled for October 25, does not exist. This conference is not to be confused with the legitimate Banff-Calgary International Writers' Festival. If you registered for the fake conference, or think you did, visit www.banffwritersconference.com, where you will find contact information for local police in Banff.
As part of the Alliance for Arts and Culture Professional Development Series, the Alliance is presenting a seminar on web marketing, Tuesday, October 28 from 11am to 5pm, led by Michael Linehan of Marketing Alchemy. Good night Guttenberg, hello digital marketing! Mr. Linehan will outline the seven keys to unlock a powerful website, common errors made in the design and marketing of websites, and provide tips on promoting your site once it's up and running. It's all about strategy: what's your vision? have you defined your goals? are search engines working for you, or against you? This seminar is suitable for employees or volunteers involved in developing or maintaining websites, and those who manage their organization's marketing and communications plans and strategies. The day will end with a panel discussion featuring the success stories of several online ticket sellers and their best practices. To find out more and sign up online, visit our workshops page. The Community Arts Council of Vancouver has launched a new online resource for community-based public art in the city, offering:
The project is supported by the BC Arts Council, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Foundation. Visit it at: www.creativecommunities.ca. Composer Pentland honoured The BC office of the Canadian Music Centre recently honoured composer Barbara Pentland by naming their archives the Barbara Pentland Library. The composer, who died in 2000 at the age of 82, left the bulk of her estate to the organization's office on Davie Street. Several Canadian icons are among this year's winners of the Governor-General's Performing Arts Awards. They include: film-maker Norman Jewison, musician Ian Tyson, comedian Dave Broadfoot, soprano Pierrette Alarie, actor Douglas Campbell and screenwriter-actress Micheline Lanctot. The awards will be presented November 7 and each recipient will receive $15,000 and a commemorative medallion. Vancouver film and television director Darryl Duke was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of Canada. Duke directed the 1973 drama Payday and the TV mini-series The Thorn Birds, and founded CKVU, an independent television station (now CityTV). He is currently working on his autobiography. Vancouver's Bing Thom Architects will be designing a $100 million (US) renovation of the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., one of the top theatres in the United States. The firm was chosen from more than 100 applicants from across North America. The project includes renovating two theatres, adding a third theatre and adding a residence for artists and should be complete in 2007. If you would like to express your opinion on The Georgia Straight issue and the Social Service Tax Act, contact your MLA. A list can be found at: You can send a note to the Premier by emailing: premier@gov.bc.ca. Media Democracy Day While we all have The Georgia Straight on our minds, the timing for Media Democracy Day, this Saturday, October 18, probably could not be better. Workshops, an independent media fair and other events take place from 11am to 8pm at the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia. For more info, visit: www.presscampaign.org.
The coveted $60,000 Alcan Performing Arts Award is now accepting applications for its next Music/Opera Award. The prize is given for a single creation or to four separate creations, presented consecutively, and is given either to a new creation (Canadian premiere of a new work) or to an innovative interpretation of an existing work (Canadian premiere). Only professional producing companies registered as a non-profit society in British Columbia are eligible to apply, and they must have had an active production history within the past two years. Applicants are required to complete and return the application form, by December 12, to: The Alcan Performing Arts Awards, Faxed or emailed applications will not be accepted. The winner will be announced in February, 2004 and will present their work at the VECC in February, 2005. To obtain an application, call 604-251-1363, write to the address above, or visit www.vecc.bc.ca. The new privacy legislation comes into effect January 1, 2004. The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association is holding a conference on the new legislation November 24-25, which will explain the new rules and provide tips on how to ready your organization for the legislation. For more info, visit: www.ellisriley.on.ca/fipa.
According to the Canada Council's most recent annual report, 650,000 people in Canada were employed in arts and culture in 2002-2003, and 128,000 is the number of artists in Canada for the same period, an increase of 30 percent over the last decade.
Copyright © Alliance for Arts and Culture, 2003 |
|
 |
 |
|
