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Home | Resources > Newsletter | Synergy - December 16, 2004
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December 16, 2004 Volume 15, Number 16 Synergy, the electronic newsletter
I am pleased to inform you that the Alliance for Arts and Culture will be working with the City of Vancouver to establish an arts committee to meet with the mayor and city council on a quarterly basis. This will provide representatives from the arts community with an opportunity to meet with our elected officials to discuss topics of importance to Vancouver’s artists and cultural organizations. We are currently seeking nominations from the arts community for six people to sit on this panel. The representatives will then be selected from the nominees by a committee appointed by the Alliance board of directors. Please send the name, contact information and a brief paragraph outlining the qualifications of the person you are nominating (it can be yourself!), to info@allianceforarts.com, with the subject line "Arts Committee Nomination", fax it to 604-681-7848, or mail it to the Alliance for Arts and Culture, Arts Committee Nominations, Suite 100 - 938 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 1N9. Nominees:
Nominations must be received by January 10, 2005. This is a 10 month volunteer position, a new committee will be put in place after the next municipal election. Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season from all of us at the Alliance for Arts and Culture. Heather Redfern, A word from the editor. This will be our last issue of Synergy for 2004, as the Alliance offices prepare for a holiday break. We will be shutting down at 5pm, Friday, December 17, and will reopen at 9am on Monday, January 3. The first FaxNet of 2004 is scheduled for Thursday, January 6th. See you in 2005. Allison Markin,
1. New funding via 2010 initiatives Editor: Allison Markin 1. New funding via 2010 initiatives New funding programs were recently announced by two 2010-related agencies: LegaciesNow - ArtsNow, and by The 2010 Secretariat through the BC Cultural Services Branch. Both programs are available across the province, though eligibility varies depending on the program applied for. Below is a short primer to help you determine which of the programs might be suitable for the artists and organizations you work with. For complete guidelines and applications forms, visit the websites listed below. Parts of this article appear courtesy of ArtsNow. LegaciesNow - ArtsNow ArtsNow will be working over the next three years to enhance the creative capacity of individuals, organizations and communities throughout BC, and has developed three pilot programs to address the areas of capacity building for organizations, culture planning, and community engagement. The three programs are: Creative Communities: The Creative Communities Program offers matching funding for communities to undertake cultural development initiatives in association with community leaders. This program assists with structured fact-finding and consensus-building scans and assessments to identify a community's cultural assets, needs and opportunities. It also supports the creation of cultural development plans to detail the strategies and resources required to ensure that arts and culture are effective contributors to the economic and social health of a community or region. Deadline: ongoing. Catalyst: The Catalyst Program provides funding for BC cultural organizations to undertake initiatives that will enhance their sustained ability to realize their artistic goals and achieve excellence by building their artistic and organizational capacity, and/or the capacity of their audiences. Deadline: January 31, 2005. Innovations: The Innovations Program offers assistance to organizations or communities that want to create new opportunities for people in BC to engage in cultural activities. Like all ArtsNow programs, it focuses on activities that can have a lasting impact or are a catalyst for change within BC communities and the cultural sector. Deadline: January 31, 2005. For more information, including guidelines and application forms, visit: The Spirit of BC Arts Fund (formerly known as the Olympic Arts Fund) will assist arts and cultural organizations to realize creative projects that contribute to the development of arts and culture in British Columbia. Two programs under this fund have been announced: Spirit of BC Commissioning Program: This program will assist arts and cultural organizations to commission and develop original works of art that contribute to the vitality of arts and culture in British Columbia. Some program details:
Spirit of BC Opportunities Program: This program will assist arts and cultural organizations to realize creative projects that contribute to the development of arts and culture in British Columbia. Some program details:
For more information, including guidelines and application forms, visit: Watch our professional development page for details on an upcoming Spirit of BC information session in January.
In November a number of amendments to BC's Society Act were brought into force, including:
For more information, visit the BC Government website at: There's still time to add your voice to the provincial government's consultation on how to spend our hard-earned tax dollars, not to mention the expected budget surplus. If you haven't received a consultation paper in the mail, or if it's been recycled, visit the BC Government website at www.gov.bc.ca and click on "Budget Consultation Paper" to read and complete the questionnaire.
At its national policy conference in Regina last month, the Canadian Conference of the Arts launched a campaign to change Canada's tax system to help artists and arts organizations. Though the Toronto Star reported some success in November - a Canada Revenue Agency ruling is allowing an appeal against its decision in the case of Thunder Bay's Magnus Theatre, which stated that actors on contracts, long or short, were still "employees" of the organization - there is more work to be done. The CCA wants to ensure that professional artists retain their status as "self-employed". If you'd like to lend your support, you can download the declaration letter (in PDF format) on the Alliance for Arts and Culture's website, at: http://www.allianceforarts.com/advocacy/CCA-Declaration-Letter.pdf
CBC reports that artists are concerned about a proposed changed to the Canada Council's grant program for visual arts. In the past, artists seeking grants were required to have exhibition experience during their professional career. The proposed change would require that the artistic work that the grant covers be slated for gallery exhibition. The current system has been in place since the 1960s and sees grants given to both established and emerging artists based on a review of their work. The changes would reduce the total number of grants handed out each year, with more established artists receiving a bigger portion of $3.5 million that's distributed annually across the country in the visual arts program. The new rule would also require an artist to have a confirmed show at a recognized gallery before they could even apply for a grant. A special advisory committee, including artists, will meet in January to discuss the changes and concerns voiced by the artistic community that not all artists want to (or can) exhibit in galleries, and that artists in areas lacking appropriate gallery space may be left out. A new program is expected in April, 2005, with implementation to follow in September. For more information, visit: or the Canada Council's website at:
Statistics Canada released a report in early December detailing the economic impact of cultural industries across Canada. On the national scale, employment growth in the cultural sector outpaced overall employment growth in Canada between 1996 and 2001. As well, the sector's contribution to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual average rate of 5.7 percent, on par with the economy as a whole. In 2001, about 611,000 people worked in the cultural sector, or about 4.1 percent of Canada's work force, though cultural workers were less likely to hold full-time jobs compared to other industries. Employment in festivals grew a whopping 73.9 percent, and architecture grew by 57 percent. Combined, Ontario, Quebec and BC were responsible for more than three-quarters of Canadian culture output during the six-year period studied, and accounted for four- fifths of all cultural employees in 2001. BC cultural industries - including written media, broadcasting, film, advertising, performing arts, visual arts, music publishing and more - employed an average of 77,000 people, generating an average of $3.8 billion to BC's economy each year between 1996 and 2001, or about 3.5 percent of the province's GDP. For more info, visit http://www.statcan.ca/english/services/, click "free" and follow the links to arts and culture studies. The following is the text of a press release distributed by the Alliance for Arts and Culture on December 15, 2004. Christmas came early this year for Canada's arts and cultural sector, as Ottawa announced its intention to reinvest in the arts. Funding for the Tomorrow Starts Today program has been renewed for one year, to the tune of $192 million for 2005-06. Liza Frulla, Minister of Canadian Heritage, made the announcement, which was welcome news to the cultural community, who lobbied strongly in favour of continuing the program. "A number of our members responded to our call to action to send messages to their representatives in Ottawa, contacting both their MPs and Minister Frulla," says Heather Redfern, executive director of the Alliance for Arts and Culture. "We should all be proud that our efforts have paid off, literally and figuratively." Though the cultural sector had been hoping for a multi-year renewal, the Canadian Conference of the Arts, a national organization based in Ottawa, reports that February's federal budget should bring forth more good news for Canada's cultural industries, perhaps in the form of a further two years of cash for the program. Tomorrow Starts Today, first announced in May, 2001, was originally to last three years. It was then extended for 2004-05 with an additional $207 million and now will continue to support programs such as the Canada Music Fund, Cultural Capitals of Canada -- Vancouver was named a winner in 2003 and received funding for several initiatives, including the Vancouver Arts Awards -- and numerous cultural industries. "It's important that governments of all levels realize that the arts are crucial to the health of our communities, and this is a good first step towards creating stable, long-term funding for the sector," continues Redfern. "We hope that the BC government, as it prepares for its next budget and the provincial election, will follow Ottawa's example." For more info on Tomorrow Starts Today, visit: Read the Canadian Heritage press release at: OCA moves While perhaps not a "kudos", it is important to note that the City of Vancouver's Office of Cultural Affairs has moved. Their new street address is: City Square - East Tower, Suite 310 - 555 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver. The fax number has changed to 604-871-6005, but the mailing address remains the same at: 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, V5Y 1V4. But, emails will soon change, as the City of Vancouver website is now a much friendlier www.vancouver.ca. The OCA can be found at www.vancouver.ca/culture, and staff emails will be firstname.lastname@vancouver.ca.
Earlier this month the Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners of the 2004 Canada-Japan Literary Awards. Burning Vision, a play by Metis author Merie Clements of Galiano, BC won in the English language category. Ms. Clements is artistic director of urban ink productions. This is her ninth play. In the French category, the winner was Montreal's Aki Shimazaki for the novel Wasurenagusa.
The founder of the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Alma Lee, will be leaving the organization at the end of next year's festival. Ms. Lee founded the event in 1988, and has seen it grow to attract about 12,000 annually. The Festival is known as one of the best in the world, and this year hosted more than 100 national and international writers at 54 events.
Telefilm Canada recently announced the appointment of Wayne Clarkson to the position of executive director. He is a seasoned member of the film industry, and was executive director of the Canadian Film Centre for 13 years. From API News (Art in the Public Interest), out of North Carolina, came a recent article entitled "Miscellaneous: an activist arts mag from Canada". Miscellaneous Magazine is a publication from Vancouver's Miscellaneous Productions, a group that strives to merge "the new frontiers of performance and new media" with community development and popular culture. Check it out at http://www.miscellaneous-inc.org/publications.htm National Exposure Amateur Movie Contest 2005: part of the NSI FilmExchange Canadian Film Festival, entrants are asked to make a five-minute film and enter the contest to win prizes, including a film premiere at the NSI Film Exchange Canadian Film Festival on March 5, 2005. The deadline is 2:30pm central time on January 14th. For more info, visit: Music BC travel assistance: As reported in the Georgia Straight, Music BC will be providing travel assistance for artists going on tours or playing showcases. The program will offer up to $1000 for qualifying applications. The deadline to apply is February 18, 2005. For more info, visit: www.musicbc.org ENDQUOTE "Now, more than ever, arts and culture appear as the key to three basic skills: learning to be, learning to know, and learning to live together...Let us hope that ministers of culture can work together and with others involved in cultural development so that the cultural agenda is no longer on the sidelines and often left behind, but rather a key agenda in each of our communities." -Simon Brault, vice-chair, Canada Council for the Arts, to the Federal-Provincial Culture Ministers' Conference held in Halifax in October (taken from Creative City News) Comments? Send a message to:
Copyright © Alliance for Arts and Culture, 2005 |
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