January 14, 2012 – 7:46 pm

No Ford Arts Cuts? Great – now lets finish re-writing the budget

Parkdale-based teens, The Torontonians, perform at Wrecking Ball 11 'Now What?' a theatrical response to Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto

by Michael Wheeler

Toronto culture scored a rare win this week at City Hall as arts grants and reduced library hours became some of the very few measures pulled off the chopping block in the 2012 budget by the City’s Executive Committee before it is voted on by all of City Council next week.

Barring a major backlash or unforeseen circumstances, this means Toronto culture will stay funded at $19/per capita. Arts grants will not be sliced and diced like many important social programs as the current budget suggests, although it is worth noting Toronto will remain dead last in cultural funding amongst major Canadian cities.

Councillor Michael Thompson addresses a standing-room only public consultation held at City Hall by the Creative Capital Initiative

Arts and culture is going to dodge a bullet; unlike fair wages for janitorial staff, shelters for homeless elderly people, swimming pools, a wide variety of community housing initiatives, day care programs, services for recent immigrants, and other essential programs Toronto invests in to promote an equitable and prosperous city.

We have arrived at this state of affairs because of a false crisis created by Mayor Rob Ford by reducing revenue through eliminating the Vehicle Registration Tax while promising gravy, but finding none.

The idea of a large deficit that must be immediately dealt with through massive cuts is a false narrative designed to shock Torontonians into making senseless choices that, to quote one City Councilor, “will be borne largely on the backs of women and children.”

Viewed in this context, restoring funding for arts and some libraries is a bit of a gut check for culture supporters.

Do we advocate only for ourselves, or are our efforts more broadly focused?

Do we want the arts to be funded because we like art and books (and some of us a paycheque), or is there a grander vision for an ecology in which culture is one important piece of a prosperous, reasonable and just society?

Nightwood Theatre's production of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad opened the same day arts cuts came off the table.

From @margaretatwood to The Creative Capital Initiative, and everything in between, it seems our cumulative disparate voices in support of culture have achieved a resonance that is impossible to ignore at City Hall.

Cultural activism in Toronto has been robust and intelligent over the last few years, with contributions from a wide variety of sectors and art forms. It is possible to view this reprieve as an admission of sorts that we are frigging crazy and can cause problems that are difficult to manage.

A clear and strident message from artists could crystallize the city-wide discontent with The Ford Approach to governance. Likewise, a submissive and satisfied arts sector that is grateful it has been spared the rod (this year), is just what this administration needs to push through a series of cuts that will impact our most vulnerable citizens.

With arts cuts off the table we have a unique opportunity to advocate not out of fear, but from the deep-seeded belief that a society should be set up to defend its least fortunate members. Time to get off the ferris wheel and finish re-writing this budget.

Michael Wheeler can be found on Twitter via @michaelcwheeler

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in Toronto Stop the Cuts Network, arts funding cuts | Comments (2)
September 12, 2011 – 12:49 pm

Culture Heroes #1: Michael Healey

Michael Healey – Art by Jody Hewston

For the inaugural edition of our new series Culture Heroes by Jody Hewston, we look back at the past few months, and declare Michael Healey our clear Culture Hero of Summer, 2011.

In response to the Canadian Heritage department cutting its funding of Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival, Healey put out a call to action for all Artistic Directors of theatre companies that receive federal arts funding to come together in an act of solidarity for freedom of speech. His words were straight to the point:

If you find yourself anxious about the potential ramifications for your own company’s federal funding as a consequence of taking part in this demonstration, I can think of no better reason for participating in it.”

You can read an analysis of the SummerWorks Homegrown controversy here on the Praxis blog. Michael Healey’s own words in the Globe & Mail can be found here, and Globe theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck’s views on the matter here. A great backgrounder on the story, as well as a list of the companies who answered Healey’s call is available here on the Wrecking Ball blog.

By Praxis | Posted in Culture Heroes, Michael Healey, SummerWorks, arts funding cuts | Comments (2)
July 15, 2011 – 9:47 am

Homegrown drama unites theatre artists across the country

The proceeds frorm these nation-wide readings will go to the recently de-funded Summerworks Festival

by Michael Wheeler

Today will see over 70 companies across the country join together in readings of the play Homegrown by Catherine Frid, in an impressive display of solidarity amongst Canadian theatre artists.

As one of these 70, it is a heartfelt honour for Praxis Theatre to join our peers from coast-to-coast in an action that supports the notion that art is created within an ecosystem, and that it is a slippery slope down the road towards censorship if a government only forms relationships with artists that support or reinforce its ideological agenda.

Here’s all of the key Homegrown info:

As a final note, a tip of the hat to playwright Catherine Frid who didn’t ask for any of this but lends her play to the entire country tonight. And another to event organizer Michael Healey for showing leadership in pursuit of solidarity in a time when we needed both.

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in SummerWorks, arts funding cuts, political theatre | Comments (2)
July 5, 2011 – 2:57 pm

Federal Cultural Policy Goes Pro-Rain, Anti-Cloud

Image Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada

Momentum grows for nation-wide performances of Homegrown by all theatre organizations that receive federal funding in protest of Summerworks Festival being defunded by Federal Government

by Michael Wheeler

Last week saw freedom of speech and federal support for the arts come under unprecedented attack by the Harper Government when the Summerworks Festival had its Heritage Department funding pulled with no information given as to why.

This follows a series of co-ordinated attacks on the festival by SUN Media and even The Prime Minister himself, some of which I wrote about last August, when the performance of the play Homegrown by Catherine Frid, about a lawyer’s relationship with a man convicted of terrorism, was being used as a smokescreen to deflect attention from public outrage over the discontinuation of the long-form census.

Last week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty followed up the Summerworks announcement with this statement:

“One thing I’d say, and maybe it’s different than it used to be, is we actually don’t believe in festivals and cultural institutions assuming that year after year after year they’ll receive government funding. They ought not assume entitlement to grants … no organization should assume in their budgeting that every year the government of Canada is going to give them grants because there’s lots of competition, lots of other festivals, and there are new ideas that come along. So it’s a good idea for everyone to stay on their toes and not make that assumption.”

While it may seem reasonable to suggest that arts organizations shouldn’t simply expect automatic renewal of funding, there is no argument to be made for this kind of  cut to an organization with a strong record of meeting and exceeding its mandate, announcing consecutive years of record-breaking attendance and growth.

The cumulative message behind the Summerworks axe and the statement by the Finance Minister could not be more clear:

If you create work that critiques the Harper Government – we will take away your funding.

So begins what will likely be a challenging era for cultural institutions that are committed to making groundbreaking work which may (gasp) challenge the dominant value system – or just aren’t interested in being propagandists for a mean-spirited regime designed to respond to the commands of a leader who cannot tolerate criticism. When L’Etat C’est Moi is the rule of the day – and Moi has a big problem with people putting on plays about ideas he doesn’t agree with – Houston We Have A Problem.

Of course the argument is being presented that this is freeing up funds to support new ideas – but anyone who knows anything about the way the cultural ecosystem functions knows this is complete hogwash: Stripping Summerworks of $43,000 in funding to free up $500,000 for The Walk of Fame Festival is like declaring yourself pro-Rain, but anti-Cloud.

Even if we accept for a moment that promoting already famous people like Alex Trebek is a good idea that needs support from taxpayer dollars, how on earth do they imagine artists on very rare occasions become famous? They struggle to hone their craft in festivals devoted to groundbreaking work just like Summerworks, which has an extraordinary record as the birthplace for a number of the most exciting new works in Canadian performance. Last year’s Summerworks hit, Ride The Cyclone, recently announced an off-Broadway deal as a direct result of participating in Summerworks.

After traveling from Victoria BC to Toronto to participate in the National Series at Summerworks, Atomic Vaudeville's 'Ride The Cyclone' get a chance to take their show to NYC.

Almost none of the artists involved in Summerworks will be paid a living wage. Practically everyone doing a Summerworks show is working a second/third job and knows the best they can hope for financially is a small honorarium and that the show will go on to have a greater life after the festival. Everyone participating does it anyhow – because they know that Summerworks is an important place for new contemporary performance in Canada.

All of this is to say giving Summerworks the axe is an extremely poor approach to public policy and the cultural equivalent of poisoning the well.

The immediate impact of this politically motivated intervention in cultural policy is that ticket prices will go up and the marketing budget will go down. All tickets, including for the Praxis Theatre/The Original Norwegian Co-Pro, You Should Have Stayed Home, are now going up by 50% to $15. ($10 + $5 FST*) *Free Speech Tax. Summerworks is also in the midst of a grassroots fundraising campaign you can participate in here.

Canadian Actors Equity Association’s Executive Director Arden R. Ryshpan was the first member of the theatre community to respond to the situation with a statement released by CAEA last week:

“It is hard to interpret the Minister’s statement as anything but a threat and a potential ideological attack on the arts. I don’t recall seeing similar statements made about long-term government support to other industries such as forestry, fisheries or mining. Given that our industry is larger than all three of these sectors combined, we deserve better from our Government including meaningful consultation leading to thoughtful program change and development, if required. An off-the-cuff remark by a Minister alluding to substantial change of practice is shocking and imprudent.”

Artists across the country have also independently begun to respond positively and pro-actively to the situation. The Globe and Mail reports Western Edge Theatre in Nanaimo, B.C. will perform a public reading of Homegrown on July 15 with all proceeds going to The Summerworks Festival.

Multi Dora-winning Shaw and Tarragon playwright Michael Healey has sent out a call to action to all Artistic Directors of organizations that receive Federal arts funding to join Western Edge Theatre in performing a reading of the play, whether or not they participate in the fundraising initiative. Healey has offered to provide scripts and keep a list of participating companies so that the initiative can continue to gain momentum.

This is not the type of storm theat can be weathered by hoping they won’t come for you. Or if they do survive it that way – lets talk about how relevant the work those theatres end up putting on will be. Will Stephen Harper’s vision of Canada be the only art that forms partnerships with the government? The final sentence of Michael Healey’s message to AD’s of Canadian Theatres urging them to participate in a nationwide reading of Homegrown expresses best the necessity of a national response to this attack on Canadian culture:

“If you find yourself anxious about the potential ramifications for your own company’s federal funding as a consequence of taking part in this demonstration, I can think of no better reason for participating in it.”

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in SummerWorks, arts funding cuts, political theatre | Comments (12)
September 13, 2010 – 10:46 am

Two videos red hot videos on art and society

One made by a Cameron, the other created to influence one…


This Ted Talk was part of TED YYC in Calgary and only recently was posted to the TED channel. Most powerful is Ben Cameron‘s clear and accurate argument about how the internet has permanently shifted the means of production into the hands of artists. This cannot be undone and will have a profound effect on the development of the performing arts into the future. Whether or not you buy into every idea expressed in this talk, certainly the shift to an interactive culture with fewer gatekeepers as access to resources is democratized seems to be the future, and this is one of the first attempts to address what that means to the performing arts.

This animated video was created by artist David Shrigley in response to anticipated cuts to arts and culture in Britain by its newly elected coalition government led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.  Of particular interest to Canadians is the video’s attempt to address rural and urban sensibilities about the meaning and utility of art, a paradigm which also defines our cultural politics. Certainly the video makes an intellectual argument for why arts and culture are important to fund and preserve, but its sense of humour and watchability make it the type of clip that already has almost 30,000 hits.

By Praxis | Posted in Ben Cameron, Means of production, arts funding cuts | Comments (0)
August 25, 2010 – 10:44 am

Why Stephen Harper Will Continue to Attack the Arts

Someone forgot to tell the PM that encouraging Nickeback actually reduces Canadian culture...or did they?

Someone forgot to tell the PM that encouraging Nickelback actually reduces Canadian culture...or did they?

by Michael Wheeler

Shortly after the 2008 Federal election, Peter Donolo, soon-to-be Chief of Staff to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, addressed a select group of executive directors and organizational leaders at an industry seminar organized by The Arts Advocate. In his role as pollster for The Globe and Mail during the election, Donolo had accumulated extensive data on the arts and how it had impacted the race. One piece of information from his presentation produced audible exhalations and dismayed nodding of heads:

The highest polling numbers the Harper campaign ever saw in the province of Ontario were on the day after his Ordinary People Don’t Care About The Arts statement (Sept 24/08).

However much it seems retrospectively the comments were a careless slip that may have cost the government a majority, the reality is there was an emotional resonance to this message that initially gave him momentum in a battleground province. Eventually, these numbers receded in the weeks before voters went to the polls, leaving the merged Canadian Alliance and PC parties short of a majority government with the support of just over one third of the electorate.

Seen in this context, comments made by the PM to the national media that he was “concerned” by Catherine Frid’s play Homegrown at the 2010 Summerworks Festival begin to fit into the government’s larger agenda as a strategic exercise by a government no longer able to communicate through rational discourse.  These comments point to a desire to use emotionally charged signposts to frame discussions and talking points, rather than the merits of programs and policies based on data or logic.

Will we talk about the arts next election in relation to harnessing our imaginations and creativity within a complex and multidimensional culture? Or will we discuss the arts in relation to whether we should use tax dollars to support terrorism? These are the types of paradigms that are being established in the discourse leading up to the next election.

If Harper succeeds in connecting arts funding and supporting terrorism, it will fit in well with a campaign that paints public funding for political parties to replace the influence of massive donations by corporations and unions as supporting separatism, a coalition government as advocating socialism, and an inquiry into the largest series of civil rights violations in Canadian history at G20 as supporting anarchism.

Of course none of these references are true, but it doesn’t matter. Every mainstream reviewer who saw Homegrown went out of their way to specifically address the allegations by the PM and his office that the play “glorified terrorism”. Each one reached the identical explicit conclusion that the play in no way justified or supported terrorism. What matters is that arts funding and taking a “sympathetic” view of terrorism are now a cultural meme that some people will remember. Mission accomplished.

This type of highly emotional and dramatic hyperbole will be backed up by an impressive war chest accumulated by the Conservative Party that has been significantly out-fundraising the opposition since fall 2008. In the lead up to the next election, this will back a multi-million dollar wave of negative ads in every media geared at emotional flashpoints in an effort to define complex policy issues with simple narratives that elicit a kneejerk response from sub-cortical “reptilian” elements of the brain.

By hoping to communicate with voters through fight or flight stimuli, the goal is to avoid any rational or substantive debate. Next year, without any reliable or detailed information available through the census, there will be even less data available to evaluate and discuss policies and programs. The heavily partisan bent of the Harper government has forced it to abdicate a knowledge-based discussion of their policies, save a few economic statistics that neglect to mention the sizeable budget surplus Canada had when they took the reins of government and the huge deficit they have generated five years later.

When Kory Teneycke (l) was Communications Director fo the PM they lunched with Fox News President Rupert Murdoch. Four months later he left his position to lead Quebecor Media's attempt to rewrite CRTC rules to start a "Fox News North".

When Kory Teneycke (l) was Communications Director to the PM they both lunched in NYC with Fox News President Rupert Murdoch. Four months later he left his position to lead Quebecor Media's attempt to rewrite CRTC rules in their favour to start Fox News North, which he is pictured announcing.

This embrace by Conservative strategists of US Tea Party-style political tactics is set to be joined by the biggest weapon in regressive populist media: Our very own Fox News. Upset that the current CRTC head won’t fast track a special Category 1 licence for a national TV station to be run by Harper’s previous spokesperson, Harper is set to replace him with someone who is willing to break CRTC rules to allow him a national TV station dedicated to supporting and propagating his ideology.

Who owns the station “applying” for this licence? You guessed it: SUN Media. The very same SUN Media that created the Homegrown controversy in their Toronto newspaper and scandalously asked Harper about the play with one of only two English language questions available to the media in Harper’s first comments to the country in over a month. It has since been revealed that virtually every other journalist in attendance had already agreed to ask him about the census. (What the entire national media didn’t think Canadians from coast-to-coast were dying to hear the PMs thoughts on a summer indie theatre festival?)

There is an unfortunate logic to politics that right-wing parties are succeeding when they are talking about the military and the economy, and failing when they talk about things like education, healthcare and culture. By framing culture as a “spending” and  “national security” issue they are effectively taking a topic that is a loser for them and turning it into a winner. Combine that with the strong numbers in Ontario after Harper’s anti-arts statements in 2008 and the fact the Conservatives have given up completely in Quebec, and we may be looking at another election where arts and culture is again under attack.

This is not necessarily a great strategy for Harper – where last election arts and culture supporters were caught off guard being attacked by their own government, this election they will be organized, have lists of active supporters in every major city, and have identified leaders and organizing strategies that target swing ridings. They are also way better than them at gaining earned media and using the internet. At the end of the day, it will be up to the opposition, the non-Quebecor owned press, and civil society to shift the debate out of the highly emotional, into factual analysis of the policies and parties that will best serve the country.

Lately, it has been the subject of some media as to whether an emotional, ideologically-based discussion of policies and programs can become a substitute for rational debate that includes data and information.

It can not.

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in arts funding cuts, political theatre | Comments (11)
May 4, 2010 – 1:34 pm

Heritage Minister attempts to douse fire – with kerosine!

Canada Prize Image

by Michael Wheeler

Last winter the Canadian cultural community was shocked to learn the only new cultural funding of the big “2009 stimulus budget” would be an international $25 million Nobel Prize of The Arts/ competitive arts festival with qualifying rounds where the grand winner in each category would perform at Luminato. Soon after, it was revealed that falsified documentation about who’d been consulted was used to pitch the prize to the government. (Exactly how did that process work?) At the same time voices in Quebec were becoming increasingly uncomfortable about the Toronto-centric Anglo bias to the project, and many other voices nationally in the cultural sector began speaking out against cutting domestic funding in tandem with creating a large international award. Soon after, the initiative was classified as “under review” and no one ever heard about it again.

Well guess what? It’s back.

Minister James Moore announced yesterday that The Canada Prizes will happen, are no longer connected to Luminato, and will be administered by The Canada Council. There is a five-member Advisory Panel that will do some super-fast, but extensive consultations with “key figures in the arts and culture sector” before advising the Minister on the best way to set the thing up by the end of the summer. For anyone unlucky enough to be considered “not-key”, you can contribute your thoughts through an online form available for just 17 days at this link on the Canadian Heritage Website.

It’s hard to have a single opinion about all this: In some ways putting this cash in the hands of The Canada Council is the best, smartest, depoliticized way to distribute arts funding. So fundamentally I’m not sure that the specifics of the award will be all that controversial as long as it is distributed by an arms-length jury. The crazy part about this whole process, and the media coverage of it so far, is the lack of attention to whether the prize is a good idea to begin with.

The stated goal in the Ministry’s press release is to “brand Canada as a centre of excellence”. Which is a good idea – except for one thing – after we’re branded as excellent, we will have to create things that are excellent. Things aren’t looking so hot on that end – between the policies of current Federal and Provincial governments and the economic crisis – actual monies for art going to artists is way down.  Farewell DFAIT, Trade Routes, PromArt, small magazines, endowments, and BC artists. Bonjour a huge amount of money to an artist at the top of his or her career and the administrative and production costs of a massive international ceremony.

So more than anything this just seems like putting the cart before the horse. We would like to be branded as excellent, we would like to be perceived as excellent, but we are going to reduce the funds that would lead to excellence. (We will however throw you a big party if you ever get there.) It is a common approach to Canadian cultural funding these days that is a lot like encrusting the tip of a melting iceberg with gold. It should also probably be noted that it creates an inverse relationship between the creation of art and “fancy galas“.

Since the majority-that-almost-was in 2008, the Conservative government has been looking for ways to appear pro-culture while not actually funding any of the art or artists that contributed to their unrealized ambitions. This prize fits firmly in this category of things that will allow the government to say that arts funding is “up” while continuing to decrease the amount that is actually allocated to culture, either directly through grants to artists or indirectly by subsidizing rehearsal, performance space, equipment, travel costs, etc.

mooregonucksgo584

Ironically, when the Minister of Official Languages and Canadian Heritage re-announced the prize yesterday, he received extensive coverage in the media – for something seemingly unrelated: In a hockey-induced fit of pride over the weekend he’d twittered the Vancouver Canucks were “Canada’s team in the playoffs”, seemingly unaware that many Canadians consider Quebec a part of Canada. (And all of a sudden we got a glimpse of how they could just forget to put French in the opening ceremonies of a Canadian Olympic games.) In an article in today’s The Globe and Mail he remains unrepentant and stands by his tweet and seems unabashed by the notion that Tweets Have Consequences.

So here we are right back where we started eighteen months ago, except everyone’s a little more hurt and a little more bitter: Anglophone artists are increasingly starved for support, francophone artists are armed with multiple instances of the government trying to exclude Quebec from the definition of Canadian culture, and a hostile government is inventing new and interesting ways not to fund the ecosystem that creates Canadian culture in both official languages. I am going to be so relieved to talk about this era in the past-tense.

If you want to read THE OLD Canada Prizes outline – the one that no one wants to talk about anymore – click here. It seems only fair that interested citizens wishing to provide feedback to the government have (unredacted) access to the documents used to create and approve the initiative.

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in Canada Prizes for the Arts and Creativity, arts funding cuts, twitter | Comments (4)
February 26, 2010 – 6:15 pm

BeautifulCity.ca Town Hall: InVoice

Editor’s Note:

We received the info below from our friends at beautifulcity.ca and are happy to repost here.

Note the event will be moderated by Variation on Theatre #7 and Theatre Why Not Artistic Director Ravi Jain. Note that those involved in the budget process are likely sizing up this whole situation to see how much trouble it’s going to be to just sweep this under the rug. Note that if you show up you will play a small part in contributing to that assessment. Finally, please note how well the colours of the invite work with the rest of this website!

InVoice

BACKGROUND
The billboard tax has been passed but zero new money has been invested in beautifying or democratizing access to public spaces with art in the 2010 Budget. This goes against highly favourable public opinion polls by EKOS (2009) Environics (2007) and Pollara (2005) and a 4500 person petition, 60 endorsements by organizations and reams of city plans to build a successful Toronto for the long-term. Along with the Mayor, city councillors from across the political spectrum have also been very supportive of a billboard tax to fund art in committee, council and the press. Similarly, public consultations, staff and consultant’s reports stated that the purpose of the tax was to support arts and city beautification projects.

We are not really sure what happened, however the budget has not passed yet. It’s time to get a bit pissed — then get smart and help correct this mistake by coming to the town hall. It worked to get the tax. It might just work to take it back!

TAKE ACTION
Join / Invite / Spread the word via Facebook Page:
http://tinyurl.com/yzwsno7
E-flyer:
http://tinyurl.com/ddjwzc

MORE INFO & COUNCIL VIDEO
http://www.beautifulcity.ca

GUEST ARTIST LINKS
http://www.myspace.com/tanikacharles
http://www.loqenz.com
http://www.elicser.com
http://www.alexahatanaka.com
http://loganmiller.carbonmade.com

MODERATOR LINKS
http://www.theatrewhynot.org
http://www.houseofpaint.ca
http://www.artsvotetoronto.ca
http:///www.themanifesto.ca

DOCUMENTATION BY
http://www.latenightinthebedroom.com
http://www.meghanj.ca

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
http://www.thetyc.ca
http://www.themanifesto.ca
http://www.beautifulcity.ca

** Please forward and spread the word. See you on Monday! **

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in arts funding cuts, beautifulcity.ca | Comments (0)
February 22, 2010 – 11:30 am

Art vs Brawn?

KD Lang sure did Own The Podium with her rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujiah

k.d. Lang sure did Own The Podium with her rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

Does the possibility of Toronto City Council abandoning the Beautiful City initiative, the 93% cuts to BC culture concurrent with the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and the coming 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto mean bad news for Torontoians who value art and culture?

by Adriana Alarcón

The art sector envisioned a Billboard Tax that would reclaim the public visual landscape and allow the public to participate in painting the picture, so to speak. But the community will receive ZERO dollars from the new tax for art programs. The Staff Recommended 2010 Operating Budget simply avoids a general 5% decrease in funding to the arts. Topics like downloading pressure from Provincial government on city services; decreases in funding to other city programs; have risen past the need to allocate revenues from the Billboard Tax directly towards funding for the art sector. Pro-art councillor Gord Perks was a strong supporter of the Billboard Tax and pro dedicating the funds to the arts. Recently, however, an email communication suggests that it’s the general idea of ear-marking dollars which he finds problematic. “I do not support dedicating the tax revenue to a specific program” he stated.

Local artists had hoped the City would work to acknowledge the contribution from the arts sector in generating an estimated $10.4-million per year. Old fears are resurfacing as artists see the 90% decrease in funding to arts and culture by the same province that is hosting the world’s premier athletes and start to shudder. Starving artist stereotypes aside, I am quite sure that many essential, arts-service organizations, independent theatre companies and young collectives would make the most out of every penny from these new coffers. With that appreciation, I fear most that a sum like $10.4-million is one that is too easily swallowed up by mega productions of international, amateur sporting events like the Pan Am Games, which are coming to town in 2015.

The Toronto arts sector must look west to the role of arts and culture at the Olympic Games and work hard to build on the momentum started by the BCBF and Department of Culture. In British Columbia we can witness high profile Hollywood names with Canadian links in tourism commercials. MTV is broadcasting live performances held nightly at Whistler and Vancouver medal ceremonies. Yet funding to the arts in BC has decreased dramatically in recent years – by 90% last year. Let us also remember that after arts-funding was cut severely at the Federal level in 2008, Prime Minister Harper poured that money into the Olympic Torch Run, which was more evidently sponsored by Coca-Cola than by the Government of Canada, in my opinion. Could Toronto be the next to see culture budget slashing followed by limitless spending on Games preparations?

It’s not all down with art and on with brawn. Artists can look forward to opportunities in the Opening Ceremonies and in large scale concert, performance and exhibition series that are to be expected in four years to celebrate the Pan Am Games. Artists play a vital role in interpreting and communicating Canadian values, in making sense of the complexity that is the collective Canadian identity. After this week, we must note that VANOC tapped into our gifts to elevate theirs. However, it is especially important now, to ensure the City of Toronto meets their moral obligation to acknowledge the work by the many individuals who supported the Billboard tax. It is timely to make a positive impact on our industry and to continue the beautification of the cityscape.

Rob Ford was the only councillor during the Billboard Tax debate to explicitly suggest the new stream revenue wouldn’t go to culture.

It’s also not about artists turning on athletes. My fear is about seeing one sector have its expectations and deadlines met by all means available while the other is perennially tucked behind road work and social programs, despite the dedication shown by the Visual Art sector on the Beautiful City campaign. The Provincial and Federal governments have pledged to support the infrastructure projects required to bring the 2015 Games home. Soon the focus will be diverted towards new housing projects and revitalization of the waterfront, again. Toronto will undoubtedly play the multicultural card in it’s touting of the city around the Western Hemisphere and generating sponsorship opportunities. Sporting events are highly profitable marketing opportunities – in the long run. In the short run, they will cost the City a lot more than $10M per year. Without supporting or protesting the Games, Billboard Tax dollars should be thought of with sights on the future of the industry that made that money available.

Artists bring their own fan base, they further increase the hype level of the adrenaline charged environment, and they open new markets. They provide a means to entertain the masses. This is essential for games organizers since the actual sporting events are too expensive or somehow elusive to the local market. Also key for a successful Olympiad is leaving the host city with a sense of pride and some good memories. Having volunteered and worked at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg in 1999, I can point to the Games as the time when I saw Burton Cummings perform live at the Closing ceremonies by request of Manitoba’s Premier, which then led to a Guess Who reunion tour. Personally, I’m not hoping for a Rush reunion. My hope is that given the rise of Hip Hop in Latin America as well as Toronto’s connections to recent success stories; a sensational, summer concert line-up could be expected from July 10 to July 26, 2015.

What about the local scene? What about young rappers, slam poets and performers that could be engaged in the dialogue between games attendees and ‘real’ Torontonians? How about continuing to support the budding stars that can one day do their part in promoting the Canadian profile in the world stage? What about nurturing and incubating the masterpieces of the future?

Let’s hope that Toronto artists are not asked to bear the burden of the cost of the Pan Am Games. Let’s hope that artists are asked to wear our costumes and stage make-up for 17 days – but not at our own expense – especially after our creative thinking opened a new source of income for the City of Toronto.

Adriana Alarcón lives in Toronto. Her art practice includes various fields such as writing, music, design and visual arts.

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in Adriana Alarcón, arts funding cuts, beautifulcity.ca | Comments (2)
February 1, 2010 – 10:26 am

The fundamental contradiction at the core of this discussion

grants cartoon

Further to the discussion on the previous post, and this one, and this one too.

By Michael Wheeler | Posted in arts funding cuts | Comments (1)