Praxis Theatre

#theatrosphere responds to SummerWorks arts funding debate

by Michael Wheeler,

Andrew Coyne is questioned about the role of expertise in the cultural sector. Photo: Dahlia Katz

As moderator of the ‘An End To Arts Funding?‘ debate at SummerWorks, it seems unethical for me to engage in any sort of critique of the arguments presented Wednesday.

I hope to moderate more debates in the future, and I can’t have debaters wary that although I am quite pleasant in person, I’m storing their arguments for digital deconstruction post-event.

However, there have been a number of responses from people who were in attendance and have posted their thoughts online:

My response to @acoyne‘s position on arts funding: different arts have different economic realities. http://t.co/8FzdvuAZEe @SummerWorks

— Holger Syme (@literasyme) August 15, 2013

• The question of public funding: Why performance art isn’t like the other arts

Hypothesis: the real market forces holding back theatre in TO are the costs of producing: space rental, wages. Not inability to sell tix.

— Rob Salerno (@robsalerno) August 14, 2013

• An End to Arts Funding? Debate Wrap-Up

Shop Talk #4 AN END TO ARTS FUNDING? was yesterday -here’s what you missed from the Blog:… http://t.co/IfpNHklXtX

— SummerWorks (@SummerWorks) August 15, 2013

• Shop Talk #4: An End to Arts Funding?

I don’t actually want batman. Responding to @acoyne from the @Summerworks debate moderated by @michaelcwheeler http://t.co/17ssG5oMjD

— Jacob Zimmer (@jacobzimmer) August 15, 2013

• I don’t actually want Batman.

Fun debating arts funding w/Nadia Ross at @SummerWorks this eve. Doubt I persuaded many, but here’s the full case: https://t.co/ei4N6i1M41

— Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) August 14, 2013

• Against arts subsidies

And of course, before the debate Nadia Ross published this ‘opening statement’ here on Praxis:

AN END TO ARTS FUNDING? Nadia Ross previews her debate w/ @acoyne at @SummerWorks http://t.co/RGsUkas2i7 #cdnpoli

— Praxis Theatre (@praxistheatre) August 7, 2013

• An end to arts funding

Photo: Dahlia Katz

Tangentially, a conversation came up at the debate connected to an ongoing discussion in this space: performance and memory.

Mr. Coyne conceded there was probably some role for the state to play in archiving and preserving great works, noting that mark of a great writer is their words survive themselves and their era.

As theatre artists, we can’t aspire for our work to be preserved in the same way. You were either there, or you weren’t, and you missed it. Gone forever. We can archive notes, programs, props – even scripts – but the work itself cannot be preserved (as Holger Syme also notes in his post to makes a different point) in a way that it can be reproduced  .

This is neither here nor there with regards to the substance of the debate, but it reminds me that part of what makes live performance distinct is it is ephemeral and I am cool with that.