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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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This week SummerWorks Artistic Director Michael Rubenfeld asked me to moderate today’s debate on the question: An End to Arts Funding? Of course I agreed.
It looks to be an exciting discussion, and I look forward to facilitating a fair and rigorous debate on the future of public investment in the arts.
PARTICIPANTS:
PRO: Andrew Coyne
CON: Nadia Ross
Moderator: Michael Wheeler
Andrew Coyne
FORMAT:
INTRO
Bios and Format introduced by Moderator
PRO
Opening statements 7 minutes
CON
Asks any clarifying questions 3 minutes
CON
Opening statements 7 minutes
PRO
Asks any clarifying questions 3 minutes
PRO
Responds to CON arguments and/or connects to their own 7 minutes
Nadia Ross
CON
Responds to PRO arguments and/or connects to their own 7 minutes
PRO
Closing Statement 5 minutes
CON
Closing Statement 5 minutes
AUD
5 x Questions From Audience:
2 minutes max per question, 3 minutes max to respond. 20-ish minutes
SummerWorks 2013 Debate. Lower Ossington Theatre, August 14, 2013 @ 5pm
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