Castlegar: Sculpture fundraiser
Fundraising for the Sculpturewalk project in Castlegar is in its final stages. A special dinner theatre event is scheduled on March 13 at the Element Night Club.
Sculpturewalk is a program that will place 15 unique sculptures in the downtown core of Castlegar. The works will be on loan from the artists who created them. The community will then vote for their favourite piece, which will receive the People’s Choice Award. The city will purchase that piece as a legacy sculpture for permanent placement downtown.
Businesses and private citizens have been invited to sponsor a pedestal and plaque at the cost of $1,000, which will be constructed downtown and host a sculpture.
The point, according to organizer Pat Field, is to get the business community to recognize that promoting the arts will go a long way to their own prosperity and revitalizing the downtown area. Field explained he wants businesses to realize they must support the arts in the community as a part of their own success.
Comox Valley: March 31 cutoff for applied arts
The Comox Valley Art Gallery will host the B.C. 150 Applied Arts Project Travelling Exhibition from May 29 to July 17.
This prestigious touring exhibition is co-curated by Sam Carter and Patrick Gunn, Faculty of Industrial Design, Emily Carr University.
In conjunction with the B.C. Applied Arts Project Travelling Exhibition and to complement this exhibition, Comox Valley Art Gallery is organizing an exhibition of local applied arts. This does not mean fine arts such as non-functional painting and sculpture.
Local applied arts designers from Vancouver Island between Fanny Bay to Black Creek and including Denman and Hornby Island are invited to submit proposals. The exhibit will be a juried show of local and regional applied arts and functional design. All submissions will be juried and a maximum of three pieces per person will be selected. There is no entry fee. Deadline for submissions is March 31.
Langley: Arts funding ‘a sad legacy’
Where do the arts fit into a bad economy?
Members of the Langley Arts Council questioned that when they came to Township council with art in hand, hearts on sleeve, making a plea to keep arts and culture alive in Langley.
“The average arts group in B.C. received seven per cent of its budget from the provincial government before the draconian cuts that were made this year (when gaming grants were denied). Funding in B.C. is about half the Canadian average of 13 per cent and the lowest in the country. That is a sad legacy for this province and this region,” said LAC president Allan Thain, who spoke to Township council on March 1.
The following day (Tuesday), the provincial budget revealed some renewed funding for the arts but how much will come to Langley won’t be known right away.
“If [the LAC] are not putting in programs for youth, then they could see a cut,” said Aldergrove-Fort Langley MLA Rich Coleman, who is the minister in charge of gaming grants.
“There is money for B.C. Arts Council. But for all groups, the qualifications are becoming much more [rigid], including looking at size of membership and community involvement,” said Coleman.
B.C. Haida artist Robert Davidson gets Governor General’s visual-arts award
Eight Canadian artists, were named winners of the 2010 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts Tuesday at the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal.
They are:
Haida sculptor Robert Davidson
Filmmaker André Forcier
Painter Rita Letendre
Video artist Tom Sherman
Photographer Gabor Szilasi
Painter and sculptor Claude Tousignant
Artist Terry Ryan, for outstanding contribution
Glass sculptor Ione Thorkelsson, for the Saidye Bronfman award for excellence in fine crafts
Governor General Michaëlle Jean – who was in Haiti Tuesday – will present the 2010 awards at a gala in Rideau Hall on March 31. Winners receive a $25,000 cash prize and a work created by 2009 winner Tony Urquhart.
Victoria community groups shocked, disappointed in B.C. funding grants cut
Community organizations around Victoria were left shocked and disappointed yesterday after the provincial government said they would no longer be directly eligible for gaming grants.
“I think it’s particularly devastating and possibly short-sighted,” said Scott Walker, co-ordinator of ProArt Alliance, which represents region’s professional arts organizations.
Under the new funding rules, any charity or non-profit group that serves arts and culture programs to adults had its funding slashed entirely so the government can focus its spending on youth initiatives.
Only those who use the money to run fairs, festivals or museums will get cash — but even they saw a 50 per cent reduction.
“It’s a severe blow,” said Mary Desprez, general manager of the Belfry Theatre, which received about $90,000 through gaming grants toward its $2.4-million operating budget for 2009-10. She’s at a loss to explain how the theatre can make that up.
Nanaimo: Blues Northern David Gogo’s music career recognized by city with Excellence in Culture Award
David Gogo’s after-school job saw him rub shoulders with some of the legends in the world of blues music.
Gogo grew up during a rich time in Nanaimo’s music scene, when people like Junior Wells and John Hammond played nightly in the Commercial Hotel (now the Painted Turtle Guesthouse), the Queen’s and Frisco’s (now the Foundry Pub).
“Instead of delivering pizzas when I was a teenager I was playing music every night,” Gogo said. “It was a great apprenticeship.”
The blues musician, born and raised in Nanaimo, cut his teeth in the downtown clubs, which set the stage for international tours, 10 albums and the notoriety that comes with a high-profile career in the entertainment business.
Gogo will be presented with an Excellence in Culture Award from the City of Nanaimo and his portrait will hang in the Margaret Strongitharm Gallery in the Port Theatre with other contributors to Nanaimo’s arts and culture scene, such as Diana Krall, Carmella Luvisotto and Marlin Wolfe. Holly Bright, artistic director for Crimson Coast Dance Society, was also recognized with the Honour in Culture Award.
Ballet Kelowna’s Masters’ Play showcases Canadian choreographers
Ballet Kelowna will perform a series of influential short pieces by Canadian master choreographers that helped shape dance in Canada on Mar. 17 at the Revelstoke Community Centre.
Masters’ Play includes early seminal works in Canadian choreography such as Kay Armstrong’s critically acclaimed 1949 work Etude and Nesta Toumine’s 1951 hypnotic Gymnopedies.
“As we honour our great Canadian athletes in this Olympic year, I feel it is fitting and proper that we also celebrate the wonderfully moving and innovative legacy of great Canadian choreography,” says Ballet Kelowna artistic director David LaHay, “Masters’ Play pays homage to the genius of Canadian choreographers in a diverse repertoire of ground-breaking and influential works that span 60 years of our rich heritage.”
Federal budget approach to arts funding contrasts provincial plan
Two governments faced with hard times. Two very different approaches to arts funding during a recession.
Though not ready to break out the balloons and party hats, groups like the Canadian Arts Coalition and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) are expressing relief that the federal government’s budget, announced March 3, has sustained its investment in arts and culture, and particularly in the Canada Council for the Arts. Just a day earlier, B.C.’s Liberal government announced a budget that the Alliance for Arts and Culture estimates will cause a 32.5-percent cut to arts funding from its 2008-09 level–when it ranked ninth among provinces for per-capita arts spending. (See http://www.straight.com/article-295673/vancouver/arts-alliance-says-bc-b….)
And now comes word B.C. is poised to axe gaming funds from “adult” arts groups (See http://www.straight.com/article-296720/vancouver/bc-government-withholds….)
The stark difference in approach has not escaped Amir Alibhai, executive director for the Alliance of Arts and Culture. “Given some difficult decisions at both levels, it’s at the federal level that they decided not to make the cuts because they value the investment in the arts. They’re really focused on job creation,” Alibhai told the Straight, adding the country has 600,000 people employed in the cultural sector now. That’s one in 30 people.
B.C. government withholds community gaming grants from adult arts and culture
The B.C. Liberal government stated today that adult arts and culture will not receive any community gaming grants in 2010-11.
The message came in a “backgrounder” to a Ministry of Housing and Social Development news release about community gaming grants. Adult sports, environmental groups, and school playgrounds will also not receive funding under this program.
Amir Ali Alibhai, executive director of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, told the Straight by phone that 1,000 ”clients” used to receive direct-access gaming grants, but about 40 percent lost their money last year. He said about 320 groups receive multiyear grants.
He predicted that hundreds of groups will lose funding this year as a result of today’s announcement.
“That money, as far as I can read from the information they’ve sent out, is for bingo as well as for direct access,” Alibhai said. “It’s a very large cut.”
He noted that the B.C. Arts Council provides grants through a peer-review process, which leaves little opportunity for political interference or manipulation.
Alibhai said that gaming grants, on the other hand, are not handed out in a similar arm’s-length manner.
“It can follow a political agenda very easily,” he noted.
BC government returns some charity money, but not for adults
Solicitor General Rich Coleman says he’s increasing the amount of grant money he hands over to B.C. community organizations this year, but admits the amount of cash has been dropping.
Coleman says in 2008-09 the government provided $156 million in gaming grants, and this year the number is $120 million despite the government taking in more than $1 billion in lottery and gaming revenues.
Coleman says more gaming money is going into general revenues and health.
Last year, community groups threatened class-action lawsuits over lost grants, and sports and arts organizations said they were teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
Coleman suggests there could be further casualties this year as the government chooses to fund groups affiliated to youth, social services and people with disabilities, while axing grants to adult and environmental groups.
The opposition New Democrats say the government is taking more money from charities, arts and culture to fund its government.
Funding cut for B.C. arts, culture, environmental and sports groups for adults
Arts, culture and sports groups for adults, along with environmental organizations, won’t receive any grant money from the B.C. government this year, under new rules and restrictions announced today.
The changes, which are expected to impact hundreds of charities and non-profits across B.C., come as the province cuts the amount of money it provides to community groups out of more than $1 billion in annual gambling, casino and bingo revenue.
Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman admitted government will spend less on charities than it did in 2008 because of tough economic times.
The amount of gambling revenue allocated to community gaming grants this year is $120 million, down $36.3 million from 2008/09.
See also: BC Government shuts arts out of Gaming Funding
Royal B.C. Museum faces $491,000 deficit: Poor response to British exhibit adds to impact of government cuts and economic downturn
The Royal B.C. Museum will end one of its worst financial years this month, after slumping attendance, government cuts and lacklustre response to an expensive British exhibit pushed the organization into a rare deficit.
CEO Pauline Rafferty said the museum, which has chronicled B.C.’s history for 124 years, must now work its way out of a $491,000 financial hole amid sluggish ticket sales.
“Like many organizations, we’ve certainly seen the impact of the economic downturn,” she said.
“We’re certainly seeing a decline in admission revenue, and that is troubling.”
As a Crown corporation, the museum is not allowed to run a deficit but received special permission to do that this year.
Ron Stern and Michael Audain disagree on whether VAG and concert hall can fit on same site
The vacant city block bounded by Dunsmuir, Cambie, Georgia, and Beatty streets is large enough for both a new Vancouver Art Gallery and a new 1,800-seat concert hall, according to Ron Stern, chair of the Vancouver Concert Hall and Theatre Society.
Stern was interviewed by phone today (March 5) after the VAG revealed that it hopes to transfer from its current location to the former bus depot, a block-size property owned by the City of Vancouver.
Stern told the Straight that his group has done a great deal of work with both the city and provincial government regarding the development of a concert hall on that site, which is at 150 Dunsmuir Street.
“A lot of people are absolutely convinced that when the time is right, we want to have a proper concert hall in a new complex. And that would be an ideal site to build it on, beside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre,” Stern said.
Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance Celebrates World Theatre Day, 3/27
2010 will mark the seventh year that The Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance has organized local World Theatre Day celebrations. While World Theatre Day was established by the InterNational Theatre Institute on March 27th, 1961, many theatre artists are still unfamiliar with this one day a year when we commemorate Theatre.
This year’s WTD celebrations will take place primarily during the final week of March, and include free and discounted theatre performances, open rehearsals, play readings, backstage tours, and talkbacks. Also, expect the unexpected in the form of theatre flashmobs popping up all over.
This year also includes the ever-popular Art by Actors, where well-known theatre personalities try their hands at visual art for a change. Their paintings will be on display at The Stanley Industrial Alliance Theatre and viewable online on the Arts Club website from March 11–April 17.
On March 21, at the Central Branch of the library, Vancouver’s beloved stage and screen actor Jackson Davies (The Producers, The Foursome, The Beachcombers) will be hosting a series of intimate, no-holds barred discussions with people who shape theatre in this city. The panel includes Pat Smith (Playhouse Costume Mistress), Colleen Wheeler (Bard on the Beach), Amiel Gladstone (writer and Artistic Director), Sasa Brown (Jessie-winning actor) and many more.
Enderby council supports the arts
Enderby politicians are hitting the road to support the arts.
Council members have agreed to put Enderby Arts Council bumper stickers on city vehicles.
“They promote the arts council and we want to pique the public’s interest,” said Mayor Dee Wejr.
“All of council is also putting them on their personal vehicles.” One bumper sticker features a fish while the other is a bee.
“They’ve been very beautifully designed. They’re very classy,” said Elizabeth Lute, with the arts council.
“Our aim is to get the community excited about the arts and artists.”
As part of upcoming B.C. Art and Culture Week festivities, the Enderby organization will hold an art treasure hunt.