B.C. arts groups blast funding cuts: Questions raised over money to be spent on ‘Spirit Festivals’
Even as the provincial government slashed funding and grants to arts and cultural groups across B.C., there was still the promise of a $10-million fund earmarked in the spring budget for a new “2010 Sports and Arts Legacy Fund.”
Now, it appears that a large chunk of the money will not go directly to the arts at all, but to government-sponsored, “Spirit Festivals” to begin next February, aimed at fostering an Olympic legacy.
Although some of the money may yet end up in the hands of artists involved in the festivals, critics are panning the policy as a poor substitute for the millions of dollars the governing Liberals have cut from the arts.
“I don’t know how they can call something new money when they have cut the same amount from existing programs,” Amir Ali Alibhai, executive director of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, said on Monday.
Local arts councils across the province are already laying off staff, and some have been forced to close because their grants have dwindled dramatically, Mr. Alibhai said.
“There’s no denying that we are in pretty dire straits.”
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