B.C. arts groups warn about politics driving funding: $10-million allocated in B.C. budget won’t be allocated by the province’s arms-length arts council
As artists across the country await news about arts funding in Thursday’s federal budget, there are concerns in British Columbia’s arts community about how the province plans to distribute funds to artists – and how involved the government might become in that process.
This week’s provincial budget established a new 2010 Sports and Arts Legacy fund, which will allocate $10-million to the arts for the next three years (as well as $10-million to sports). In total, Tuesday’s budget included $46.1-million in arts and culture funding, an increase from last year’s $42-million. But arts advocates were upset that it fell short of restoring funding to 2008-09 levels ($63-million), which was what the Standing Committee on Finance had called for.
While it remains unclear how the new $10-million will be distributed, some artists say the fact the money won’t be going through the B.C. Arts Council is worrying – as is the reality that, with $7.9-million for grants, the Arts Council actually has less to give out than the new fund.
“We are seeing a clear move away from arms-length funding and toward direct political funding of the arts,” says Lindsay Brown, a designer and writer, and organizer of the Stop BC Arts Cuts campaign. “This is very worrying.”
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