cuts to bc arts funding
Grand Forks: Art Gallery looking at funding options
Grand Forks city council’s decision to cut about $30,000 in funding to Gallery 2 has the art gallery’s board scrambling for ways to make up for the loss. However, the board had a meeting last week and no firm decisions were made on where to make up for the loss. “We don’t have any definitive [...]
Greater Victoria arts groups grapple with uncertainty on grants
In the last 18 months, the Victoria Conservatory of Music managed to lop nearly $1.5 million off its accumulated debt of $2 million. That’s a lot of lopping. But in the midst of that big-time belt-tightening, the B.C. Arts Council cut the conservatory’s grant to $55,000 this year from $110,000 last year. Then it restored [...]
North Vancouver: City aids funding-starved theatre: $25,000 gift helps Presentation House cope with gaming grant cut
The City of North Vancouver has produced $25,000 to help bail out Presentation House Theatre after the provincial government doubled back on a commitment to give the arts group gaming money. The theatre will be approaching the District of North Vancouver for the same amount. In his written report to city council, Ian Forsyth, director [...]
Courtenay: Art gallery grant bid sidelined
Comox Valley Art Gallery’s request for a $25,000 a year grant has been sidelined by regional district directors. The gallery’s curator/director, Anh Le, made the case for financial help at a meeting of the committee of the whole on Tuesday. She said there had been significant cuts in financial support from the B.C. Arts Council [...]
Mean Days for Kids’ Festival $200,000 slash in government funding prompts urgent request for funds
The Vancouver International Children’s Festival is facing perhaps the toughest year ever in its 32-year history. Provincial and federal funding have been sharply cut, despite the festival’s decades of success. As festival board chair Paul Dumontet said in a recent email to supporters, “Over the past 12 months, we have developed a new vision for [...]
ArtsFACT to Donate $500,000 to Vancouver Arts Community
ArtsFACT (The Arts Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) began as a cultural initiative by CHUM Radio in 1991. With an initial funding of $500,000, ArtsFACT was able to issue grants amounting to almost one million dollars from 1993 to 2002. A combination of declining interest rates and ownership changes kept ArtsFACT inactive until this year. [...]
Provincial budget hearing held in Fort St. John
The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services visited Fort St. John to address local concerns and requests concerning the next provincial Budget. The committee, chaired by Chilliwack MLA John Les is required to release its report by Nov. 15th. Representing the Fort St. John Community Arts Council, Tara O’Donnell noted that the province [...]
Fort St. John Community Arts Council to speak out on arts cuts
The Fort St. John Community Arts Council will be presenting to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services regarding how the Provincial arts cuts have affected our Arts Council and other arts and culture organizations. We will ask the Committee to recommend that funding levels to the arts be restored to 2008 levels. [...]
North Vancouver: Dying arts B.C.’s funding cuts are pushing already precarious programs to the brink
In a white, mirrored dance studio on Capilano Road, 13 dancers stand facing the barre in perfect first positions: heels touching, feet turned out to make 180 degrees. Thirteen pairs of clear eyes look ahead, 13 necks are extended, 13 pairs of knees are pulled up straight. Typical of high-level teenage ballet students, their concentration [...]
Ontario contrasts B.C. on provincial arts funding
In a move sure to interest B.C. arts groups, the Ontario government has decided the cultural sector needs to spend money to make money in this tough economy. Not only has it not cut arts-council funding, it’s now investing $27 million in new cash to help the sector boost fundraising and build audiences. The plan runs [...]
Nanaimo: MLAs meet with groups about funding cutbacks
Artists, arts and cultural groups get a sympathetic ear from the official Opposition later this month. Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog and Nanaimo-North Cowichan MLA Doug Routley will join Spencer Chandra Herbert, New Democrat tourism, culture and arts critic at roundtable meetings planned for Nanaimo on Oct. 29. The group has invited local artists and arts, [...]
Lake Country: Funding cuts provoke instability
In preparation for the 2011 provincial budget, a 10-member finance committee consisting of government and opposition MLA’s, is in the process of making its way around the province. Its job is to collect input from citizens and organizations on topics that they would like to see addressed in the upcoming budget. Last week the committee [...]
BC ART ATTACK: Interview with Stop BC Arts Cuts’ Lindsay Brown
Lindsay Brown is the founder of Stop BC Arts Cuts Q. The Chair of the BC Arts Council recently resigned. What was your reaction? Jane Danzo’s resignation broke the logjam we’ve been stuck in for a year, so I was hugely relieved. She was a government appointee and she knows the premier personally, so her public [...]
Terrace: Art gallery in need of money
EVEN WITH its recent fundraisers, the Terrace Art Association will be forced to close the art gallery if it can’t secure more financing after its provincial gaming grants were pulled earlier this year. Laura McGregor, Terrace Art Gallery coordinator, said the association has raised $8,000 through its membership drive, recent art auction, donations and membership [...]
Port Alberni: Art cuts threaten theatre
The opening of the farce Noises Off by Michael Frayn will mark the beginning of a very special and important season at the Capitol Theatre. Or it could be the beginning of the end for the Portal Players Dramatic Society. Capitol Theatre manager Elliot Drew is worried that with government funding cuts and low season [...]
