impacts of funding cuts
BC ART ATTACK: Interview with PAARC President Keith Higgins
Keith Higgins is the President of PAARC (Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres) and the Director of the Helen Pitt Gallery. He is also one of the founders of Artspeak Gallery. Q – The Helen Pitt Gallery, like many small arts organizations, has been severely impacted by the cuts to arts funding. Can you describe [...]
Prince George: Arts group hopes for funding restoration
The Executive Director of the Prince George and District Community Arts Council says her organization has been treading water since their BC Arts Council funding was cut by almost forty percent from last year’s levels. Wendy Young hopes that will change now that the province has announced the BC Arts Council will receive seven million [...]
Olympics hangover endangers the arts in B.C. Our Vancouver correspondent: B.C. arts groups, facing deep budget cuts, are in an uproar over a plan to spend $30 million on post-Olympic ‘Spirit Festivals.’
This is the worst it’s ever been,” says Violet Goosen, general manager of the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Hers is one of many organizations reeling from cuts in provincial arts funding — cuts described as “devastating” by B.C. Arts Council chair Jane Danzo, in her recent letter of resignation. Canada’s arts funding model is closer to Europe’s [...]
Performer turns busker to raise awareness, Dancer Ziyian Kwan takes her concerns about B.C.’s arts funding to the street
Facing an uncertain future as a dancer in Vancouver, Ziyian Kwan decided to do what she does best. She started dancing in public as a protest against the provincial government’s cuts to arts funding. What surprised Kwan is how her very individual action has snowballed. Her two hours of dancing at Kingsway and Main on [...]
Canadian Dance Assembly calls B.C. arts cuts “scorched earth policy”
The following is an open letter, dated August 26, addressed to Premier Gordon Campbell: Dear Premier Campbell, I am writing you on behalf of the Canadian Dance Assembly in response to the recent and devastating decisions made in British Columbia in the field of arts and culture, affecting our daily mission as a national dance [...]
Vancouver Island: Annual Bash in need of lifeline
The annual Vancouver Island Blues Bash could disappear because of provincial government funding cuts, say organizers. The loss of a 2011 provincial gaming grant means the 16-year-old music festival at Ship Point might not continue next year and beyond, said Darryl Mar, executive producer of the Victoria Jazz Society. The event attracts 15,000 people annually. [...]
B.C. arts community “galvanized” over funding cuts
Jane Danzo’s resignation last week from her position as chair of the B.C. Arts Council and her ensuing criticism of provincial cuts to the arts have prompted a wave of other individuals and groups to go public with their calls for reform. “We need champions and advocates in our community,” said Kevin McKeown, spokesperson for [...]
Cultural consumer: Arts funding debate flares up
Thanks to the resignation of Jane Danzo, cuts to arts and culture funding in B.C. is once again back in the news. Danzo was the chairwoman of the B.C. Arts Council, a supposedly arms-length organization that doled out money to arts groups without political interference. Her resignation called into question that immunity and prompted a [...]
See Seven suspends season amid cuts to Vancouver theatre groups
See Seven Performing Arts Society is taking a political stand against provincial government cuts that have disrupted Vancouver’s independent theatre scene. Established in 1997, See Seven has been dedicated to promoting independent, professional theatre in the city, in part through annual package-ticket sales. But board member and cofounder Diane Brown said several See Seven participants [...]
Cranbrook: Arts Council funding cuts hurting local artists
A massive 50 per cent cut in BC Arts Council funding and the channelling of Arts Council funding into a special legacy fund to promote the spirit of the Winter Olympic Games is being criticized around the province and in Cranbrook. But the Liberal government is also defending the cuts, saying it has poured half [...]
Kelowna: Local arts society suffers 75% grant cut
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra is feeling the harsh impacts of cuts to the BC Arts Council grants. Music Director Rosemary Thomson says their usual grant amounted to about $30,000, but this time, they’re only getting $7,600. That amounts to a 75 percent slash. Thomson says, “It only confirms what I’ve been coming to believe about [...]
Kelowna: Funding cut a sour note for OK symphony
If there is a local poster child for the devastating cuts to arts organizations, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra surely fits the bill. After slicing and dicing plans for its 50th anniversary program, but still putting on a show for local audiences, this summer the OSO society was dealt a crushing blow. “We just received our [...]
Federation of B.C. Writers reacts to arts-funding cuts
Among the arts organizations hardest hit by the latest round of provincial-government funding cuts is the Federation of B.C. Writers. The Vancouver-based nonprofit runs an array of grassroots-level programs intended to promote literary writing in the province. It has recently learned that the operating grant it has received annually from the government-run B.C. Arts Council [...]
Art hits the bottle depot, Theatre head’s videos to MLA go unwatched
In one of his video letters to a Liberal MLA, Frank Moher can be seen toting bags of cans and bottles. These cans, explains the Gabriola Island theatre producer on camera, are destined for the recycling depot, “because frankly, Ron, we need the money.” The clip, posted on YouTube, is one of two “Dear Ron” [...]
B.C. arts cuts called ‘strategic error’
The board of governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts says British Columbia is making a “strategic error” in cutting spending in the arts sector. Kathleen Sharpe, the president of the national arts organization, has written to B.C. Culture Minister Kevin Krueger on behalf of the CCA expressing concern over the cuts and over [...]
