More Cuts in B.C. Arts Funding: Even minor cuts to provincial funding can be devastating to grassroots groups that are the lifeblood of arts in B.C
In October 2009, Vancouver’s Helen Pitt art gallery was forced to close its doors. After losing its $32,000 gaming grant from the provincial government – nearly 40 per cent of its estimated annual revenue of $87,000 – the 35-year-old artist-run gallery had to give up its Gastown space. “We were no longer able to pay staff and no longer able to bear the cost of our lease,” says Keith Higgins, a visual artist who also serves as the organization’s administrative co-ordinator.
Closing the gallery created a domino effect: without a public exhibition space, private and self-generated revenue subsequently dropped. Higgins is now working to drum up as much private fundraising support as he can to keep the gallery afloat and attempt to rebuild, but without provincial government funding, the Helen Pitt faces an uncertain future.
Similar stories are playing out across the province: not only are artists losing crucial financial support, but gallery workers and arts organizers are losing their jobs in the wake of provincial funding cuts that started in 2009 and continue to have an impact on arts and culture workers today.
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