The struggle to get arts ‘on the radar’
Chris Cobb, The Ottawa Citizen
Doucet concedes that “arts haven’t been on the radar” during this campaign but promises to do his best to elevate the issue into something more than the traditional election afterthought.
He will be announcing his specific cultural platform later in the campaign — leaving the best till last “because it’s the closest to my heart” — but hints that one plank will be a “Spaces and Places” policy that addresses the lack of rehearsal and development space for all arts groups.
A Jim Watson campaign spokesman said the candidate had no arts policies to announce just yet and the Larry O’Brien campaign didn’t respond at all.
What the arts community dreads is a slate of new councillors who see the arts as a frivolous activity pursued by elites who should fund their own theatrical, artistic and musical pleasures.
Full Article: The struggle to get arts ‘on the radar’
How Ottawa Is Losing In The Arts-Funding Game
Mike Levin who writes the UnFolding Magazine blog takes a look at the ‘Arts and the Capital City’ summary report released by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa:
The news isn’t unique: local arts institutions and festivals are barely hanging on because they don’t have political champions, like in other capital cities in the Western world, who are willing to fight for arts’ larger role in society. But there’s a fascinating backstory in the report, one that identifies specific weaknesses in the local sector, and it adds context to this tale of woe.
Of the $118.8 million doled out between 2001 and 2008 by the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program for stabilization (to establish non-profits), capacity building (to strengthen finances) and endowment (to attract private money), local Ottawa groups got $795,115.
That’s 0.65 percent….for Canada’s fourth largest city. Winnipeg received 12 times as much. What in Heaven’s name is that about?
It’s about a lot of things, obviously, but mostly about Ottawa’s arts sector not having anyone who knows how this game is played, or perhaps not having the resources to play it. The irony is that arts people seem caught in the same Catch 22 as those in economics, education and community (to just start a very long list): things can’t be fixed without the right resources and we can’t get the resources until things are fixed.
Read Mike’s full post: How Ottawa Is Losing In The Arts-Funding Game
SAW Video presents JumpstARTed
On Thursday, May 20th, SAW Video presents JumpstARTed!, a programme of new short works by local emerging video artists, featuring Rob Thomas, Jocelyn Formsma, Mackenzie MacBride, Megan Turnbull, Guillaume Loslier‐Pinard, and Susannah Heath‐Eves.
This screening marks the culmination of the inaugural edition of SAW Video’s new JumpstART Mentorship Program for emerging artists.
Please find the attached press release or visit www.sawvideo.com for more details.
For more info go to: http://www.sawvideo.com/grants/grant-saw-jumpstart-mentorship.php
