Source : The Hill Times
There’s a real need for increased investment in arts by all levels of government and private sector
On March 28, 2007, the Canada Council for the Arts will celebrate its 50th birthday. It was on that date in 1957 that Parliament passed the Canada Council Act – creating a national, arm’s-length agency with the mandate “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of, works in the arts.”
While this milestone birthday is more than three years away, we have already begun to develop plans for celebrating not only the council’s achievements, but those of the tens of thousands of Canadian artists and artists organizations for whom the council had made a difference over the years. It has given us cause to both ponder our past and envision our future in a Canada that is dramatically different from that of 1957.
At the council’s inaugural meeting, the then-chairman, Hon. Brooke Claxton, predicted that the Canada Council “will be judged not by its words but by its works. And it will take some time…before the cultivation of the fields of our work will show up in the bounty of their harvest.”
Even the most objective observer of the Canada Council’s history would conclude that its harvest has been bountiful indeed. Over the past five decades, Canada has undergone a remarkable transformation: politically, socially, culturally, and economically. And a significant part of this transformation has been the extraordinary engagement of Canadians in the arts, not only as artists, but also as arts audiences.
Regardless of where they live, Canadians have access to a wide range of artistic experiences, from the Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland to the Yukon International Storytelling Festival, from the Kamloops Art Gallery to the Québec City chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy. They also have an unprecedented opportunity to read Canadian books, see Canadian films, listen to Canadian music, watch Canadian plays and enjoy the work of Canadian visual artists.
Canada’s writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers, actors, filmmakers and multimedia artists are known and respected both within and outside our borders. While the 1960s preoccupation with American domination of Canadian culture is still relevant today, we’ve learned that our artists can indeed compete on the world stage, winning countless international prizes and – in the case of writers – having their work translated into dozens of languages.
The same is true for Canadian arts organizations. In 1957-58, the Council’s first year of operations, a total of 28 organizations – primarily orchestras and theatre and ballet companies – received funding. By 1977, the figure had increased to 488 – still led by music and theatre, but now also encompassing art galleries, contemporary dance companies, film and video organizations and book publishers. In the last fiscal year, 2002-2003, more than 2,000 arts organizations, as well as 2,279 individual artists, received Council support.
This is not to say that the Canada Council is less selective today about who receives funding: if anything, our criteria are more stringent now than ever before. What the numbers do reflect is the growth and diversity of Canada’s arts scene. Professional artists and arts organizations are no longer just clustered in Montreal and Toronto: they exist in hundreds of communities from one end of the country to the other. And the work they produce no longer reflects only Canada’s European heritage: they also reflect our many Aboriginal cultures, as well as the Asian, African, Latin American and Middle Eastern cultures which are an integral part of today’s Canadian mosaic.
Over the past five decades, our arts community has matured to a level of expertise and sophistication that goes far beyond just producing great art. Arts organizations are concerned not only with their artistic product but also with such essentials as marketing, audience development, community outreach, good governance and financial management. The demands on them are more complex than ever before, yet in far too many cases, both public and private funding have failed to keep up with increased costs, creating financial instability and uncertain futures.
What does all this mean for the Canada Council’s second half-century? For one thing, it means that there is a real need for increased investment in the arts by all levels of government and the private sector. While the federal government should lead the way, increased funding from provincial, territorial and municipal governments – as well as from corporations, foundations, local businesses and individual donors – is also essential. Increased resources for the arts will give these organizations an opportunity not only to survive, but to thrive.
The real challenge for the Canada Council is how to provide the most appropriate type of support for existing organizations while still paying our traditional role as an incubator for new and emerging talent. A thriving, vibrant and dynamic arts sector is important not only for artists and audiences, but for all citizens: it generates tourist dollars and other economic spinoffs, attracts knowledge workers, and makes our communities better places to live.
We know that this is something the Canada Council cannot do alone. Over the past six months, we have been actively working to strengthen our links with public arts funding agencies at the provincial, territorial and municipal levels, as well as with the private sector. We are also talking to artists, arts managers and arts service organizations about whether our current programs accurately reflect their needs and, if not, how they should change.
Despite the challenges that remain, we are looking forward to a bright and promising future for both the Canada Council and the communities we serve. Community leaders and an increasing number of Canadians are recognizing that the arts are as important to their quality of life as parks, libraries and recreation facilities, and that public support is an essential part of that equation. It is now up to us to ensure that the funding we receive is put to the best possible use, to both strengthen today’s arts infrastructure, and create a fertile environment for artistic excellence, growth and achievement for the benefit of all Canadians.
John Hobday was appointed director of the Canada Council for the Arts in January 2003. A former CBC drama producer, theatre manager and national director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, he served for nearly 20 years as executive director, Corporate Donations, for Seagram Canada and executive director of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation.
© The Hill Times
