A Few More Thoughts on Harper's War on Art

According to an article in today's Globe and Mail the Harper Government's cuts to the arts are going to be used to pay for the Vancouver Olympics - namely the torch relay:

"More than $40-million in savings the federal government will reap from controversial cuts to arts and culture funding will be redirected to the Vancouver Olympic torch relay and two other programs, exacerbating fears that replacement initiatives are not in the cards."

This feeds into my theory that hosting the olympics is not actually a good thing. It no doubt provides a short term boost to tourism and the hospitality industry but leaves cities horribly in debt for decades. In my opinion no Canadian cities should bid for any future games except Montreal and Vancouver. However I don't want to get into pitting amateur athletes against struggling artists - any reasonably government should be able to help both.

Before I found this tidbit I had already planned on writing about the funding cuts. As I mentioned earlier, on September 3 there is going to be to discuss how to fight back. A quick glance at the RSVP list for it would indicate that it is going to be very well attended. According to the Facebook Event Page shows about 300 are definitely coming, and about another 300 maybe's with over 1200 still 'awaiting reply'.

A quick glance at the names of those coming shows that at the very least visual art, music, theatre and film will all be represented. As great as this is it also means that very few will get a chance to speak. Assuming that I'm not one of them I'd like to lay out my thoughts here:

I absolutely think that we need to fight these cuts. With a fall election coming we may have an opportunity to throw the conservatives out (and kill Bill C61 and Bill C10 while we're at it). That said I think that the last few years have shown how vulnerable arts and culture funding can be. Neither the current Conservative, nor recent Liberal governments have great track records on arts and culture.

Personally I think that what we need to start looking at are new umbrella not for profits that would accept 'tax deductible' donations and would serve as grants agencies for the arts while being outside the reach of government whim and sheltered from any fear of controversy.

There are a variety of ways that this could set up and run - ways that would intice people outside he arts to donate and benefit from those donations. One possible solution could look something like CAA where artists and supporters/fans of the arts pay annual dues to belong to the organization. In return for their dues members might receive discounts to events, and even (if it can be negotiated) travel, hotel and meal discounts. These benefits would cost the organization little or nothing as these things are usually negotiated so that the organizations only obligation is to tell their members about the discounts (publicity.) A glossy magazine could even be provided to tell members about discounts as well as a calendar of events and festivals, articles on artists and on the efforts of the organization. The organization could also lobby the government on behalf of the arts, without actually being a part of, or receiving funds from government. Beyond the magazine and administrative costs the money (annual dues) would be pooled to provide grants to artists.

That is just one of the many ways you might go about it but I think that it would be wise to come up with some plan to separate the fortunes of artists from the politics of Ottawa and the provinces and territories.