Ottawa Votes No On Art

Ottawa City Council had set aside $666,000 for arts and culture, hoping to get matching funds from the Federal Government. After learning that those federal dollars weren't coming Ottawa decided that it's arts and culture community should be punished further and put it's half million plus back into general funds.

Someone should explain to them the importance of the arts to quality of life, explain to them that everyone doesn't get everything they want from the Federal Government and explain to them that arts and culture are part of what make a city great, everyday, for the people who live there and are not just a way to make the tourist brochures look better.

P.S. support the Canadian Renaissance Project

The Canadian Renaissance Project

I've talked enough about it the last few weeks - just go have a look at http://crp.publicbroadcasting.ca

Canadian Renaissance Project gets ready to launch

Round one of the Canadian Renaissance Project will officially launch later this week. Round one will begin with a search for activists before the broader campaign begins. If you're so inclined please read the draft statement now. and feel free to make comments or suggestions. If you would like to work as an activist to help make it happen please drop me a note with your e-mail address and I'll be in touch shortly.

Canadian Renaissance Project: Pt. III

In the previous two entries on this (here and here) I primarily discussed the idea of a tax exempt status (to a certain level of income) for artists and content creators and why I felt this was necessary and important. I've realized however that this is only part of the battle. As long as artists incomes are very low even tax exemptions will only help so much. Artists today are in a much more challenging position than they've been in in years past. While the million channel universe offers new opportunities, it makes it even more difficult for artists to be noticed by any large number of people. While the internet does make it easier for artists to reach out and find an audience that audience may be split across the globe (or at least the country) without large numbers of them appearing in any one place.

So, part two of the Canadian Renaissance Project plan (as it currently stands) would go something like this: Following the model of the "Children's Fitness Tax Credit") Allow up to $500 per year, per individual in tax deductions for cultural activities. That would include things like art or music lessons, but it would also include concert tickets, theatre tickets, film tickets, book or music purchases, etc., (as long as it fell within the guidelines of "Canadian Content"). This would not only encourage people to spend more on these activities, it would encourage producers to produce more material and encourage retailers to carry more. I am all for physical fitness, but I happen to think that fitness for the mind and the soul are important as well.

Again, please let me know if you are interested in joining the brainstorming team for this project.

Canadian Renaissance Project

I'm looking for a few good people with ideas and some optimism. The next online campaign I'm going to undertake is about people's ability to make money in 'the arts' in Canada. I should point out that I'm using the term arts losely here to refer to a broad spectrum including performing arts, visual arts, music, film etc.,

Canada is a big country. It is, as I've pointed out before, difficult for artists from one region to gain recognition in all of the others. Even traveling from one end of Canada to the other can be expensive and time consuming and is, for many, simply not a viable option. For this reason Canada has lost many of it's most gifted and creative people to the United States and Europe.

The Canadian Renaissance Project will be an, admittedly ambitious, attempt to fix that, or at least improve the situation. The idea is simple, allow artists to keep more of what they earn; Separate income from the arts from other income and then allow a certain level of income from the arts to be tax exempt. If this can be done it will not only make it easier for artists to make a living, but it will show Canada's artists that they are appreciated and will generally make staying in Canada a more viable and attractive option for them. Hopefully sparking an explosion of art, creativity and talent across Canada (hence the name of the project.)

I am not ready to launch this yet, but I'd like a small group of people to brainstorm with about exactly how it should work and the best way to approach making it a reality. If you are interested or if you'd like to nominate someone else, please contact me.