I think it was a segment on Air Farce that put Arts and Crafts in perspective.....one you piss on and the other you piss in!
Arts activists regroup
Feds refuse to reinstate multimillion-dollar programs that helped with travel, marketing
A year after the Conservative government was hammered over culture cuts during the federal election, the arts community is mobilizing for a new offensive.
"Absolutely nothing has changed," said George Krump, the general manager of Louise Bedard Danse in Montreal.
According to Krump, the Conservatives do not support the arts industry, which they view with "mistrust."
Members of the arts community are extremely frustrated, said Marc Drouin, executive director of the Quebec playwrights' group le Centre des Auteurs Dramatiques, especially about the cuts to arts promotion because that threatens the survival of companies by no longer enabling them to tour larger markets.
DEEMED INEFFICIENT
Art groups are upset the government refuses to reinstate two funds -- the $7.1-million Trade Routes program and the $4.8-million Arts Promotion program -- that helped with international travel and marketing.
The government maintains the programs were inefficient.
Trade Routes spent $5 million paying people to "push paper" and only $2 million went to the artists, said Heritage Minister James Moore's spokeswoman Deirdra McCracken.
The programs are not coming back, McCracken said, adding the Harper government is spending $540 million over two years for arts and culture in a recession period.
But art groups said the funds should be reformed, not eliminated.
Alain Dancyger, the executive director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, said he had to beg donors in Egypt this spring to make up a $250,000 travel budget shortfall for the company's historic Middle East tour.
"It was embarrassing," he said. Donors were asking why they should give if the Canadian government was refusing to help, he said.
Last August, after the cuts were announced, artists, especially in Quebec, mobilized. They held rallies lashing out at the Tories.
IMPACT ON ELECTION
"Without the debate around culture, the Conservatives may have won more seats in Quebec," said Stanley Pean, head of the province's writers union. "They did not win a majority in the House of Commons, in part because of our efforts."
After the election, the heritage minister held a series of roundtables with the arts community.
Martine Levesque, director general of the Quebec theatre council, called them protocol meetings with no tangible results.
But Shannon Litzenberger, a dancer and spokeswoman for the Canadian Arts Coalition, said the government deserves some credit for investing millions in training and cultural infrastructure. Still, she plans to lobby for reinstatement of the travel programs during the next election.
Traditionally, campaigns haven't been forums where culture was discussed, but that changed last year, said Anne-Marie Jean, executive director of Culture Montreal.
"I think it will never be the same."
ALTHIA.RAJ@SUNMEDIA.CA
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