Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes announced today the launch of two new government-funded BC Arts Council programs focused on providing opportunities for youth to take part in the arts and on early career initiatives in the creative sector.
Read MoreThe BC government announced yesterday (April 9) increased support for the BC Arts Council Scholarship program, providing more opportunities for young British Columbians to study the arts.
Program funding will increase from $150,000 to $750,000 this year. As a result, the number of scholarships granted to British Columbians studying the arts could more than triple, from about 50 to as high as 175. The new funding increases the maximum value of the scholarships from $4,000 to $6,000.
Read MoreArtists and cultural organizations, including community arts councils, will share $8.36 million in the latest round of BC Arts Council grants, Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Bill Bennett announced today.
Read MoreVICTORIA – Last month, Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Bill Bennett announced that the BC Arts Council (BCAC) will receive a budget of $24 million in 2013-14. This represents the highest level of funding in BCAC history. The funding includes $5.25 million for BC Creative Futures, a recently announced three-part strategy to support sustainable, long-term success for the province’s creative sector.
Read MoreNEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2013CSCD0004-000114
Jan. 25, 2013
VICTORIA - Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Bill Bennett congratulated an acclaimed B.C. artistic director/choreographer and a successful self-taught visual artist recently appointed as new members of the BC Arts Council (BCAC) board.
Read MoreBC Arts Council Executive Director Jeremy Long will retire from the BC Public Service early in the New Year, Council Chair Jane Danzo announced today.
Read MoreTwo announcements from the Provincial government received yesterday gave some hope for organizations awaiting their gaming commission grants, but have raised more questions than they answered.
Read MoreLike many of you, I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks, and this week returned to an inbox overflowing with email and dozens of calls to return. How quickly things change! As I settle back in, I want to address some of the challenges facing the community - the cuts to the BC Arts Council, the uncertain future of the gaming funds, the HST - and let you know what the Alliance is doing.
Read MoreWe have just returned from a frank and productive meeting with Minister Krueger at his Vancouver office. It was an excellent opportunity to communicate the concerns of our community to the new Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, and to offer to help him in trying to reverse the cuts to the BC Arts Council. He wanted everyone to know that both he and the Premier are both very committed to the arts, and that they will do their utmost to ensure that the community is not "hung out to dry" next year when the supplemental funding runs out.
Read MoreA big shout out to the many artists and arts organizations who have sent letters to Minister Krueger in the past few days. To all those organizations who haven't participated yet... now is the time to act. We all know how much we depend on the BC Arts Council, and how damaging the 40% cut will be to our organizations and artistic practice.
Read MoreHelp spread the word. Send this release to anyone you know in media. We need to make some noise on this issue!
Arts community extremely concerned by cuts to the BC Arts Council
The arts and cultural sector in British Columbia is facing an imminent crisis. The Service Plans for the next two years show a 40% reduction in funding for the BC Arts Council. The BC Arts Council is the largest funding body in the province; last year, more than 224 communities throughout British Columbia depended on it for support.
"The impact to the province will be devastating," said Amir Ali Alibhai, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Arts & Culture. "The BC Arts Council supports a sector that employs 80,000 people and generates $5.2-billion annually. It is bigger than the forestry and fishing industries combined. At a time when the government is doing everything they can to create and retain jobs, why are they implementing measures that will trigger layoffs and cause organizations to reduce programming?"
Read MoreAs you know, during the cabinet shuffle the Honourable Bill Bennett was supplanted by the Honourable Kevin Krueger, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, as Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts. We have written the following letter to Mr. Krueger, whose Ministry is facing a forty percent cut in the service plans for the next two years.
Read MoreKevin Krueger, the MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, has been appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts on June 10, 2009. We hope that Mr. Krueger will be a strong champion for the arts, and a mindful steward of our industry. It is our desperate wish that he will continue the work his predecessor began, to restore the devastating cuts to the BC Arts Council. Mr. Krueger had served as Minister of Community Development since January 19, 2009 and as Minister of Small Business and Revenue and Minister Responsible for Regulatory Reform since June 23, 2008.
Read MorePerhaps it is because of the election, but according to the latest report from the Canadian Conference of the Arts, which gives an overview comparing different Canadian provinces’ responses to the economic crisis, only BC has made cuts in their budget for arts and culture.
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By now, many of you have received supplemental funds from the BC Arts Council for your organizations and/or practice. Since there is so much uncertainty in regards to the financial future of the council, we have asked the staff at the arts council for clarification about this money.
The NDP rolled out their provincial campaign platform this weekend, and the Alliance responded:
Read MoreReaction to arts pledge cautious By Mary Frances Hill, The Vancouver Sun April 11, 2009 An arts and culture lobby group is taking a cautious approach to the New Democratic Party's campaign promise to restore funding to cultural programs across the province and create a capital plan for the B.C. Arts Council. In Take Back Your B.C., the NDP's 46-page campaign platform, the party devotes half a page to pledges to aid arts, culture and tourism. Leader Carole James promised to restore the provincial government's arts funding cuts for this year, increase the B.C. Arts Council's budget, and award the council -- a government agency -- a $50-million capital fund to invest in cultural projects. Alliance for Arts and Culture executive director Amir Ali Alibhai said he was pleased to see a mention of arts and culture in any election platform. "The arts are part of stimulating growth and recovery," he said. But he was wary of campaign promises. "I'm cautious because of the track record of the NDP," Alibhai said. "The last time they were in, there was a 25-per-cent cut in the B.C. Arts Council's [budget]." That was during the recession of the early 1990s. The Alliance advocates for the interests of about 350 arts and cultural groups in B.C., such as theatres and dance companies, and individual artists. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts' 2009-2012 service plan shows the projected base funding for arts and culture programs dropping from $19.5 million in 2008-09 to $11.9 million in 2009-10 and $9.6 million in 2010-11. Alibhai said history has seen governments consider arts and culture spending as a frill. Spencer Herbert, NDP MLA for Vancouver-West End, said arts funding acts as an economic stimulus, generating about $1.36 in taxes for every dollar spent, "just from the multiplying effect of keeping the dollars in the economy locally."
As we gear up for a provincial election, it is more important than ever to engage with our provincial leaders (and aspiring leaders) to let them know that arts and culture are a vital part of a sustainable future for British Columbia. As you know, there are significant and potentially devastating cuts to arts and culture in the 2009 service plan for the Province of BC. The Alliance has sent a letter to Minister Bill Bennett about the issue, and we are urging all our members to write their own letters to Minister Bennett and your local MLA, and to please copy the Alliance on any correspondence.
We are advising everyone to adhere to the following talking points:
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