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::OTHER NEWS::
LE Newsletter -
August 19, 2010
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City Hall Moves To Raise Arts Spending
Source:
www.thestar.com - Martin Knelman
(August 16, 2010) Toronto’s sparkling but woefully
underfunded
arts organizations
got a boost at City Hall on
Monday.
After a series of presentations by many of the city’s top
performers and major cultural organizations, council’s executive
committee voted to recommend the city stay the course on its
long-term strategy of raising funding levels to $25 per capita
by 2013.
That and several other arts-friendly recommendations will go to
the full city council later this month before voters go to the
polls to choose a new mayor and slate of councillors.
Chances are, the full council will pass these resolutions. That
does not guarantee more funds will flow to the arts, because so
far this is merely a target.
Two mayoral candidates — Rocco Rossi and Joe Pantalone — have
platforms that call for increased spending on the arts. But
there’s little hope that Rob Ford, currently ahead in the polls,
would favour such a policy.
Still, Monday’s exercise represents an encouraging vote of
confidence.
Leading the parade of arts advocates was Karen Kain, artistic
director of the National Ballet of Canada.
According to Kain, all the most successful cities in the world —
not just in terms of their economies but also their quality of
life and wealth of shared experience — have strong cultural
institutions and traditions. “Those are the cities where people
want to be,” she said.
Others pleading the case included actors Eric Peterson and R.H.
Thomson; Cameron Bailey, co-director of the Toronto
International Film Festival; and Claire Hopkinson, executive
director of the Toronto Arts Council.
Seven years ago, thanks to the missionary work of Rita Davies,
the city’s veteran executive director of culture, council
approved a 10-year plan designed to foster and protect Toronto’s
reputation as a culture centre. Among the key goals was to raise
the city’s annual per-capita spending on the arts from $13 to
$25.
In 2003, San Francisco — a competitor city comparable to Toronto
in many ways — was spending $86 per capita on the arts.
In the seven years since then, Toronto has managed to raise its
investment in culture to $18 per capita — a significant
improvement but still far from what’s needed. Montreal spends
$33 per capita on culture.
Davies, the city’s longtime cultural guru, was upbeat after the
vote.
“There has been tremendous support for investment in culture,”
she said. “It pays such great dividends, and puts Toronto in the
right position on the world stage.” |
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::LANGFIELD
ENTERTAINMENT:: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADIAN TWIST::
