Letters to Kevin
Well, it's been a busy week since the "Alliance for Arts and Culture":http://allianceforarts.com/ sent out a "press release":http://www.plankmagazine.com/thots/bc-arts-community-faces-crisis-accord... highlighting statements about the lack of concern amongst members of the arts community about forthcoming funding cuts.
One online hub of activity has been a "Facebook page":http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103103702403&ref=mf created Tanya Battaglia. Now numbering over 300 members you should really check it out and join up if you haven't already. People have also posted copies of their letters on both the Facebook page as well as here on Plank on the comment sections to the "original posting":http://www.plankmagazine.com/thots/bc-arts-community-faces-crisis-accord... and follow up post (including from Winnie Tam, Rachel Peake, Diane Brown, Susanna Uchatius, Allyson McGrane, Carol Sawyer and Valerie Sing Turner). Check them out.
We thought we'd also post a couple that have appeared on Facebook. We would love to create a permanent document of these letters, so please feel free to post your own in the comment section, or send them to us at info at plankmagazine.com
First up, *David Bloom*:
Dear Mr. Krueger,
There are several reasons you have not heard any complaints from artists about your government's regressive (and economically ridiculous) decision to gouge the arts.
1) Artists and Arts groups are already using all their energy just to survive, so they don't have any left for lobbying and political action. (Businesses, you see, hire lobby groups and organize campaigns when they don't like government decisions. They pay people do do these things. We have neither the time nor the money for those actions.)
2) Artists and Arts groups are completely shell-shocked by the scope of the cuts (40% is more than draconian) and are so stunned they can't even believe it's real. BC has for many years had the worst or second worst arts funding in the country (sometimes beaten by Newfoundland and Labradour). That situation was just beginning to change. What you're reading as a lack of anger is simply fatigue and disbelief.
3) Artists and Arts groups have so little faith in the processes of the current administration that they may feel there is no point in responding.
I hope that all these factors have changed since your recent remark that we are not complaining about the cuts.
We know it's almost never politically dangerous to cut funds to artists because we are perceived as being elitists and parasites. The fact of the matter is, however, that investment in the arts is one of the few investments that is guaranteed to generate jobs and revenue. To quote Felix Salomon, the financial blogger for Reuters, in the current Atlantic magazine: "Arts funding is fantastic at creating employement: for every $30,000 or so spent on the arts, one more person gets a job, compared with about $1 million if you're building a road or hospital."
BC is the only province that is cutting the arts in these troubled times. Is it possible that the other governments actually know what they're doing?
Can you please speak up for us — not only for our sakes, but for the health of the province?
Yours Sincerely,
David Bloom
Co-artistic Director Felix Culpa
And from *Morgan Childs*
Dear Mr Krueger,
I am writing to you to express my concern with some recent comments you have made with regards to the provincial government's funding of the BC Arts Council, and the proposed 40% reduction in funding to the BC Arts Council, the largest arts funding organization in British Columbia.
In some of your remarks you appear to characterize the arts community as uncaring or unresponsive to the proposed budget cuts. I am writing, as a BC-born, BC-raised, BC-educated, and practicing professional artist to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. Your government is seriously underestimating the level of outrage of the BC arts community, and I believe your government is making a drastic, foolish mistake.
These proposed cuts threaten to negatively impact not only artists, but arts organizations (often run by volunteer individuals who work tirelessly in an effort to enrich their communities). These arts organizations are usually multi-disciplinary "umbrella" organizations who arrange cultural events throughout the year in their communities that include music festivals, gallery openings, concerts, educational workshops, and camps for children. Events that recieve funding from the BC Arts Council serve to enrich the cultural landscape of our province, making BC a more desirable place to live and work.
As you are our "arts" minister, comments like "BC Artists don't seem to care" are extremely disheartening and offensive to myself and my community. Artists do care, sir. Artists care for their art, they care for their communities, they care about education, and they care for the enrichment of our society through their individual and collective art practice. Artists also care about the economy, Mr Krueger, and I believe your government underestimates the huge contribution that artists make to the BC economy every year. I will also go out on a limb and suggest that you personally, and your government, have done absolutely no research on the subject of how our arts community impacts the economy and the cultural landscape of our province (especially in our smaller communities), and this decision to cut arts funding is a poorly planned and hasty decision. I urge you to personally reconsider your position on artists and the arts community, and I urge your government to reconsider their decision to cut funding to the BC Arts Council.
Finally, I'd like to challenge you to have some personal contact with artists and engage in a dialogue with them over their art practices, their experiences, and their contributions to our society in BC. I strongly feel that our arts minister should be fighting on behalf of our arts funding in Victoria. If you feel that you are ill-equipped for such a fight, I would be more than happy to supply you with plenty of ammunition. My cell number is [Morgan supplied his number]. You can call me any time. I would be excited to personally show you how artists and arts organizations are making a difference in this province.
Sincerely,
Morgan Childs.