After a flurry of updates, complaints, and requests for clarification last week, the AFA has now confirmed on their Newswire newsletter that the Artist & Education program will remain safe for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The December 6th Newswire states that,
“in view of the economic uncertainty affecting Alberta’s arts community, the AFA will continue the Artists and Education grant stream for the 2011-12 fiscal year.”
Where this leaves us after next year remains to be seen, but hopefully the AFA will continue to take steps to remedy the “uncertainty” affecting the arts in Alberta.
Thanks once again to Art Rubicon for all their work in developing and reporting this story.
Art Rubicon announced Tuesday that Paul Riech, Arts Development Consultant with the Arts Branch at the AFA, has confirmed that the Artist & Education program will not be available for 2011/2012. This program, according to the AFA website, allowed “schools to bring professional Alberta artists into their classrooms for projects…. Arts residencies encourage[d] students’ creativity and advance[d] K–12 curricula in fine arts and non-fine arts subjects.”
There has been no official written word from the AFA as of yet. According to Art Rubicon, “Mr. Reich has declined to respond to further queries as to why the program was cancelled.” Stay tuned for updates.
Consumer Spending on Culture in Canada, the Provinces and 12 Metropolitan Areas in 2008, a recently-published report from Hill Strategies Research, shows that Canadian consumers spent over $27 billion on cultural goods and services in 2008 – almost three times more than the $9.2 billion spent on culture by all levels of government in 2007/08.
Some other key findings of the report include:
Canadians’ spending on live performing arts ($1.4 billion) is more than double their spending on live sports events ($650 million).
Between 1997 and 2008, consumer spending on art works and events grew by 59%, more than any other category of cultural spending.
Cultural spending per capita varies significantly between the provinces and is highest in Alberta ($963) and Saskatchewan ($905).
This report analyzes spending of Canadians on cultural goods and services in 2008. The data is drawn from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending, a yearly questionnaire on Canadians’ spending habits. You can find more information, or read the entire report, on the HIlls Strategies website.
I personally will be very interested to see the 2009/2010 (post-recession) report, and see if/how the numbers change.
Thanks to Art Rubicon for the heads up on this report! You can find their post here.
Latitude 53 Video Podcast
Latitude 53’s executive director, Todd Janes, responds to recent cuts to Alberta arts funding. Support the arts in your community—Volunteer. Donate.
