FUNDING FOR ARTS NEEDS OVERHAUL
As the City of Calgary prepares for its next budget, it seems an ideal time to ensure funding to arts groups hits the right note. For many years, local artists and arts organizations benefited from the generous support of dozens of corporations. The result was a thriving, diverse arts scene with offerings that rivalled those found in cities three to six times our size. But corporate funding for the arts has decreased over the past few years, as Calgary faced economic downturns, continued challenges in the oilpatch, stalled pipeline construction and unemployment rates higher than the national average.
Bravo to the companies that still support the arts, but the reality is the support doesn’t hit the levels it once did. That’s led some organizations to shrink offerings and even cease operations, as the Calgary International Children’s Festival did this summer.
Calgary was recently named the fourth most livable city in the world by The Economist, but the category in this ranking that left the greatest room for improvement was “culture and environment.” In fact, Calgary ranks the lowest in this category compared with other cities on the top 10 list.
The idea that there’s room for improvement is no surprise to many involved in Calgary arts.
Calgary Arts Development has studied where the city stands when it comes to arts grants per capita. Its data from 2015 showed Vancouver at the top of the heap, receiving $19.36 per capita in arts grants, followed by Edmonton at $13.54, Montreal at $9.35, Toronto at $8.90, Winnipeg at $7.02 and Calgary at $6.50.
The idea that there’s room for improvement is no surprise to many involved in Calgary arts.
Some of those figures have changed over the last couple of years, but not necessarily in Calgary’s favour. While increases to arts grants are occurring in Vancouver and Toronto, the annual grant of $6.45 million to Calgary Arts Development has largely remained static, save for cost-of-living adjustments.
To city council’s credit, it noticed the problem and provided $1 million in emergency resiliency funding for arts in 2016 and 2017. Additionally, the city gave $2 million to 10 large arts organizations in Calgary last summer as “bridge funding ” to help them through difficult economic times. Rather than dealing with emergency funding problems, however, it may be time for the city to look at supporting the arts in a more sustainable manner. Per capita arts grants need to be more in line with what’s occurring in other Canadian cities.
Patti Pon, president and CEO of Calgary Arts Development (an umbrella/connector group supporting hundreds of artists and organizations), says the grant amount required to do this is $19.5 million. The fiscal climate in the city is still a challenging one, but Pon notes the economic benefits of this investment, in addition to the cultural benefits, would be many.
For example, in 2017 Calgary experienced $126 million in direct economic output via the arts; local arts organizations employed the equivalent of 702 full-time staff; and an additional 8,379 artists were hired by local groups. A vibrant arts and culture scene is also key in attracting new businesses, conferences, events and visitors, all of which adds to the city’s bottom line.
Last year, there were almost 3.4 million visits to 25,000 concerts, plays, shows, readings, festivals and other events in Calgary. It demonstrates that the arts do indeed matter to many Calgarians and our economy. Now it’s time to get creative and realize that it matters how the arts are funded.