By Kristen Vernon
An infusion of money last spring has many artists feeling optimistic as the city develops a new funding program for the amalgamated City of Ottawa.
“The City of Ottawa talks about how arts and heritage are integral to future development of the city,” says freelance theatre director Janet Irwin, 54. “I’m optimistic because of what the city says, I’m optimistic because of amalgamation, I’m wary because of history.”
Irwin was one of almost 200 people at recent public consultations on the development of a new arts granting program.
The arts in Ottawa have traditionally been underfunded, says Nicole Zuger, the arts development manager with the office of cultural affairs at the City of Ottawa.
In the spring, Ottawa city council gave a one-time $500,000 infusion for arts funding, bringing the total amount of money granted to individual artists and groups this year to $3 million, says Zuger.
Zuger says she’s hopeful the increase will happen again next year and on a permanent basis.
She adds that city staff are asking council for an increase of $500,000 for the upcoming year.
At the consultations, the need for more money was repeated, says Zuger.
With funding cuts in the late 1990s, “we’re still playing a catch-up game,” Zuger says. “And making it even more complex, there’s a greater demand on the funding pot because (with amalgamation) more groups are eligible to apply.”
Not all the former municipalities had arts grants and those that did were chronically underfunded, says Zuger.
Public consultations were held a couple weeks ago to find out what artists and participants in the arts need from a grant program.
The new policy will replace the funding programs of the former municipalities.
“The public consultations are the critical part because we have to have a program that responds to the needs of the community,” Zuger says. “We’re doing our community consultations at the beginning, not at the end.”
At the consultations participants talked in small groups about arts funding priorities and how an arts funding program should be run.
They discussed grant application deadlines, who should administer the program, the role of the arts advisory council and criteria for awarding grants.
There didn’t need to be a consensus among the participants, says Peter Honeywell, executive director of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, a group that is working with the city on the development of the policy.
Zuger says the majority of the participants said they want they city to manage the grants program, and have a juried peer assessment process.
The city wants to find out what unique role it can play, says Zuger. The response:
“Support and promote local arts, local artists and local arts activities because they’ve been overshadowed by the national presence.”
Artists also stressed the need to fund projects from creation through presentation, says Zuger.
People mentioned the importance of funding both emerging and professional artists, she says.
Professional artists need to be protected, not just supported, says Irwin. “They are the ones who will define the city artistically.”
The city has “to give opportunities to artists so that they (can) make a living wage and live in this community and contribute. We want to stop the flow of artists out to other cities,” says Honeywell.
Artists also say that funding needs to be stable.
Artists can’t keep asking, “Am I going to get funded or not?” says Kenneth Emig, 39, an artist and dancer who rents studio space at Enriched Bread Artists on Gladstone Avenue.
“We gave them all sorts of suggestions and they have to prioritize and try to figure out what’s manageable,” says visual artist Julie McDonald, 53, who also has studio space at Enriched Bread Artists.
City staff are now at the drawing board.
“For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sketching out the parameters of a funding program,” says Zuger.
On Nov. 15, the new policy goes to city council’s health, recreation and social services committee.
The final policy is set to be submitted for council’s approval Nov. 28.
Next year, the city will review how the policy worked, in consultation with the public, says Zuger.