By Laura Cummings
Members of the arts and heritage communities are reacting to the City of Ottawa’s 2006 budget, saying something is better than nothing, but there is still a long way to go.
The new budget calls for roughly $6.5 million in arts and cultural services funding, and just over $1 million for the Museum Sustainability Plan.
“We feel very positive in terms of the investments council has made for the arts and heritage sectors, in terms of recognizing the pressures on those organizations delivering services, and the importance of their services,” says Colleen Hendrick, director of Cultural Services and Community Funding for the city.
According to Hendrick, cultural funding makes up $4.5 million, allotted to operating costs for local arts and heritage organizations. Included is an extra $80,000 for six different art institutions in the city for Arts Service Agreements. The other $2 million in the budget is dedicated to capital funding.
Christina Tessier, director of the Bytown Museum, says although more funding is always needed, the support for the arts and heritage communities is improving.
“I think a real education happened in the last year and a half, with the senior city staff and the councillors,” she says. “They really now seem to understand what the museums do and what their value is.”
The Bytown Museum will receive $10,000 to improve signage. Another $64,000 in operating funds will mean staff salary increases, and a new permanent, part-time employee.
Hendrick says that even with several million in funding dedicated to the arts this year, arts-oriented groups still need to find other means of income.
World Beats and Eats is one source for additional income. The monthly fundraiser of live music and free food raises money for local, non-profit arts and culture organizations. Brad Campeau, organizer and volunteer for the events, says profits are donated to a chosen group each month.
Centretown-based groups like the Dusty Owl Reading Series and the Capital Slam Poetry Collective are past recipients.
Campeau says average fundraiser profits are about $450, but their first-anniversary show on Jan. 6 made twice as much.
“It’s my way of being able to give,” he says. “(I would do it) even if the arts funding became so great it wasn’t needed.”
Centretown residents are also helping to keep the Ottawa arts community alive. Micah Rix-Hayes is a volunteer organizer for UpOn The Wall, a semi-regular art and music showcase and silent auction.
UpOn The Wall also donates its proceeds to community non-profit organizations. Their first show in November raised $350 for the local SAW Gallery.
“I think Ottawa has a lot of talent, and I don’t think the city’s concerned with that at all,” says Rix-Hayes.
“The government’s losing out on a lot of cultural income. What we’re doing (with UpOn The Wall) is what they could be doing.”
Linda Balduzzi is the executive director of the Arts Court Foundation.
It is an arts service and support organization working with the city to manage the Arts Court facility.
It is also one of six local arts institutions named to potentially receive some portion of the Arts Service Agreement funding.
“(The funding is) meant to stabilize these organizations so they can deliver solid infrastructures,” she says. “The city has recognized that these organizations are key cornerstones of the arts community.”
According to Balduzzi, last year’s municipal funding represented on average 20 per cent of arts organizations’ total operating income.
Although city council has made some steps in the right direction, Balduzzi adds, there is still much to be done.
“I think there is quite a bit of work ahead of us in order to bring the funding levels up to a standard that would allow Ottawans to be proud of their arts community,” she says.