Memo to Ottawa artists: Don’t quit your day jobs just yet. The planned redevelopment of the Ottawa Arts Court has screeched to a grinding halt while its administrators sort out funding.
Finance is the sticking-point when it comes to arts in Ottawa. Whether it’s money to sustain a performance, an exhibition, or the artists themselves, the arts community always has to fight to get it. Funding for the Arts Court is the latest setback in creating an arts scene worthy of Canada’s capital.
Theatre and gallery spaces are limited and expensive. Making a living as a musician, painter, or actor is difficult. Those that succeed are sustained by benevolent patrons, grant money and whatever audience they attract.
This situation has kept the Ottawa arts community stagnant when compared with the artistic hub of Montreal.
But Joël Beddows, chair of the Department of Theatre at the University of Ottawa, says it’s not fair to compare the two cities. He says Ottawa is similar to Québec City, artistically.
“Even then, we have quite a ways to go,” he says. “But we’re a bunch of fighters. We’ll get there.”
The Arts Court project is expected to cost $36 million. While the cost looks hefty, the 143-year-old building has needed repairs for decades, with discussions beginning as far back as the ‘80s.
The Council for the Arts in Ottawa hoped the federal government would contribute the last $9 million needed. Unfortunately it refused, leaving the council searching for other ways to fund the project. The City of Ottawa is contributing $6 million and maintains that the budget cannot spare any more.
Peter Honeywell, director of Council for the Arts in Ottawa, however remains optimistic about the Arts Court, hoping that “shovels will be in the ground” by next summer.
Honeywell says his organization will meet shortly to decide what to do next. In addition to the building’s need for repairs, the inadequate space for the Ottawa Art Gallery means there are Group of Seven paintings languishing in storage. The quality of the gallery’s collection, Honeywell says, is completely at odds with the underwhelming exhibition space.
While beautiful on the outside, the antique building’s narrow hallways could be generously described as dingy.
“This place could be exciting and vibrant, but it’s not,” says Dana Uzarevic, of Odyssey Theatre, whose offices are located in the Arts Court.
The potential of a new Arts Court to jump-start growth in the Ottawa arts scene could be limitless. It’s being conceived as a place for both the support and the education of artists.
The University of Ottawa’s theatre program is one of Ottawa’s best hopes for a more engaging artistic community. The students' involvement in Ottawa Fringe Festival, for example, has become a staple of summer theatre in the city.
The department hopes to expand to include a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which would be feasible with enough theatre space. They are paying $6 million to build that space, as part of the new Arts Court.
Further developing student theatre in Ottawa could be a crucial step to sparking artistic growth in the city.
Lynn McGuigan, executive director of the Ottawa Little Theatre, says that having a vibrant cultural centre would attract attention to the arts scene as a whole. More attention could mean more business revenue that could benefit the galleries and theatres.
Meeting daily costs, McGuigan says, is a continuous struggle for artistic groups in Ottawa. While the century-old Little Theatre is a comfortably established icon of the city, the future of the Arts Court is looking less certain.
There is no question that repairs are needed on the Ottawa arts community as a whole. With enough backing, our theatres and galleries could appear on the national stage.
Developing the Arts Court is a step in the right direction, but even the support for that has fallen short.
The question of whose responsibility it is to support the arts has no simple answer, but the federal government’s absolute refusal to contribute anything to the Arts Court is short-sighted.
Fostering creativity and supporting our unique cultural identity in the nation’s capital is in the best interest of the whole country.
In 2008, the prime minister said that ordinary Canadians are unlikely to care about the arts. Canadian artists and their supporters go a long way towards proving him wrong, but being right doesn’t pay the rent.
No matter how much Ottawa cares about the wellbeing of our promising artistic community, it’s not a priority for the Harper government. Without some federal support, the Ottawa art scene is unlikely to blossom the way it deserves to.