Ottawa has been broadening its definition of art, and this affects who is receiving grants from the city.
But some of this money may be getting lost when we spread the funding too thin.
Individual artists and organizations can apply for project funding, annual operating funding or three-year operating funding.
The city also partners with several major festivals and fairs such as the Tulip Festival and the Ottawa Bluesfest. The National Capital Suzuki School of Music has been a recipient for many years.
In 2008, there was a fear that the proposed $4.1 million in arts cuts in the 2009 budget would mean many of these groups would lose all of their funding.
However, this never happened.
Maybe we should have been more concerned about how the money was being spent.
Le Groupe Dance Lab closed down in 2009, after receiving funding in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Al Arz Lebanese Art Group has received city funding from 2007-2009 – $68,000 in 2009 alone – and it hasn’t put on a performance since August of that year.
One of the initiatives this group promotes is a Miss Lebanon Ottawa beauty pageant.
Its website links directly to the winner’s Facebook page, which is full of photos of her doing back walkovers in a barely there bathing suit.
Is this the kind of “art” we want to foster in the city?
The deadline to apply for 2011 funding through the city’s arts funding program was Jan.17 for individuals and is Jan. 31 for organizations.
So what can we expect this year?
If past trends are an indication, we’ll be taking money from the more renowned groups and spreading it out to help out smaller, struggling organizations.
The House of PainT graffiti wall is a perfect example of the city’s changing focus for arts funding.
The city has been funding the project for two years, while established organizations such as the Canadian Centennial Choir no longer receive grants.
By emphasizing new art forms, the fundamental building blocks of an arts culture are taken away.
The Ottawa 20/20 five-year arts plan ended in 2008. Since then, the city's been a little lost when clarifying a vision of how it wants the arts and culture realm to look.
When times are tight, spreading out funding is not necessarily the best option.
The program’s main objective is “To spark and support the creation, production, presentation, exhibition and dissemination of the literary, media, performing and visual arts within the bilingual and culturally diverse framework of Ottawa.”
Maybe fashion and style magazines have never been able to succeed in the nation’s capital because of a lack of money.
More likely it’s because the lack of a clear vision of exactly what kind of look or art or culture we want to create.
When it comes to developing an artistic culture in Ottawa, maybe it’s time to reconsider funding organizations that have a proven track record.