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Update 09/09/01 9:30 p.m.
Kelowna.com’s Gary Moore and Kathy Michaels went to key members of the arts community to find out how government cuts were going to impact their operations.
Two women walk past the Alternator Gallery Monday. (Photo Gary Moore)
Update: 09/09/01 5:21 p.m.
By Kathy Michaels
Just as Ballet Kelowna was getting ready to start upon a new season, they received word that gaming grant money they rely on was not coming through.
So along with all the regular work that comes with a new round of performances, they’re forced to take on another challenge — coming to terms with how to move forward with $20,000 less.
“Those funds are used to directly pay the six professional dancers at the company,” said Alison Moore, development manager for the ballet. “It’s not as simple as cancelling a performance, because our professional dancers move to Kelowna and sign contracts to work for 34 weeks a year. So if we cancel performances, we still have to pay our dancers.”
Needless to say, they will be sharpening their pencils this week as board and finance committee members convene for an emergency meeting to develop strategies to resolve the impact of 18 per cent less funding.
Income from grants amount to $114,000 of the ballet’s budget. In addition to gaming grants, they also received a B.C. Arts Council grant for the fall production in the amount of $12,000 — though that’s $2,000 less than the previous year. Grant money is necessary Moore stressed, but they also get a lot more through fundraising events, ticket sales and presenter fees. While the cuts are painful, it’s only their severity which is unexpected.
The province sets aside $159-million for gaming grants and nearly 7,000 organizations apply for a piece of the pie. Funding was frozen in mid-July, then the minister of Housing and Social Development lifted the freeze a month later, leaving many to believe that they’d still receive some support.
“Given the current status of the provincial budget, I was hoping to get some money.…not the same as prior years, but I am surprised to not get any at all,” she said.
It’s a frustrating situation for Ballet Kelowna to grapple with as their performances have relevance beyond this community.
“Our mandate is to take high quality professional dance experiences to communities that otherwise don’t have access,” she said, noting that the organization was named B.C. Touring Artists of the Year in 2008.
“Artistic director David LaHay has people come up to him after the performance in tears and say they’ve never been to a performance like this and they’re so happy. It’s truly incredible the impact that we have.”
The performances enrich the culture around them, and they also do their fair share to generate income, and Moore is one of the many who are pointing out that the province is being shortsighted in its cuts.
“They are not recognizing that arts and culture are economic generators,” she said. “There are masses of data that indicate for every dollar spent, there’s a $1.38 returned to the communities.
As arts and cultural activities are cut back it has an impact on local economies.”
Update: 09/08/31 5:30 p.m.
By Kathy Michaels
Local arts groups were delivered a devastating blow over the weekend. Just ahead of what’s expected to be a cost-cutting budget, the provincial government informed galleries, theatres and dance organizations that gaming grant funding they had already accounted for wasn’t coming through.
Jennifer Pickering, the director of the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Arts, said she received the news via email Friday night, noting it will have an immediate impact on centre’s operations.
“It means that 17 per cent of our total budget disappeared overnight,” she said. “So, starting today we’re short for the year.”
The government had already said gaming grant funding was under review, but Pickering was of the belief that the organization would, at the very least, be getting a portion of the funds accrued from gambling revenues.
“We were only going into year two of a three year agreement with the province,” she said, noting that the funds tally up to $34,000, of their $150,000 annual budget. Earlier in the year, the Alternator was also told that the funding they received from the B.C. Arts Council would shrink by 40 per cent.
With less funding in their reserves, the only thing left to do is to figure out how to move forward.
“For us, it means layoffs. We are going to have to trim everything and go down to the bare minimum—right away too,” said Pickering. “If (the arts community) had some notice we could have prepared. Some had contracts with artists for the next few months that will have to be reviewed.”
Over at the Okanagan Symphony, news that the government was pulling its grant support arrived this morning and, once again, it was an unwelcomed surprise.
“We were told in late July, that the funding would be approved and released in the next few days, so we felt we were protected,” said Caroline Miller, the Okanagan Symphony’s general manager, noting that the province withdrawing from their contract would amount to a $76,000 loss of funding. In simpler terms, it’s one concert cycle, which is produced in three cities, by 55 musicians for 22,000 audience members.
“If we could have discussed this in January or February, when we were planning our season, it would have had less impact than it does to have the announcement come the week before we launch.”
Following the news, Miller spent the morning calling other symphonies across B.C., and has found they’re all in the same position of figuring out what to do as the province steps out of three year funding contracts midstream.
And, she said, if the government falls back on its regular argument of fiscal responsibility it won’t hold water with either her or her cohorts.
“Fiscal management and responsibility are issues that arts organizations understand as well as any other business and as well as the province,” she said.
The province sets out less than one per cent of its annual budget for arts but the industry, by the government’s own estimates, brings in $1.38 in taxes for every dollar spent and represents 80,000 jobs provincewide.
“This is a big industry to knock the legs out from under,” said Miller, noting that the symphony board and executives will be heading into emergency meetings this week to try and figure out how to deal with the blow.
“The view of the government is to make cuts in areas that are seen as non essential …but we are an industry and we are a business. Our musicians who have mortgages certainly see it that way and I would like the government to see arts as a business partner in this province.”
Numerous arts organizations in Kelowna will be affected by these cuts. Follow Kelowna.com for updates.
kathy@kelowna.com/(250)575-0761
2 Responses to “Update: Ballet Kelowna trying hard to dance around grant cuts”
Tags: Alternator, gaming grants, Jennifer PIckering, Kelowna, symphony
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Apparently, the government does not value the arts industry as much as it (hopefully) values social housing or medical care. Yes, the basic needs of shelter, food, and health should take first priority; however, art IS an industry–an industry that employs many people, keeps them paying taxes, and keeps them from needing that social housing and medical care. Lives–many lives–will be affected. In addition, culture not only defines society but also enriches it and helps it develop. Is that not important as well?
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$159M spread across 7,000 organizations. Thats almost $23K per year on average per organization. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just trim everyone back 18% rather than decimate a bunch of unlucky organizations? I guess that would have been too simple, and the people in charge of the purse strings wouldn’t be able to manipulate things like they want to. Is there a public accounting of the gaming grants? I’d love to see who lost everything, who got cut back, and who got extra this year….
Please continue discussion on the forum: link