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Cash crunch hits arts |
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Written by Pamela Roth
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Saturday, 27 June 2009 |
After meeting with arts and culture groups from six different communities in Alberta the past few weeks, Lindsay Blackett has a long list of facilities that should either be built or renovated.
But due to the economic downtown, it’s going to be a long time before Alberta’s minister of culture and community spirit can fulfill that wish list.
The minister was in Lethbridge on Saturday to meet with members of the local arts and culture community, which included representatives from the City of Lethbridge, MLAs, Lethbridge College, the University of Lethbridge, Fort Whoop-Up, Galt Museum, Allied Arts Council and representatives from other surrounding communities.
The discussions are meant to help the provincial government gather input toward development of a cultural facilities plan for Alberta, and increase awareness of Alberta’s cultural policy.
Arising from the discussions was a clear message —not a lot of money is available for cultural facilities or even maintenance at the moment, but that doesn’t mean funds won’t be available in the future.
“We need to look collectively about how to move forward. There are a lot of different groups always competing for a small amount of dollars,” said Blackett, who has been to about 70 communities to discuss the issue.
“I thought it would be good to go to the different regions and see what they say about their priorities. How can you possibly come up with a policy that’s supposed to support all of Alberta if you don’t know what people in those towns are feeling and you haven’t seen any of them up close?”
According to Blackett, many concerns are centred around lack of money for new facilities as existing ones cost more for maintenance, repair and upgrades. Blackett said it’s important to focus on the needs, not the wants in a community, along with collaborating venues.
Many of the concerns heard in Lethbridge are shared across the province. One of the main priorities here is a larger performing arts centre that would seat 1,000 people. The college and university also have an extensive collection of art, but don’t have enough room for public displays.
Lethbridge West MLA Greg Weadick was part of Saturday’s discussions and emphasized the need to focus not only on a new performing arts centre, but also on the role the college and university play in the community.
“Really, the college and university are the centres that provide a lot of the facilities for arts and culture to grow,” said Weadick. “It will be critical to work with those facilities in the future if we want to continue to grow.”
Following the discussions, Blackett headed to Exhibition park for a tour of the facilities. The 63-acre site has been deemed too small and crowded for a number of years, and has had an exhibitor waiting list for the past 15 years.
Rudy Friesen, general manager of the Lethbridge and District Exhibition Board, would like to see the proposed relocation and expansion of Exhibition Park proceed tomorrow, but he knows that isn’t realistic. He feels confident the minister has a firm interest in the project since the board began to lobby all levels of government for capital dollars.
“We are very appreciative of the interest he has and trying to get a better understanding of what we do,” said Friesen, who spoke with the minister about a funding model that might work for the expansion project since it’s not solely a provincial responsibility.
“There are various ways and avenues of making this happen. We recognize it’s a fairly intensive process that involves a lot of work with all levels of government. We feel some urgency internally, but the external reality is we have a process for communication and consultation that still needs to be completed before we can know exactly what’s going to look like moving forward.”
Compiling a list of needs from various communities is one thing, but making a firm decision on where the money should go is another, added Blackett.
“It’s harder when you don’t have the communications with the different communities. Eighty per cent of the time we have to say no because there is only so much money to go around for the projects that are out there,” said Blackett, who says money won’t be flowing for several years.
“We hate to turn down the worthy projects that make a big impact on the community, but we need to prioritize those needs so as soon as the dollars are ready to flow again, we’re also ready to go.”
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