Forum Closed
The forum is now to new posts. All the historical content is still available to browse.
if you are looking for musicians to play with, please view the Bands Seeking Musicians list, or use the Musicians Directory
You can use our pages on social media to connect:
BC Arts Council Chair Steps Down - her letter of resignation
| Message Board > Up n' Coming! (aka Shameless Promotion) > BC Arts Council Chair Steps Down - her letter of resignation |
| Sati User Info... | I got this from here: http://creativitycounts.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/former-bcac-chair-jane-danzo-steps-down-to-speak-out/ And here: http://stopbcartscuts.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/jane-danzo-chair-of-bc-arts-council-resignation-letter/ (click either for their assessments of how/why it came to this and what sorts of trouble we're in) JANE DANZO’S LETTER OF RESIGNATION Dear Minister Krueger, Thank-you for your kind words in last week’s press release that announced my resignation from the British Columbia Arts Council. I was very proud to have been appointed to the BC Arts Council and even more so to have been appointed Chair. I consider it a privilege to have been asked to serve the government for the past four years. While my resignation may have seemed sudden, I had been considering stepping down for some time. With respect and with regret, I felt obliged to resign in order to have a voice. In my opinion, the work of The B.C. Arts Council Board, has not been supported by government on a number of different levels. According to the Arts Council Act, Council is defined as not more than 15 members, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The Charter of the BCAC further identifies the appointees as “the Board”. The Act stipulates that the Board’s main purpose is to provide support for the arts and culture sector in British Columbia. In November 2009, Council (board and staff) made a submission to the Committee on Finance and Governmental Services regarding BCAC funding for the following year. Council recommended that the government return to an appropriation for the BCAC and restore its funding to 08/09 levels. This recommendation, which was echoed by the submissions of artists and arts organizations province-wide, was supported by the government’s own committee who brought it forward for consideration in the March budget. The government rejected its committee’s strong recommendation for restoration. The devastating impact of that decision is now being felt by artists and arts organizations throughout the province as they receive notification of substantial cuts to their core funding. Instead of restoring the funding to the BCAC, the government announced the establishment of an Arts Legacy Fund- a surprise as much to the Board as to the arts community. Even after the announcement, the Board was not consulted for input, nor was it permitted to know the details as they were developed by ministry staff over a four month period. Meanwhile, the arts community struggled, some members with life-threatening uncertainty, as they reduced their programming, laid off staff and made poignant appeals to patrons and donors for further support. And the Board remained awkwardly silent until the government released more information about the Arts Legacy Fund. The Act also specifies that the Board support arts and culture through advocacy. This responsibility is virtually impossible to accomplish because the Board’s relationship to government is not at-arms –length. It has neither its own funding nor its own staff. It is dependent upon budget allocation for funds and ministry employees for human resources, both managed by a government employee. Furthermore, it has recently been made clear that the Board does not have a voice independent of government. The only independence the Board has from government is defined by the granting process. The Board members of the BCAC are chosen for, among other qualifications, their areas of expertise and their knowledge of the sector. Collectively, they represent a broad range of board experience that includes not-for profit, public sector and corporate boards. Given the issues I have identified, it would not be surprising if such capable volunteers were to become frustrated, even disillusioned. I believe that unless government is more consultative, and makes significant organizational changes, it will be difficult to attract and retain qualified candidates for Board positions on the BCAC. I strongly recommend that the government and the Board review the models used in some of the other provincial jurisdictions where their arts councils are at –arms- length from government; where they are respected for their expertise and judgment and where, as a result, the arts and culture sectors are better served. Surely such co-operation could produce only beneficial results for the B.C. arts community. Minister Krueger, you have been a strong advocate for increased funding to the BCAC , and, more broadly, for the arts and culture sector of British Columbia. I am very grateful for that support, and, on behalf of the community, I thank-you very much. Yours very truly, Jane M. Danzo - Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:47am Edited: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:50am | ||
| Sati User Info... | I've pulled this quote from the 2nd link: "The BC public has lost faith in its provincial government’s ability to protect BC arts and culture, not to mention in its ability to refrain from using arts money for political gain. The government MUST remove arts money from the “Legacy” fund - a highly suspect ministerial discretion fund - and put it back into a properly constituted BC Arts Council." - Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:58am | ||
| Sati User Info... | Jane Danzo's words to the Straight from here: http://www.straight.com/article-338922/vancouver/former-bc-arts-council-chair-jane-danzo-speaks-everything-her-board-press-releases "On the inability for the B.C. Arts Council to speak out openly and freely: 'Early in my term [last year], when we were doing community consultations, he'd [Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Kevin Krueger] encouraged us to use our independent voice. But subsequent to that, press releases were screened and had to be approved by public affairs and the ministry's office. The communications policy became really muddy. In March I asked for clarification and didn't get a reply till July. At that time it was made very clear that the ministry speaks for the arts. So I feel the council is hampered in its role as an advocate not to have an independent voice.'" - Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:25pm | ||
| Sati User Info... | http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/non-profits-take-aim-at-gambling-revenues/article1748712/ Non-profits take aim at gambling revenues A coalition of British Columbia social and arts groups plan to launch a campaign Friday aimed at steering a greater portion of gambling revenues to non-profit groups. Organizers will also be calling on politicians to make funds for non-profits a condition for zoning changes that would be required for the construction of a proposed new Vegas-style casino next to BC Place. Arts groups say the provincial government has failed to keep promises that it would steer 33 per cent of gambling profits to community projects and instead has slashed that allotment to 10 per cent. The groups are expected to make their pitch Friday at the B.C. Association for Charitable Gaming Symposium at River Rock Casino in Richmond. “We are taking this opportunity to urge the B.C. government and Minister [Rich] Coleman to properly fund charities and non-profits, as was promised when gaming was expanded throughout B.C.,” Amir Ali Alibhai, executive director of the Greater Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture, said Thursday in a statement. “While the government of B.C. becomes increasingly addicted to the lucrative business of gambling at the expense of vulnerable British Columbians, and continues to expand its gaming activities, it has proceeded to break a social contract made with B.C.’s citizens,” he added. The arts groups are also expected to call on city politicians to use their regulatory power to ensure some gambling funds are directed to social agencies and programs. In March, the province unveiled plans for a new, 680,000-square-foot entertainment complex attached to BC Place. The complex would include two hotels and a casino and is subject to municipal approval and rezoning. Pending city approval, the Edgewater Casino would be relocated as part of the rezoning process. The province says the $450-million complex would create more than 8,500 jobs and generate up to $130-million in gambling revenues in its first year of operation. Arts groups and other critics say the casino could result in social problems in the downtown core and are expected to urge city officials to use the city’s zoning powers to extract conditions relating to the casino’s operation if it goes ahead. PavCo, the crown corporation that manages BC Place, has signed a 70-year lease with Paragon Development Ltd. for two acres next to BC Place. Pending rezoning, construction is planned to begin early next year and wrap up in 2013. - Fri, 8 Oct 2010 4:35pm Edited: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 5:09pm | ||
| Sati User Info... | http://www.allianceforarts.com/blog/perspective-history-gaming-funding-arts A Perspective On The History Of Gaming Funding For The Arts By Lydia Marston-Blaauw: I just read the announcement of the Alliance’s call for restoration of gaming funds and want to point out an error. As I was already working in the arts when gaming came into the province I remember it all quite well. Firstly, the “social contract” referred to in this announcement was not crafted when the government proposed to expand gaming. In fact, when gaming was first introduced (it was the lotteries at that time) the government of the day sold it to the public as a fund strictly for the arts and sports. I believe the legislation said just that. The funds from lotteries proved to be so huge that they could barely spend it all or spend it fast enough. I remember the Lotteries Commission spending lavishly on shows – we rented our theatres to them so people could come and watch the draws live. Those working at Lotteries were practically breathless with the excitement. Everyone seemed gobsmacked at how the cash was pouring in. The granting programs were not innovative enough or visionary enough to keep up with the revenues. Everyone, from the cultural and sports sectors to lotteries itself were still thinking small potatoes, tiny projects, lean times. Secondly, some years later, rather than fix the granting system and create policy around the funds (it could have been used for much needed infrastructure for instance) the government decided to pull a big part of the funds raised through lotteries into general revenue. There would be no problem making enormous numbers of dollars disappear there. They also expanded the types of not-for profits to which Lotteries could allocate the funds that remained. I found it interesting at the time that the sports and arts community did not mount any kind of protest or legal challenge to these changes. It stands out in my mind because I spoke to several colleagues in municipal government who had a huge stake in the sports sector – recreation being such a massive part of most municipal costs. My argument was that if we allowed this change in the social contract to go unchallenged; if we allowed this normalization of lotteries funds as general revenue with no specific goals being set for spending the money, eventually the government would keep more and more of it. Stands to reason that they would. And so it turned out. I always hated being right in my predictions about this. Everyone I spoke to at the time was “too busy” to mount any kind of a challenge and everyone seemed to think that there would be plenty of lottery funds still to go around. They trusted the government to “do the right thing”. The rest of gaming history is simple.They legalized casino gambling, as a non-profit serving source of funds, and finally they scooped that too so it was all government gambling, all the time. Right down to slot machines, online poker and baccarat. That’s the “gaming expansion” that ‘youngsters’ like Alliance executive director Amir Ali Alibhai are pointing to. That’s when everyone had to go cap-in-hand to ask for a bit of the fund. We tolerated the erosion but we can’t tolerate being cut off entirely. We’re finally challenging that the arts are not even allowed to go cap-in-hand -- that arts organizations are not allowed to ask for any funds. I hope it’s not too late and that this challenge meets with success. I must say, even on my most pessimistic days I did not expect them ever to keep all of the gaming funds. I thought there would always be a remnant, no matter how paltry, that would go to the creative sector that needs it so much. I thought the original purpose – to support arts, culture and sports – would be maintained. But people forget; and people stop caring about why and how things like gaming came to be part of our lives. The original promise was broken because we didn’t hold government to it. We didn’t negotiate hard for an appropriate social contract when they started to sneak off with some of the money. Once the original promise was broken it became easier for government to break subsequent promises. After all, even many politicians are too young to remember how it all started. Now gambling has become a social norm and politicians no longer need a “good cause” to justify what used to be a criminal activity. I’m glad we’re finally fighting to maintain some part of the original promise made to our sector. After all, our good reputation and “brand” was used to sell gaming to BC. We need to remember the facts so we can be accurate about what really happened. The arts and the non-profit sector should not have to justify themselves, but the government sure does. Lydia Marston-Blaauw Lydia Marston-Blaauw & Associates Professional Arts and Cultural Consultancy - Fri, 8 Oct 2010 5:07pm | ||
|
|||
Not logged in
Log In / Register (optional)
Featured Events
Featured Historical Events
Featured Article
Newest Profiles
West Coast REACH Association
Utilizing music & the other performing arts for social good
722 Cormorant St. Victoria BC
Open / Operational
Thursday Night Jam at The Loft
Cancelled - no jam. Drummer's head wouldn't fit through the ...
229 Gorge Road East Victoria BC
Closed / Inactive
First Metropolitan United Fellowship Hall
Large hall in the First Metropolitan Church Building.
Open / Operational
