Canada Council Director aims for artistic sustainability

IFACCA/Artshub,
23 May 2003, Canada

Issues of improved governance, audience development and better management were raised by Canada Council Director John Hobday in his recently released Sustaining Artistic Excellence paper. Outlining the current critical challenges facing the arts, Hobday said that revenue and public and private funding remained inadequate to ensure the sustainability of the country’s arts organisations. ‘I am deeply appreciative of the hard and often frustrating work of the council’s peer assessors, as they try to allocate resources that are too limited to fund even 40% of the 15,000 applications that the council receives every year,’ he said. Addressing the issue of audience development, Hobday said that arts education in Canadian schools had been ‘seriously diminished in the face of growing competition’ from other leisure-time activities. To be complete, he added, most artistic creations need an audience – ideally one that is informed, knowledgeable and appreciative. The third issue raised in Sustaining Artistic Excellence was that of under-resourcing. Hobday pointed to the importance of ‘highly skilled management personnel’ for artistic excellence to be maintained. ‘We must work at how best to address these issues and collaborate more closely with funders at all levels of government and the private sector by fostering the sustainability of excellence in a successful community of arts organisations,’ he contended. A final point raised by Hobday was that determined efforts were being made to address the requirements of Aboriginal artists in the face of growing cultural diversity. ‘The council has been playing a leading role in working to help these special communities build on their accomplishments,’ he noted. For more information, visit the Canada Council for the Arts HERE.