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| CITY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS $1 MILLION INCREASE TO ARTS Toronto’s arts community received a strong endorsement February 10 when the Economic Development and Parks Committee of the City of Toronto recommended a $1 million funding increase to Toronto Arts Council (TAC) for a total 2004 budget request of $9,907,930. “The Committee granted TAC an important first step in the budget process.” says Susan Wright, Director of Operations of Toronto Arts Council/Foundation. Policy & Finance and Budget Advisory Committees will next compile budgets and make a consolidated recommendation to City Hall, which will debate the budget in the first weeks of April. Members of the Toronto Arts Coalition are strongly encouraged to contact their ward councillors and attend the debate in April to express their support for the budget increase to the TAC. They are also encouraged to contact councillors who approved the $1 million increase to thank them for their support. In 2003, for the first time since amalgamation, TAC received a budget increase of $200,000 thanks to Coalition members who sent email messages to their local representatives and filled Council Chamber requesting that Council increase funding to artists. Decreased resources to the TAC have led to the erosion in grant levels of annual activity clients and the reduction in application success rates for arts projects and individual artists. Currently Toronto’s per capita expenditure to the arts is approximately $12, compared to $27 in Montreal and $84 in San Francisco. In its budget submission to the City, TAC maintains that an increase of $1 million will place local arts organizations and artists on the road to sustainability and growth as outlined in Great Arts/Great City. According to TAC, $1 million in additional funding will help attract an additional $13 million from public and private sources. The impact of arts activity ranges from increased volunteerism and safer streets to higher property values and strengthened business activity. “The City has to start prioritizing the arts as it would social services, policing or even fixing potholes. It has a tremendous impact on city life and its economy.” said Jim Garrard, Executive Director of Toronto Arts Council/Foundation. Toronto Arts Council is an arm's length funding body that offers grants programs to the city's arts organizations and professional artists through an adjudication process by peer juries. These programs, funded through the City of Toronto, invest in a broad range of activities from individual creation and small start-up projects to some of Canada's largest and most renowned arts institutions. TAC grants are usually the first ones received by non-profit organizations and are often the only ones applicable to operations rather than project or capital use. (back to newsletter)
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| ALL-ARTS SITE CONTINUES TO GROW Toronto Arts Online is fast becoming Toronto’s most comprehensive all-arts source of event information. Visitors, residents and media can find out what’s happening now and far into the future. Producers and presenters (even venues) can post or edit information whenever it’s ready. Toronto Arts Online is also the official events site for ArtsWeek 2004. Site visitors can search by arts discipline, venue, date or keyword. Coalition staff and volunteers are currently hand posting available event information. To ensure that information is accurate and up-to-date, it’s better for producer/presenters to post their own information. If events are posted as far in advance as possible, producers will be better able to avoid opening night conflicts. Listings can be edited at any time. Post Your Event! Simply visit Toronto
Arts Online and click “Submit an Event” to enter
your event details. (back
to newsletter)
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COALITION CELEBRATES 1st BIRTHDAY Toronto Arts Coalition was one-year old on February 5, as were all the other programs of the Great Arts/Great City Initiative, launched a year ago in a ceremony at City Hall, hosted by Karen Kain and David Mirvish. There are now more than 3000 members of the Coalition. Much of 2003 was focused on making sure elected officials at all levels understand the value of Toronto’s struggling arts sector to all Canadians. The Coalition had a lot to do with the $200,000 increase in base funding to the arts through Toronto Arts Council. With good effort, greater gains can be achieved in 2004. Toronto Arts Council has asked the City to increase base funding by $1 million in 2004. It’s important that our 44 City Councillors know that a lot of the people they represent want to see increased support for Toronto artists and their organizations. Our request is being considered at City Hall right now. Call, write or speak to your representative in person. Make sure your friends, neighbors, co-workers or supporters do the same. We now have a City Hall that believes artists are as important as potholes—as important as garbage. This is a big improvement. Now we have to convince them that artists need to be equipped as well as the police. We think a dollar invested in the arts pays social and economic dividends equal to or greater than a dollar invested in any other area. The arts help make neighborhoods safe by drawing people, activity, lighting, cafes; also, by providing mentorship to young people. The arts reclaim neighborhoods. The arts educate. They provide recreation. They make people healthier and happier. They generate innovation and wealth. They help us understand each other. They feed our souls. We know that a lot of Councillors do get it, but they need support in making the case to their colleagues. Coalition members will be notified about key meetings leading to a final decision. Hopefully, many members will be able to attend that meeting to lend support and see for themselves how seriously this new Council takes the arts. Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues to encourage them to join our growing membership and to lend their voice to the effort. (back to newsletter)
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| WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR ARTSWEEK 2004? ArtsWeek 2004 kicks off Friday, September 24, for a ten-day run,
produced for the first time by Toronto
Arts Coalition. That’s us. Please mark your calendars
and start thinking about what you’ll be doing then to celebrate
the arts in Toronto. ArtsWeek is Canada’s largest all-arts
festival. ArtsWeek includes all the arts all across the City—in
theatres, galleries, parks, schools, neighborhoods—even
shopping centres. Put on a show or go to one. Make art or buy
some. Talk it up. Toronto comes alive: Professional theatre, music, dance; community street festivals; special performances, gallery openings, open rehearsals, screenings, behind-the-scenes tours, gallery hops. Bathroom divas get to audition for the opera. Aspiring ballerinas can try on Karen Kain’s dance shoes. The 2004-5 Season is launched. ArtsWeek is a great time for both artists and consumers to tour the City, to go to places we’ve never been before. It’s a great time to take neighbors to our favorite theatre or gallery. It’s a great time to introduce kids to arts in their schools--and out of them—or put on a show in our neighborhood parks. It’s a great time to market the arts—create special contests and discount opportunities, to tie-in with restaurants, hotels and businesses, to boost subscription sales. Let us know what you’re doing for ArtsWeek and we’ll help promote it. To receive advance ArtsWeek promotion, producers and presenters can confirm their events at Toronto Arts Online before July 31. What are you doing for ArtsWeek 2004? Let us know and stay tuned. Info: cheryl@torontoartscouncil.org
or 416-392-6802 x 214. ArtsWeek 2003 website: www.artsweek.ca (back to newsletter)
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| Speak Up for the Arts! – CBC Wants to Hear From You As City of Toronto moves toward completion of
this year’s budget process, CBC Radio's Metro
Morning is asking Toronto to weigh in on how Naturally, the Coalition hopes City Council will make arts spending a priority. “We want you to call us and leave a one-minute message, making the case for why something you care about should get funding from the city,” says Jessica Low, producer of the morning show. “We want you to be as specific as possible…Tell us how much more money you need and what will happen if the money isn't spent. “ Metro Morning will play the one-minute responses during the lead up to the city budget in April. Let’s make sure the arts get some attention. Call Metro Morning at 416-205-5826. (back to newsletter)
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT TACF Looking for alternative ways to invest in the arts? Consider volunteering with our parent organization, the Toronto Arts Council Foundation (TACF). We are in need of help with administration work (data entry, database clean-up, Toronto Arts Online event entry, etc.), research, writing, event planning, event day staffing and even more exciting stuff. Helping out in our office is a great way to get experience, gain contacts and keep your ear to the ground for the latest opportunities in the arts sector. We have resource materials, high-end graphics, fundraising and desktop publishing software, and we’re happy to give tutorials and lend our available resources to regular volunteers who need to learn a few new tricks, research foundations and granting opportunities or design a poster, postcard or brochure. For your effort we will reimburse your TTC travel to and from the TACF. For every 20 volunteer hours you will receive a pair of tickets to an arts production in the city. If you would like more information about
volunteering with the Toronto Arts Council Foundation please email
Elizabeth
Teodorini or call her at 416-392-6802 x 212. (back
to newsletter) |