A political pat on the back from the arts community
I’d like to take a moment to actually pat a politician on the back. I don’t do this very often so please savour the moment… ah… yes…
Yesterday Calgary City Council made a very smart move – a move that looks to the future instead of just fixing the here and now. Calgary Arts Development says, “yesterday Council ear-marked 5% of the province’s $3.3 billion infrastructure contribution for arts & culture space in the city. This amounts to $165 million in civic funding for arts and culture space over the next 10 years. Much of this support will be directed towards projects brought forward by Calgary Arts Development though the Arts Space Assessment Process.”
This is fantastic news. I am a huge proponent of budgeting via percentages (i.e. policing gets 10% of our revenues, waterworks gets 15%, etc). So to see city council ear-mark 5% to arts and cultural spaces is indeed a very positive thing. Usually we have to fight to get even 1% of any governmental budget to be ear-marked for anything designed to improve quality of life for Calgarians.
So again, a big thank you to each and ever alderman who saw this investment as an opportunity to not only fix a current problem (extreme lack of available space for cultural activity) but to look to the future (making Calgary a world-wide cultural beacon).
A culture of policy announcements: 30% is a good step
This morning the provincial government unveiled their much anticipated (at least it was anticipated a year and a half ago) cultural policy. (You can read it here.)
I was extremely impressed with the number of people that showed up to the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Turnout was such that there were not enough chairs and about one third of the audience had to stand. It is fantastic to see that there are that many people in Calgary that believe it is about time that Alberta once again had a cultural policy guiding them. And it was good to see Peter Lougheed front and centre leading the charge. (Unless they were trotting him out as a publicity stunt.)
The big news of the day however was probably the fancy dual press conference technology – Minister Hector Goudreau in Edmonton and Premier Ed Stelmach in Calgary – that allowed both cities the honour of participating in the announcement together. (That and watch the premier befuddled by said technology: “Hopefully this works.” Yes it has been working for 10 minutes already. “I guess they are still clapping.” Yup. You have two audiences listening. That’s how it works. That’s the point of all this.)
All kidding aside there was good news for arts and culture practitioners in the content of the press conference: “Alberta’s Cultural Policy”. Which like most policies has keystone goals and guiding principles et al, but there were a couple real numbers included too. All in all, it will be a $12 million investment in arts and culture, which includes $1.6 million for the Alberta Film and Television Development Fund and a 30% increase to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
To put that last number in perspective the Calgary arts community has been advocating for about 5 years for a doubling (100%) increase to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts which before 2002 hadn’t received an increase since the early 80s. So, to the arts community this announcement is a very positive thing, but is only being seen as a first step.
On the negative side I’m not sure what to think of the announcement that the government is expanding its definition of “culture” to include sport and recreation. I agree this can – and perhaps should – fall into the province’s definition of “culture”, but I certainly hope this will not be at the expense of the inclusion of “art”. It’d be a shame to see money earmarked for one funnelled to the other.
The real good news for all in the room – myself included – was this was the first time the arts community has heard the government use the same language we’ve been using during the advocacy process. Could it be that the message is finally getting through? I hope so. Or is it just that Michelle Stanners wrote the premier’s speech? None-the-less its wonderful to hear a provincial government talking about culture once again.
PS – When I got home I was impressed to see the Alberta Liberal Caucus had already emailed me a copy of their Arts Policy. Comparables? A doubling of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in their first year and a tripling by the end of their third year as the government. Tough not to give this round to the Liberals who are taking the Calgary arts community’s ask and going above and beyond it. That’s something most everyone tends to like to see in their government. (Of course they are the opposition and can promise whatever they like at this point. They are after all just trying to get elected.)
[On the arts front: I'll blog more later about British academic John Holden's lecture on "Arts and Politics" which was presented by Calgary Arts Development last night. I was lucky enough to get to sit beside Mr. Holden at dinner on Wednesday night. He certainly had lots to say and for us, arts folk and politicians, to think about.]
Rumour mill churning on The Bow
I think I like the new banner up there at the top of the ol’ blog. I like the look of downtown Calgary in the future. It reminds me of the opening credits of “Dallas” for some reason though. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not yet…
Anyway, I when I first was looking at the image of Calgary’s downtown future I couldn’t help being struck by the Bow. That’s going to be one super sexy skyscraper when its done. The photo to the left is what the site looks like right now. (If you like, you can click here for the Calgary Herald’s “The Bow rising” photo gallery and follow the progress of construction.)
And of course thinking about the Bow got me thinking about the – now infamous – National Portrait Gallery space.
Do you remember last year all that hubbub about the federal government putting a the national gallery into a large public space that has been planned at the Bow? You remember: Stephen Harper proposes the first national gallery outside of Ottawa for his hometown of Calgary and everyone outside the 403 area code got riled up at the idea of such favouritism? No? Well maybe you remember the federal government short listing nine cities to put forward proposals to host the gallery? (Yes, Calgary is one of those cities.) Or maybe the instead you remember the City of Ottawa report saying it would save the country $2.5 million to simply build the gallery in the National Capital Region like all other national galleries have been.
BUT I DIGRESS because I started thinking about what was going to happen in the Bow’s public space now that it will not be housing the National Portrait Gallery. So I did some digging and here is what I’ve been able to piece together from various bits of scuttlebutt on the street: the plan is still to use the space for arts/cultural uses; as a matter of fact I hear that a deal may be close to move one (or maybe two or three) existing Calgary arts organization(s) into the Bow. (None of this is verified though.)
Okay, sure that’s exciting, but for me what’s more exciting is what the domino part of this process might mean. Because we are talking about existing organization(s) making a move, that would open up existing arts space in Calgary for other organizations. If what I hear is true, then there may be three or more existing organizations that don’t have a permanent home getting one!
This would certainly aleiveatve a lot of the stress currently on arts and cultural groups in Calgary that are clammering for space. For more details on that look no further than Calgary Arts Development’s cultural spaces report. Odds are the Bow will be completed in about five years.
Calgary’s 2008: the year of dreaming BIG
Hello all! I’ve been rather silent over the holidays so apologies in advance for the Ken Chapman-sized post…
Now that the New Year has arrived it is time for all of us to get back to work. And I think it is time for Calgarians to seriously begin looking forward at what we want 2008 to be. What do we want to accomplish for ourselves this year on our path toward becoming a “great city”.
I know I’ll have plenty to say in the coming months about the political direction we have to head in, so I want to take this opportunity to make my first post of aught eight about the quality of life in Calgary. Specifically our arts and cultural sensibilities.
During almost every one of my years of involvement in Calgary’s arts and cultural scene there has been a sense going into any new year that things are building — and certainly this year is no different. But this year I think there is something a little extra in the water: a sense that this could be the year we officially “arrive” on the arts scene. Of course nobody has any idea what that means, and I doubt anyone else will admit the same, because “arriving” is impossible to measure. None-the-less I think you can feel it in the air.
So what can we do to make sure this happens? I turn your attention to a comment I wrote on the Calgary Arts Development blog last June about “branding Calgary’s arts scene”. I suggest here that the four steps I outlined for Calgary’s arts and cultural community should be accomplished in 2008.
1. What is the problem we are trying to solve? Is it: are Calgarian’s proud enough of what their artists do? Is it: that Calgarians don’t attend enough arts events? Is it: that we want more visitors to come to Calgary for the express purpose of our arts and cultural scene? Is it: that the arts aren’t as intrinsic in what Calgary “is” as we’d like them to be?
2. Once that is done we must identify what the key issue of that problem is. What is the blockage? What is the barrier to successful communication? Why doesn’t this exist/work/happen already? We’ll need to dig deep and find the specific issue (not the symptom but the actual problem).
3. Then we can finally look at what our current equity is. What IS Calgary’s arts scene? What do all these artists and groups have in common? There is some kind of current brand, what is it? This is important because we can’t just make something up and apply it. That’s false advertising and will fizzle quickly. We also have to do this so that we get a brand that is as dynamic as Calgary’s artists are, otherwise we’ll get something lame and corporate like “js” points out in Edmonton: “The Art of Downtown”. (WTF is that? What does that mean?)
4. Then, and only then, can we bring together all three answers and state what Calgary’s arts brand is. (A brand is not a logo, that’s just a visual representation of your brand. A brand is what you are. What drives you. Its your heart, why you do what you do.)
And for a little extra cream in your coffee I’ll look back again to a Facebook message I sent Eugene Stickland that he wrote about in his weekly Calgary Herald column this past July (when he was querying friends on their thoughts about the Calgary Stampede). Hopefully this helps get the juices flowing for 2008.
I love Stampede for all the reasons I hate it. And I hate it for all the reasons I love it.
Stampede is the one time of year all Calgarians come together in clearly defined community, if you will. Downtown becomes alive. People actually talk to one and other on the streets. And judging by the CHR post-Stampede STD stats: Calgarian’s love each other during those 10 days. They love each other a lot.
I’m not a Stampede fanatic (I doubt I’ll go down to the grounds this year) but Stampede is the only thing that I have found that offers Calgary an identity. That’s why Tourism Calgary and Calgary Economic Development created the “Heart of the New West” tagline that now greets all as they enter our fine city’s ever expanding city limits. But what the heck does that mean?! Those who know me have heard me say it a thousand times however: you might as well have called it “Heart of the Old West”.
Sure those agencies make pretty posters with ballerinas. But they’re wearing cowboy boots. This only perpetuates the redneck myth. But the Stampede can be used as a cultural beacon. Let me explain…
I used to be one of those arts community folks that said the Calgary arts community would be better off if the Stampede disappears. Calgary artists are doing some amazing things and breaking some rules and creating art unlike anywhere else. But on civic, national and international levels the Stampede is all consuming and people rarely notice these artists. Everything Calgary does is framed by the Stampede. The amazing offerings of Calgary artists don’t stand a chance. It’s like sleeping next to a giant. Nobody really pays attention to you. Least of all the giant.
But over the past couple of years I’ve been spending a lot more time with business people in the downtown core and I’ve notice that their “stories” are not so different than those of the arts community. However they have tended to find a way to frame them better. This is what I call the “Calgary maverick” story.
Calgarians in both the business world and the arts community are breaking new ground (or a new trail if you want to use old west language). We’re constantly creating new things and thinking in ways that are different than in the past. We’re all mavericks in the same way the cowboys of the old west and founders of the Stampede were. And certainly Calgary has a maverick mentality: if you want to do it, go to Calgary, you can make it happen there.
That is how the Stampede can be embraced instead of reviled.
This means we as arts organizations have to start re-shaping our stories (or key messages). Think of the Alberta Ballet’s Fiddle and the Drum. They could have just said look at the beautiful ballet we have created. But no, instead they said, look at how Jean tracked down Joni Mitchell from self imposed exile and worked with her to create something unlike anything Joni’s music has been used for before. That is a maverick story.
As an added bonus the media love maverick stories! (They love pretty much any personal story but if it is one of someone overcoming odds it’s even sexier). Everything about the High Performance Rodeo is a maverick story. That’s why it gets so much coverage every year. Why did the Grand Theatre re-opening get three double page spreads in the Herald? Because it is a maverick story of both a theatre company and an old building breaking the boundaries. (Tooting my own horn, yes. Sorry.)
Let the Stampede continue to form the identity of the city, but let’s all start framing our stories as part of the cities identity. There’s no need to fight it when we can make it work for us.
Also, just an observation: the Stampede used to be about family fun like Carnival d’Hiver in Quebec City but it has turned into a more adult oriented booze fest a la Mardi Gras. I wouldn’t say either of these events is better than the other. They’re just different but equally fun for different reasons.
The ‘I hate’ Stampede part of me is excited for August to hit so our downtown will stop smelling like stale beer and urine on every block. (And go back to just smelling like urine on every other block.)
More to follow for sure! Have a great year everyone! One filled with creative ideas that help make Calgary an even better city.
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