Art Business News
Visual art industry responds to ruling
on McMichael gallery. (Dec. 8/96)
Toronto - The response of industry players and staff at the McMichael Canadian
Collection, a public museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, is an appeal to the public.
Staff and others want to pressure the Provincial government into appealing
a recent court ruling which upholds the McMichael family's 1965 agreement
with gallery owner, the Province of Ontario. The ruling reasserts the influence
of seed donors Robert and Signe McMichael over all gallery acquisitions
(See below, McMichael agreement with Province upheld).
The McMichael staff have invited the public to view the art which may be
disposed of as a result of the court ruling. Staff are asking the public
to decide if the gallery trustees and staff on the acquisition committee
have acted responsibly in their choices of art for the collection. The public
is not being asked to decide on the legality of trustee or staff behaviour
as regards the contract between the McMichaels and the Province. The public
is invited to write to the Provincial Minister of Citizenship and Culture,
Marilyn Mushinski, who has until Dec. 16 to appeal the ruling.
In addition to staff efforts, art industry players have organised a press
conference at the Art Gallery of Ontario, apparently for Dec. 8/96. Artist
Lisa Steele and arts lawyer Ella Agnew plan to raise the question of whether
art institutions should be held accountable to demands of donors.
Art education, student's vomit project
seen as vandalism (Dec. 8/96)
Toronto - A student at the Ontario College of Art and Design has devised
a project in which he deliberately throws up on art. The Globe and Mail
(Nov. 30/96) reports that Jubal Brown, 22, has thrown up on two paintings
so far, a Dufy at the Art Gallery of Ontario and a Mondrian at New York's
Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Brown works in brightly colored primary colors in this project. Before
vomiting in New York this past November, he consumed blue food, blue Jello
and blue cake icing. Before heaving his medium, however, Mr. Brown said
that he could not decide between a Picasso and the Mondrian. "Composition
in Red,White and Blue" garnered his attention "by the sheer force
of its banality." Mr. Brown has commented on his artistic technique
-- he does not stick his finger down his throat. Rather, he is stirred by
an emotive response to the work of art. About the Mondrian he said, "I
found its lifelessness threatening and it made me sick." The N.Y. event
was documented by friends who snapped a photo of Mr. Brown next to the affected
painting.
When Mr. Brown spewed red vomit on Raoul Dufy's "Harbour at le Havre"
at the AGO in May/96, gallery staff considered it an accident. The staff
at MoMA, however, responded far differently to Mr. Brown's activities in
N.Y. and quickly brought in police. The Globe reports that an AGO conservator
who cleaned the Dufy canvas wants to minimize publicity for fear of "copycat"
behaviour. Mr. Brown's project is perceived as vandalism.
MoMA Director Glen Lowry has written to the College and Mr. Brown's activities
are being reviewed in light of College codes of behaviour. The AGO is seeking
legal advice. Mr. Brown is reported to be undeterred. He intends to implement
the last phase of his project, vomiting yellow on an unspecified target.
Proposed Federal tobacco legislation would
hurt cultural events. (Dec. 2/96)
Ottawa - New legislation will be tabled early this week by Federal Health
Minister David Dingwall that will severely limit advertising of tobacco
products. The changes would ban tobacco advertising with these exceptions:
ads would be allowed in magazines read by adults; and advertising would
be severely limited at sponsored arts and sporting events. The latter proposal
has arts and sports groups very concerned. The Globe and Mail (Nov. 29/96)
reports that Tennis Canada president Bob Moffat believes "it's tantamount
to a ban anyway, because the tobacco companies will not feel their sponsorship
has any meaning."
Elements of the legislation that would have an impact on arts and sports
include:
- use of tobacco brand advertising in event promotions would be reduced
to negatively affect the link between tobacco and an appealing lifestyle
which is associated with arts and sports
- use of tobacco brand advertising would be banned on items such as baseball
caps or t-shirts that appeal to youth or that connect tobacco to appealing
lifestyle images
- bans on broadcast advertising, ads on billboards, buses, kiosks
McMichael agreement with Province upheld
(Nov.24/96)
Wrapping up what has been an unusual chapter in the history of the McMichael
Canadian Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, a judge has upheld an agreement
the seed donors made with the Province of Ontario in 1965.
As reported earlier in ABM, Robert and Signe McMichael were concerned that
the art museum collection, in particular, was being taken in a direction
other than they intended when they originally donated the museum property
and their collection to the Province. The couple launched a suit this past
summer.
In conclusion, the ruling judge declared that the government was in breach
of the 1965 agreement by including works of art in the collection which
were contrary to the intent of the agreement.
Judge Grossi was quoted in the Globe and Mail (Sat., Nov. 16/96): "The
intent and purpose of the McMichael Collection was to create a collection
of art based on the artists of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries
and works of other artists who have made contributions to the development
of Canadian art as designated by the [gallery's] advisory committee."
Although the art museum is at arm's length from the Provincial government,
the government is still responsible for the art museum and activities therein.
The Globe further quotes the judge as saying that the conflict was escalated
"by the gallery's acquisition of a fausse avant-garde work called Babylon,
whose avowed purpose is to 'mock the values that gave rise to the collection.'"
The artwork in question is an outdoor sculpture by Canadian artist John
McEwen.
The museum's Executive Director, Barbara Tyler, is unhappy about the decision:
"If today's decision stands, it will, in reality, mean the scaling
back of the collection and exhibiting of this country's heritage."
The McMichael's lawyer told the hearing that his clients consider that the
museum board was "turning a boutique into a supermarket."
Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa -
Public and Private Art Funding. (Nov.18/96). by Tom Dennen, former editor
of D'ARTS Magazine, the Durban Arts Association's monthly newsletter.
"Durban's museums are a bigger drawcard than the Kruger Park but they
may not survive the council's drastic budget cuts." - Gill Gowans in
the Natal KwaZulu Sunday Tribune., November 10, '96.33
The South African government's Reconstruction and Development Policy (RDP)
is wreaking havoc in Kwazulu Natal's publicly funded cultural institutions.
KwaZulu Natal is one of the country's nine new Provinces and Durban's city
council, running the largest city in KwaZulu Natal, is cutting art, museum,
theatre, orchestral and other cultural budgets including what some consider
to be for vital research projects.
The argument is largely that the present cultural focus is Eurocentric and
that the money should go into the RDP for basics like food, water, a roof
that doesn't leak, a job and some kind of future for the children of the
'previously disadvantaged'.
But as this reporter has stated earlier through several publications in
reply to persistent demands for the 'Africanization' of education and culture
in South Africa, "black artists and writers working today within a
global context are contributing to the total accumulation of human culture
and are using concepts inherent in the whole of their cultural heritage
from pre-history, through Greek and Roman culture, through their own to
what is happening today.
Nevertheless, even those amenities like the Kwa Muhle museum devoted solely
to indigenous (Zulu) culture are suffering from municipal and federal cuts.
On the private side, however, Durban's International Convention Centre (ICC),
dubbed "The Finest convention Centre in the World", is scheduled
to open in August '97 with over two million rands worth of commissioned
local art.
The 300-room-plus Hilton Hotel, virtually bolted onto the ICC, will also
be festooned with privately commissioned artwork drawn from local artists,
hopefully from black, Indian, Colored and White communities.
Peter Davis, editor of KwaZulu Natal's Sunday Tribune, said, also on November
10, "If all these public institutions do not accept that their public
funding will shrink over the next few years and that they had better find
alternatives or intelligently downsize, then they are going to be weeping
on the streets."
It is clear to this writer that, in view of similar situations around the
globe, the support of "art and culture" is shifting away from
politics and directly into the hands of those who judge it for themselves
and are willing to pay for what they want.
The question is, what are the alternatives available to public institutions,
bodies which are simply not geared to raising money or making profits?
The latest word on funding for Toronto's
Harbourfront Centre - Nov. 10/96.
The Canadian Federal government has pried itself loose from full funding
responsibility for Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. The waterfront centre,
a mixture of theatre space, public gallery, and artists' studios, has been
a popular tourist attraction for many years.
The centre is part of a 100 acre parcel of land -- previously used as dockyard
-- owned by the Federal government. In 1991, the government announced that
it would fund the centre for three more years. At the end of that period,
money from sales of other government held lakeshore properties would be
used to establish an $80-million endowment. Income from this endowment would
sustain the centre.
This plan, however, came at a very bad time, at the start of a recession
from which Canada is just recovering. At the end of the three years, in
1993/94, an endowment did not materialise. At that time, concern for the
future of Harbourfront quickly turned to fear with a new announcement from
Ottawa. The government had decided to end its financial support of the centre.
It proposed to provide funding for 1994, cut 1/3 from its 1995 subsidy,
and end its subsidy in 1996.
Media interest and lobbying, however, turned the tide for Harbourfront and
the Federal government instead decided to hire a facilitator to work out
a 5 year plan which would see the release of Ottawa from further obligations.
Finally, this past summer, it was agreed that the City of Toronto would
assume ownership of the property and provide the centre with $750,000./year
beginning in 1997. Ottawa will provide $20-million over the next 5 years
plus lease and parking revenues from other lakeshore properties.
New arts sector "union", public
notice for application to Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations
Tribunal - Nov. 3/96.
The CAPPRT has made public notice that the "Conseil des metiers d'art
du Quebec" has made application for "union" certification.
Competing applications for certification or concerns must reach the Tribunal
no later than Dec. 13/96.
Their notice in the Globe and Mail (Oct. 30) reads:
In accordance with subsection 25(3) of the Status of the Artist
Act, the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal
hereby gives notice that it has received an application for certification
from the "Conseil des metiers d'art du Quebec" to represent a
sector composed of all independent professional artists and artisans in
the field of arts and crafts in Quebec who produce original artistic works,
either in single o rmultiple copies, intended for a utilitarian or decorative
purpose or as a form of expression, through the use of a craft associated
with the transformation of wood, leather, textiles, metals, silicates or
any other material, commissioned or distributed by any producer subject
to the Status of the Artist Act.
Any artists' association that wishes to make a competing application for
certification in respect of the same sector or any part of the same sector
must file its application for certification no later than December 13, 1996.
Competing applications for certification should be sent to the address below.
Any artist, artists' association affected by this application wishing to
make representations to the Tribunal regarding the representativeness of
the applicant must notify the Tribunal in writing of their interest no later
than December 13, 1996.
Affected parties should make their interest known by facsimile or mail to
the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal,
8 th Floor West, 240 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1A1; Facsimile No.
(613) 947-4125.
Fresh government efforts in Canadian arts,
the Interprovincial Council of Cultural Directors
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Oct. 29, 1996 -- Federal, provincial and territorial
ministers responsible for culture today endorsed co-operative efforts across
Canada in the arts, cultural industries and heritge sectors -- areas which
influence nearly 900,000 jobs and have a $30-billion impact on the economy.
Co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila
Copps, and Saskatchewan's Minister of Municipal Government Carol Teichrob,
the ministers reviewed and agreed to a series of specific actions involving
cultural sector training, new technologies and cultural heritage tourism.
While recognizing differences in policies, practices, and priorities,the
ministers affirmed their commitment to the arts, cultural industries and
heritage sectors. They unanimously agreed to the following actions:
1) Ministers undertake to explore ways to encourage public and private sector
partnerships for funding of the arts, cultural industries and heritage.
2) Ministers direct the Interprovincial Council of Cultural Directors and
the Interprovincial Heritage Advisory Committee to review government actions
with a view to ensure optimal use and delivery of funding to the arts, cultural
industries and heritage sectors.
3) Ministers direct the Interprovincial Council of Cultural Directors and
the Interprovincial Heritage Advisory Committee to recommend mechanisms
to encourage the development of Canadian content on the information highway.
4) Ministers encourage the establishsment of efficient links and further
synergies between the tourism industry, and the arts, cultural industries
and heritage sectors (through the Canadian Tourism Commission and other
like organizations).
5) Ministers direct the Interprovincial Council of Cultural Directors and
the Interprovincial Heritage Advisory Committee, to consult with the cultural
sector to identify the unique training needs of the arts, cultural industries
and heritage sectors and recommend appropriate action to their respective
jurisdictions.
Furthermore, ministers have agreed to consult their respective governments
on a series of guiding principles to be discussed at their next meeting
to be held in 1997 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Canada's financial future, predictions by
Chief Economist, Bank of Canada
Chief Economist for the Bank of Canada, John McCallum, was interviewed on
a Canadian morning news show, Canada AM (Oct. 18). During the interview,
the economist predicted that 15 years from now, Canadians should experience
a significant reduction in federal debt. This will result in reductions
to personal income taxes and a rejuvenation of the health care system and
other social services. However, Mr. McCallum said that this rosy prediction
relies on holding the present fiscal course of the federal government. This
course focuses on cuts in spending and maintaining current levels of taxation
to eliminate the deficit (which many believe has already been beaten) and
the debt. The future beneficiaries of this course will be "Generation
X", and baby boomers. Xers will be entering their prime earning years
and baby boomers will be making great demands on the health care system.
With a looming federal election, there is the possibility that the current
fiscal course may be altered. The Reform Party, the only real contender
to succeed the Liberals, has just unveiled its election campaign platform.
They will reduce taxes if elected. Such a change in federal policy may slow
the reduction of the debt and the availability of cash to support social
services.
The current government supports traditional arts policies of subsidy, viewing
the arts as being largely unable to support themselves. However, there have
been reductions in all areas of spending including the Canada Council, a
traditional agency to which arts organisations and artists turn for funding.
Little is known of the Reform policies on the arts.
Fundraising and the VLT in Ontario
Recent skirmishes in the Ontario legislature have focused on the alleged
infiltration of organised crime into the new province-owned gaming houses.
The RCMP is investigating. This puts the future of further gaming houses
and VLTs (video lottery terminals, also called 'one-armed bandits') in some
question. It was anticipated that the related VLT Bill 75 will be passed
this fall. The provincial government has promised to give 10 percent of
the proceeds from the VLTs to charitable organisations. Arts and culture
charities make up 14 percent of charities in Canada.
Ontario Government seeks to increase volunteer
labour (Oct. 6/96)
The Arts Advocate, published in Toronto, reports that Ontario's conservative
government has made increasing volunteerism in the province an important
objective. Julia Munro, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier, formed an
advisory panel which recently heard from 50 invited people to recommend
ways to increase volunteerism. A report from this panel will be presented
in late fall.
With reduction of government funding to all sectors, including cultural,
that have received assistance, comes a loss of jobs. A means of filling
those spaces, in part, is through volunteer labour. It is unconfirmed as
to whether this is indeed a government objective.
Withholding a Work is Not Infringement
U.S. DECIDED-- Richard A. Frasier v. Adams-Sandler, Inc. et al (4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, 95-1806, decided August 23, 1996).
The court held that depriving a copyright holder from access to his work
is not an infringement of copyright. Infringement only occurs when someone
"reproduces, prints or makes use of copyrighted
material." The plaintiff, a photographer, claimed copyright infringement
after giving slides to the defendant that the defendant held for three years
before finally returning them. The plaintiff claimed that by withholding
the images from him, he could not exercise his own exclusive rights under
the
copyright law. However, as the panel of the court pointed out, the plaintiff
could not quote any authority for this interpretation of the copyright laws.
The decision is available at
http://www.ljextra.com/cgi-bin/f_cat@prod/ljextra/data/external/9608278.c04.
Canadian On-Line Content Liability Study
Although court cases have dealt with the issue of content-related Internet
liability, Canadian and U.S. copyright statutes have not yet legislated
solutions to this issue. The Canadian government has recently commissioned
four consultants to undertake a consultation process on this issue and to
provide a written report by early 1997. The report will discuss information
controls, privacy issues and the protection of works and policy models in
Canada and other OECD countries. It will discuss liability for Internet
service providers, Bulletin Board Services, newsgroups and other related
services and pornography, hate propaganda, defamation and privacy of confidential
information, copyright and intellectual property. The study assumes that
liability is possible on the Internet. According to the study's terms of
reference, its priority is to examine "who is or should be liable"
and to describe the environment and issues in relation to liability and
not to make recommendations for policy, legislative or regulatory changes.
To be on the mailing list for the final report, e-mail LEDUC.PIERRE@ic.gc.ca.
[ABM is on mailing list for this report and will report on findings as they
are available].
The above two news notes are courtesy of Copyright and New Media Legal
News, Vol.1, No. 2 (Sept. 15/96). Editor Lesley Ellen Harris practises
Copyright and New Media Law and is the author of the book "Canadian
Copyright Law (Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995). Ms. Harris can be reached
at copylaw@interlog.com and at http://www.mcgrawhill.ca/copyrightlaw
Canadians say OK to arts funding cuts
A study by Insight Canada Research indicated that 55 percent of Canadians
polled believe that the Federal government should cut funding of arts, sports,
entertainment and fashion events. 1,688 people aged 19 or over were phoned
between Sept. 11 and 15. The study was commissioned by the Alliance for
Sponsorship Freedom, a lobby group in favour of tobacco sponsorship. The
Globe and Mail (Sept. 20/96) reports that 84 percent of people polled believe
that "companies operating a legal business enterprise in Canada should
be allowed to sponsor" events. Tobacco advertising was banned in 1989.
Since then, such tobacco companies as Du Maurier have put their money into
sponsorships. Available money has spawned events, programs and even buildings
that now rely onese companies for some portion of their budgets, reports
the Globe.
