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Art Gallery of Ontario and Stratford
Festival Respond to Cuts
All Ontario cultural institutions that receive provincial subsidies have
experienced significant cuts to those funds. In October, the Art Gallery
of Ontario had 3.8% cut from its current fiscal year's budget. This amounts
to an approximately $476,000. reduction in subsidy from the Ministry of
Citizenship, Culture and Recreation. The Stratford Festival is feeling the
effect of a 25% decrease in funds from the Ontario Arts Council -- which
is passing on the reductions to its own government funding. As a result
of the cuts, the AGO has laid off 25 employees -- seven management and seven
non-management positions. The AGO now has less than 300 employees (about
half of these are full-time). In addition, the E.P. Taylor Audio-Visual
Centre has been closed and the functions of the gallery's Extension Services
department have been assumed by other personnel. The gallery cafe has also
been closed. Approximately 40% of the AGO's operating budget is government
subsidy.
The Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ont., on the other hand, relies on the
public purses for only 8% of its $24-million budget -- the rest is generated
from box office and donors. Perhaps in anticipation of the recent round
of cuts, the Festival has established a relationship with Live Entertainment
Corp. Livent is a Toronto commercial theatre producer responsible for the
renovation of the Pantages Theatre (given to Garth Drabinsky in a special
deal upon his retirement from Cineplex Odeon). Livent has produced the long
running Phantom of the Opera , Kiss of the Spiderwoman , Showboat
and Sunset Boulevard. Livent and the Festival plan to co-produce
Barrymore in 1996. As reported in the Globe and Mail, Livent
will underwrite some of the costs an will pay the Festival a weekly royalty
when it takes the show on tour to Broadway and other U.S. venues. In a move
to further increase its revenues, the Festival has announced a $13-million
renovation to the main Festival theatre. Renovations include a larger theatre
shop and coffee shop.
The Canadian Museums Association Lists Federal
Cuts
In their publication Museogramme (Aug., 1995) the CMA lists announced
cuts to federal spending on the arts. This list is reproduced here with
permission of the CMA:
One Response to Art Institution Woes:
The Canadian Arts Stabilization Program
One response to the financial woes of visual art institutions is the newly
proposed Canadian Arts Stabilization Program. Spearheaded by the Samuel
and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, Montreal, CASP aims to strengthen
and stabilise all non-profit arts institutions of national and international
stature across Canada. This it will attempt to do by raising private sector
funds and obtaining matching funds from government.
A Canadian antecedent to CASP was the Investment in the Arts Program. This
program was unsuccessful in raising private sector funds during a generally
more prosperous time in 1986. A direct and successful model for CASP, however,
is the National Arts Stabilization Fund. NASF has been operating in the
U.S. since 1983. It was an initiative of the Ford, Mellon and Rockefeller
Foundations.
CASP would consist of a national body and six regional bodies. The regional
bodies would be made up of private sector leaders, provincial and municipal
government officials, and representatives from the stabilisation program.
The local groups would nominate organisations for participation. CASP hopes
to raise 60% of funds from the private sector and the rest from government.
The monies raised would be distributed as grants to participating institutions.
The grants are intended to cover operating expenses and to retire debt.
The program would also operate a "technical assistance program"
which these institutions must accept.
The "technical assistance" criterion assumes that the financial
problems of some institutions are a result of bad management. Management
of participating institutions would be analysed. Recommendations would be
made for changes. Critics object to this aspect of the program calling it
paternalistic. Another criticism of the program is that eligible institutions
must have operating budgets of $500,000. or more. This disqualifies many
arts institutions. There is also fear that these small institutions would
suffer from the diversion of private sector money away from them and to
CASP.
Yet another criticism of the program is that, unlike the U.S., Canada does
not have enough private wealth to support the arts. In fact, the Conference
Board of Canada's Institute of Public Affairs Research has surveyed and
found that the Canadian corporate community's investment in the arts has
dropped from 13.4% to 11.9% in recent years. As well, the program requires
a high level of government financial involvement. Given the widespread reductions
in spending at all levels of government, this may be impossible. Government
has not yet committed to the project.
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