NDP pledges increased support for arts community
CBC News | Posted: October 29, 2015 10:30 PM | Last Updated: October 30, 2015
Leader Earle McCurdy says N.L. Arts Council funding will grow by $1.75M over three years
A New Democratic government will dramatically increase funding to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and to restore arts funding for school programs if the party wins Nov. 30.
NDP Leader Earle McCurdy said musicians, actors, writers, visual artists and filmmakers "all make a great contributions to how we see ourselves," and they deserve better support.
He said an NDP government will increase the annual grant to the arts council by $1.75 million over three years, bringing it to $3.8 million.
He said this increase will help leverage more funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and other sources.
"The arts council is a chief source of funding for artistic creation … and we need to give them the resources to do the job," said McCurdy.
McCurdy also pledged to increase funding to the provincial arts council, and to restore funding that would re-establish programs in schools, including the visiting artists program.
An economic driver
McCurdy said the arts community accounts for up to $400 million in economic activity in the province, and supports more than 5,000 jobs.
It's estimated that for every dollar of government investment into cultural and heritage activities, another $3 is generated in spending on goods and services.
McCurdy said that economic contribution is often overlooked, and pointed out that roughly 10 per cent of artists actually earn enough money to make a living from their craft.
He said the median income for an artist is just over $10,000, which is less than half the national average.
He said increased funding to the arts council will help improve the situation since federal funding is often linked to provincial grants.
Currently, about half of the grant applications to the arts council are approved, with the average grant about $4,000.
"That's well behind other provinces," he said.
The Canada Council for the Arts dispersed more than $142 million in grants last year, but only one per cent of that came to Newfoundland and Labrador, McCurdy stated.
He said that's not good enough.
"We clearly have a lot more than one percent of the artistic talent in this country," he said.