Report on N.B. arts scene suggests one-quarter of cultural venues not in good shape

A new report on New Brunswick's arts, culture and heritage venues has found that many are in poor condition, securing funding is "a significant concern" and workers in the sector are beset by challenges including low incomes and mental health challenges.

The report, titled Impacts and Challenges of Cultural Venues in New Brunswick, includes survey results from 71 venues, from art galleries and theatres to libraries and bookstores.

Nearly 60 per cent of respondents said they had concerns about "obtaining adequate government funding" and roughly one-quarter believe their venues are not in good condition.  

Julie Whitenect, the executive director of ArtsLink NB, one of the groups that produced the report, said funding for the sector has been declining steadily for years.

"The provincial government's cultural funding has been stagnant for a decade, unfortunately," she said.

"We know that costs have risen exponentially in the last few years … and we're also seeing that private sponsorship and donations are down a huge amount." 

'Once they're gone, they're gone'

Funding has not kept up with costs, she said.

"New Brunswick is an old province," said Whitenect, a printmaker based in Saint John. 

"We have a lot of built heritage … and we know that keeping up with infrastructure costs and refurbishment for accessibility or for air exchange are very, very expensive, especially in old buildings. Or just even fixing electrical or the plumbing can be an astronomical cost."

Without proper funding, she said, the buildings are at risk of being lost forever.

"Once they're gone, they're gone. We can't have another 100-year-old building. You can't just put one together."

The 20-page report said 11,300 New Brunswickers work in arts, culture and heritage occupations, which is 2.7 per cent of all workers in the province, "well below the national average of 4.4 per cent." 

Median income is $27K

The 2,700 professional artists in the province are also paid poorly, "especially relative to artists' typical education levels," the report said.

Forty-one per cent of the province's professional artists hold a bachelor's degree or higher, "nearly double the percentage of all N.B. workers," it said.

The median personal income of artists was $27,400 in 2020, 39 per cent below that of all New Brunswick workers, at $44,800, the report said, and nine per cent below the median of all Canadian artists, at $30,200.

"They're often working at a loss, really, because they end up donating their time," said Whitenect. "They volunteer their time because they care about the work. And the system is sometimes expectant of that, which is absolutely unfair."

The report also cites Statistics Canada data showing that employees in arts and culture in New Brunswick are "much more likely" to have multiple jobs than other workers in the province. Some 10.7 per cent of arts and culture workers in the province held more than one job in 2023, compared to 4.6 per cent for all New Brunswick workers, the report said.

Calls to action

Whitenect said workers in the sector also report doing a lot of unpaid work — in addition to the "huge infrastructure of volunteers, which is wonderful because it's community investment.

"But there's a huge risk to that because there's only a finite amount of energy that people can be giving to something," she said. 

The report concludes with a number of calls to action, including that governments invest more in professional artists and in the industry. 

Whitenect said the public can also help by attending events.

"Lots of cultural venues are set up for donations or they'll have fundraisers, and just showing support in small ways like that are really wonderful for them," she said.

Public funding more than doubled

In New Brunswick, much of the government money given to the arts is administered by the New Brunswick Arts Board, which is also known as Arts NB. This year's budget is $3 million, said Jean-Pierre Caissie, the executive director of Arts NB.

That's more than double what's been awarded in recent years. Last year, for example, the group gave out $1.2 million to 265 recipients. It's also a significant increase from pre-pandemic numbers. In 2019-20, the group distributed less than $800,000 to 183 recipients, according to Arts NB's most recent annual report. 

Arts NB is run independently of government by a board made up mostly of artists from every region of New Brunswick, Caissie explained. 

In the current fiscal year, Caissie said Arts NB gave money to "about 270 artists and organizations for various projects." That's about 10 per cent of the province's 2,700 professional artists. 

"Not every artist needs a push to help with their career, but some of them do, so we are here to offer these programs to artists who are interested," Caissie said. 

"I know the government has expressed an interest in helping out the arts and culture sector and hopefully this report will give ammunition to the government to move forward," he said. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture said the department provides $4.9 million a year to nearly 60 cultural organizations.

"In addition, $8 million in program grants has been allocated annually to invest in artists, and support organizations in carrying out strategic projects that benefit the arts sectors and our communities," Jean Bertin wrote in an emailed statement from the department.