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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Simpleposie and many others are petitioning the Canada Council in protest against their changes to the individual artists' grants. There is a really compelling and articulate letter against the new mandate written by PAARC, (Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres), that serves as an excellent rallying cry. I read through the near-report at the CC website a couple of weeks ago, and found myself puzzled rather than outraged. I heard by gossip that the new agenda is intended to redirect funds in order to serve senior artists who are retiring from teaching positions, etc. I have NO IDEA if this is true, and if it is... I have NO IDEA if that is a good or a bad thing. I am also supremely curious, the gossip aside, to know: are there any artists out there who like the proposed changes? Knowing that the council has recently instituted a grant for private, commercial galleries(!), and knowing that current political trends indicate a solid retreat from socialism, I would venture a guess that the new proposal is not great news for the average-artist-on-the-street. As AARCO says in their open letter: " One of the dangers in their new proposal is the shift in the focus of granting criteria, away from creative process towards market-certified product." This sounds baaaad to me. But is it the only perspective? At the same time, "The Canada Council for the Arts has called on Canadians to send all levels of government a clear message about the positive impact the arts have on their communities," due to "advocacy [being] needed to promote value of arts." I think we gotta shit or get off the pot on this business of articulating the value of our practice. And somehow I don't feel qualified to sign that petition just yet. What does everybody else think?