SAA Bulletin – June 2006

June 2006

In this issue?

• Summer Hours
• SAA AGM and Community Forum
• 2006 Arts Congress
• Celebrating Saskatchewan Artists
• Nominations/Expressions of Interest
• Business and the Arts Case Studies
• Provincial Government Spending on Arts and Culture
• SAA Board of Directors

SUMMER HOURS

Please note that the SAA office will be closed from July 10th to August 7th.

SAA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND COMMUNITY FORUM

SAA holds its AGM and Community Forum on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Globe Theatre in Regina. Join your fellow colleagues and the SAA Board to discuss current issues and help shape future initiatives. If you are interested in, or know of someone who is interested in serving as a director, please forward the names to:

Nominations Committee

Saskatchewan Arts Alliance

205A 2314-11 Ave.

Regina, Sk. S4P 0K1

Email: info@artsalliance.sk.ca

Phone: 780-9820

2006 ARTS CONGRESS

“Speaking Out” was the theme of the 2006 Arts Congress, held May 5th and 6th at the Refinery in Saskatoon. From the half-day primer to a session examining how to be included among the priorities, delegates learned the do’s and don’ts of arts advocacy. Presenters related their own advocacy experiences, including case histories from North Battleford, Yorkton and Prince Albert, advising delegates about pitfalls to avoid and strategies that worked. A common factor running throughout the presentations was that advocacy takes “work and persistence, and is very important”. An Advocacy Resource Kit which guides readers through planning a successful advocacy campaign, and includes a resource section with information on impacts and supporting statistics, was developed by SAA to support advocacy activity at the local level. (Copies are available from the SAA.)

Keynote speaker R. H. Thomson, fine Canadian actor, director and writer, addressed the idea of complexity in stories, or loss of, in his keynote address “Are There Stories for the 21st Century”. The ever-popular Stories from the Art, gave delegates a glimpse into the lives and work of 6 Saskatchewan artists, Lynn Acoose, Angus Ferguson, Vesti Hanson, Sarah Nolan-Downs, Wendy Parsons, and Arthur Slade, as did Joseph Naytowhow’s luncheon address, which ended with “phrases that I live by” encapsulating his practice as an artist.

Other Congress highlights included a Conversation on Valuing the Arts in the Community between Skip Kutz, SAA President, and Hon. Glenn Hagel, Minister of Culture, Youth and Recreation. Kutz asked for Hagel’s help on a range of issues: arts policy, including procurement, funding and status of the artist. Hagel took the opportunity to announce that he plans to release the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Status of the Artist final report, with government’s response, this summer.

Both the Sask. Arts Board and SAA, in separate sessions, consulted with the arts community. SAA board of directors will use the recommendations of the Community Consultation to help shape its direction for next year.

CELEBRATING SASKATCHEWAN ARTISTS

SAA launched the book Celebrating Saskatchewan Artists at the 2006 Arts Congress. Written by Steven Ross Smith, this collection of interviews is an excellent snapshot of the activities of artists all around Saskatchewan who are practising art today. The stories include artist statements, and where appropriate, reproductions of artists’ work. Saskatchewan high schools will receive a copy of the book which supports the Arts Education and Career and Work Exploration curricula.

This unique book is available from the SAA, and at Dance Saskatchewan and Sask. Publishers Group online bookstore ? http://www.saskpublishers.sk.ca/cgi-bin/bookstore/book?id=3029.

NOMINATIONS/EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

SAA and SaskCulture jointly appoint an individual to fill the Arts & Culture position on the Tourism Saskatchewan Board. The length of term for the current position will be from September 2006 to December 2008. If you are actively involved in Saskatchewan?s arts & cultural community and have experience with cultural tourism please consider applying. The Expression of Interest form and criteria for the position can be found at http://www.saskculture.sk.ca/SaskCulture/tourism_eoi.htm. Application deadline is July 31, 2006.

SaskCulture is seeking nominations for its Board of Directors and Cultural Advisory Committee (CAC). As the community of interest for arts, SAA sits on the SaskCulture Nomination Committee. If you have suggestions for people who would make good board or CAC members, please forward their names to the SAA.

BUSINESS AND THE ARTS CASE STUDIES

Business and the Arts: Service Relationship Indicators Final Report was the culmination of a research project carried out by Terry Schwalm and Associates in 2004. To augment the final report, Schwalm also wrote six case studies to illustrate a number of concepts and principles described in the report. These case studies are available online at https://www.saskartsalliance.ca/case_studies. For a copy of the Business and the Arts Final Report, contact the SAA. The Executive Summary is online at Business and the Arts Executive Summary.

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON ARTS AND CULTURE

SAA contracted Hill Strategies Research to analyse provincial government spending on arts and culture. Report highlights show that, in Saskatchewan, total provincial spending on the arts and cultural industries was $24.8 million in 2003/04, where the ?arts? include arts education, performing arts and visual arts and crafts, and ?cultural industries? include literary arts/publishing, film and video, broadcasting and sound recording. On a per capita basis, Saskatchewan provincial funding of the arts and cultural industries ? $25 per person ? is 2nd among the 10 provinces. Only Quebec has higher provincial per capita funding of the arts and cultural industries ? $40.

When spending on the cultural industries is separated from arts spending, the statistics show that provincial spending on the arts was $5.7 million in 2003/04. On a per capita basis, $6 per person in Saskatchewan goes towards the arts (defined as arts education + performing arts + visual arts and crafts) which ranks Saskatchewan 7th among the 10 provinces, ahead of only PEI ($5), Ontario ($5) and B.C. ($4).

Overall Saskatchewan Arts Board granting was $3.6 million in 2003/04 and $4.2 million in 2004/05. On a per capita basis, this amounted to $3.65 per Saskatchewan resident in 2003/04 and $4.21 in 2004/05. In both years, Saskatchewan ranked 5th among the 10 provinces in terms of arts board or arts council funding per capita.

If you would like more information on the Hill Strategies report, please contact the SAA.

SAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Skip Kutz, President

Kim Houghtaling, Vice-President

Jill Reid, Secretary

Marnie Badham, Treasurer

Bill Boyle

Dwayne Brenna

Cynthia Dyck

Don Kerr

Andrew North