The City of St. Albert is looking for ways to make up for a funding shortfall after learning that municipalities have been quietly made ineligible for a provincial grant program that helps pay for touring artists.
The city learned of the change about two weeks ago when it was “quietly whispered” that the government had changed the eligibility criteria for the Community Presenting Project Grant program, which pays back a portion of the fees that theatres pay to Canadian-based professional touring artists, said Gail Barrington-Moss, St. Albert’s director of cultural services.
The change means that St. Albert’s Arden Theatre, along with 18 other municipally-operated venues around the province, will have a harder time finding the money to book professional touring acts, she said.
“It’s devastating. I worry that it’s the beginning of the end of an incredible three decades-plus of vibrant arts touring in this province,” said Barrington-Moss.
She once worked for the province in administering this same program, which she described as “incredibly successful” and largely responsible for growing professional touring in the province throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.
The city usually applies for the retroactive grant in June to recoup fees paid in the previous season, which runs from September through May. St. Albert received $85,000 for the 2008/09 season, which amounts to about one-quarter of the fees paid out to touring artists.
Now Barrington-Moss is trying to find that kind of money within her department before discussing the issue with directors of other departments and, ultimately, city council.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot of money in the big scheme of things but it’s huge for us,” she said. “I’m not holding my breath … we have run very tight budgets.”
With next season already booked, Barrington-Moss must find a way to fund it without the grant, which could include raising ticket prices, she said.
Over the long term, the policy change will be “devastating,” agreed Brenda O’Donnell, executive director of the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta.
“I think it means that programming will get to be very financially driven. There will be no artistic risks and eventually the audience gets bored,” O’Donnell said.
“Alberta artists won’t have the showcasing venues that they have had access to,” she added.
The change also affects theatres in Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Red Deer and Grande Prairie — essentially all the main ones outside of Edmonton and Calgary, said Laurie Blakeman, arts and culture critic for the Alberta Liberals.
“Any of those 19 groups have just been thrown overboard,” Blakeman said.
The decision amounts to a cut of about $1.6 million, she said.
Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett said the government removed municipalities from eligibility because it wanted to eliminate “double-dipping,” given that municipalities also get provincial money through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative. He added that he’s prepared to look at helping affected groups.
“Changing the decision? Not necessarily. Making an exception to it? Potentially yes,” he said.
“Each situation will be different. We don’t want to create policies that are going to negatively affect people. Sometimes those are the unintended consequences and I will work to mitigate those unintended consequences,” he said.
Blackett said he would have more to add later this week. Barrington-Moss was encouraged.
“If the minister is willing to sit down, that gives me some hope that maybe the door isn’t completely shut,” she said.
