ATTENTION VISUAL ARTISTS! CANADA COUNCIL PROPOSES BIG CHANGES TO YOUR GRANTS The Visual Arts Section of the Canada Council held public meetings in thirteen locations across Canada during October/November 2004 to carry out Phase 2 Consultations in their review of the Creation/Production Grants for visual artists. ARCCO contracted Jim Miller to report on the recent meeting in Toronto. Attendance at the Friday morning meeting held at A Space was under-whelming with about fifteen artists showing up to meet with the three representatives from the Canada Council. In spite of poor attendance, this was a feisty meeting about matters of concern to artists across the country. |
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By Jim Miller Visual artists in Canada — your attention is needed! Big changes are underway at the Canada Council — changes that will, if implemented, fundamentally affect the way visual artists approach their practice. The Visual Arts Section of the Canada Council is proposing a plan to significantly overhaul granting criteria, levels of support and the process of peer assessment. While the economic and professional status of the visual artist calls out for change, there is reason to fear that the Canada Council may be veering in the wrong direction. 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 [1]. The primary concern is that the new system will not effectively advance the status of the artist. The time available for arts community response to these changes is very short — they want the new granting system operational starting next April. That means they need to have their regulations locked-in much sooner — approved by the Council’s board by December of this year. There are just a few weeks left. Members of the visual arts communities need to make sense of the Visual Art Section’s proposals and make their opinions and suggestions known now — or live with the consequences later. Phase 1: Focus Groups Ponder Change The process of changing the program of Creation/Production Grants for visual artists has been formally underway for a year. The rationale for change was essentially that the 40-year old core program of grants to artists had outlived its effectiveness. The Council’s web site notes the program’s inability to adequately serve increasing numbers of artists, as well as the decreasing ‘real’ value of its grants as hallmarks of a system that needed revision. After internal meetings of staff and peer advisors the need for change was asserted by the Visual Arts Section — but the question loomed — what kind of change is needed? To answer that question the Visual Arts Section launched Phase 1 Consultations. Twelve focus groups were scheduled across the country for last fall and spring. Invitation-only groups of about twenty were convened in different centres, composed mostly of artists, but also dealers, educators and curators. In May the reports of the focus group findings were posted on the Canada Council’s web site and four thousand artists received emails inviting them to respond. The focus group reports echo one-another in identifying the status of the artist as one of economic challenge and restricted opportunity — whether it is emerging-artists starting up or senior-artists working to sustain their practice. When it came to suggesting how the program should be revised to address these needs, the reports revealed a diversity of response. Opinion ranged from skepticism about the ability of the Visual Arts Section to actually promote effective change without additional funds — to the encouragement of the Council to help artists with long-term professional development. Phase 2: Final Consultation Following Phase 1 deliberations, the Visual Arts Section is now proposing a new program of grants for Visual Artists. To get feedback before they lock it in they are once again on the road — traveling to thirteen cities to present their plans. My report stems from discussions at the meeting in Toronto on October 22 and from a review of material the Visual Arts Section has posted on their web site. The New Proposal At a glance, the new proposed program resembles the current system — with three levels of assistance geared to: emerging artists (First Solo grants), established artists (Exhibition/Project grants), and senior artists (Development grants). There are however, substantial shifts in the way the system works. Those significant changes are in • the criteria to be met for funding eligibility / peer assessment • the re-allocation of funds to different levels Canada Council staff explained that their proposed changes are designed to try and address some of the vexing problems facing artists. Program Officer, Michel Gaboury noted that central among these problems is the persistently poor economic status and vulnerability of artists in Canada. Visual Arts Section Head, François Lachapelle, later expanded on this. He acknowledged that with the limited resources available to the Visual Arts Section, the new program cannot, on its own, remedy the artist’s situation. Rather it is their hope that strategic changes to the program can help spur positive change within the larger visual arts milieu — and that those changes will raise the status of the artist. Many at the meeting supported the basic goals of the new program, but questioned whether the program will actually work the way it is intended. Criteria: Key Moments / Peer Assessment. The new program is reducing the emphasis on years of experience as a benchmark for eligibility and introducing the concept of Key Moments in the artists’ career as one of the essential criteria. For instance, it is proposed that emerging artists (with less than five years experience) will be able to access First Solo grants ($5,000) providing they meet the Key Moment criteria. For eligibility they must have secured a future solo exhibition commitment from a recognized professional exhibiting venue. This Key Moment criterion extends to the other granting levels as well. Applicants to the Exhibition Project program ($10,000) must trigger their eligibility with commitments from recognized professional venues. Senior artists applying for Development grants ($50,000 per year for three years) must present a three-year plan that includes Key Moments — "major exhibitions reflecting continuous development in the market for the applicant’s work." Key Moment = Market Certification Artists at the meeting were very wary of the proposed Key Moment criteria. They observed that the stipulation of confirmed exhibitions is potentially rife with problems. • It places too much emphasis on the market and shifts the purpose of grants away from research and creation towards market certified production. • Using market certification to trigger eligibility erodes the functioning of peer assessment — a core feature of the Canada Council up to now. • There is a logistical failing when prior market certification of a project is part of the triggering criteria for Council support. The proposed program puts the cart before the horse. Most of the time galleries and museums make commitments to artists’ work that has already been completed — there is too much risk in programming work that you cannot see. • Market certification from recognized professional venues inhibits support of work that pushes the boundaries of art making into venues and subject matter not yet certified. • Market certification has the potential to increase the administrative stress on professional exhibiting venues — artist-run centres, galleries and museums. In response, François Lachapelle endeavored to further explain their rationale and intent. He observed that Council support for artists, curators and organizations over the last four decades has helped create a substantial infrastructure in the visual arts. He inferred that the new proposed program for individuals is designed to both stimulate that infrastructure and use it as a resource. He sees the 'recognized professional exhibiting venues' as "a parallel system of peer assessment". Using that parallel peer system as one of the required gates for grant eligibility would reduce the increasing administrative stress the VAS has been trying to cope with. Most artists attending the Toronto meeting did not agree with his assertion that curators and art dealers constituted a "parallel system of peer assessment". Re-carving an Inadequate Money Pie No new money accompanies the new proposed program. The allocation of money however is shifting dramatically. The biggest shift is geared to the support of senior artists. The new Development Grants will provide artists with $50,000 per year for three years. Fifteen artists will be awarded each year — meaning 45 senior artists will be supported in any given year. The intermediate level Exhibit Project grants will be worth $10,000 (down from a previous max of $25,000) — with 75 being granted each year. 100 First Solo grants of $5,000 will be made annually. Artists attending the meeting focused most of their comments on the inadequacy of $10,000 for the Exhibit Project grants. Lachapelle readily acknowledged this shortcoming, but rationalized it in strategic terms. He said it was important to boost the grant sum level for senior artists to establish parity with research grants offered in the Social Sciences and Humanities. Council staff agreed that the Exhibit Project grants should ideally be pegged at the $20,000 or $25,000 level, but the current money available doesn’t allow them to do that if they increase the senior grant. Lachapelle posed the challenge of growing the pie as a matter of public pressure from the community. He felt that the glaring inadequacy of the mid-level funding would actually help make the case for increased money. He said he would do his part to help achieve this. He also acknowledged that this is one of the new program's proposals that is getting the most negative feedback from the community. There may be some theory that purports strategic value in the new allocations. However the cold facts are that the new proposed system places the majority of artists who receive Council support under even greater economic pressure than they are right now. The First Solo grant is a one-time grant — meaning competition for the Exhibit Project grant will inevitably increase. The reduced numbers of Development grants available (from twenty-six to fifteen granted per year) will also increase pressure on the mid-level grant. At the Toronto meeting, concern was also raised about the reduced number of senior Development grants — how this recipient reduction, coupled with Key Moment market-certification will narrow the scope of artists supported across the country. Artists from other centres have voiced fears that the disparity between granting levels will foster a star system in the visual arts. Professional Development One of the new objectives in the proposed program is to support professional development. The new grants will fund previously ineligible expenses for marketing and developing contacts. This does acknowledge an on-going component of artists’ work and expenses. Council staff also seemed to speak of the desire to provide soft services to artists from the Canada Council itself — informal guidance and advice on career development. They said that current administrative pressure from the volume of applicants did not permit officers the time to function in his way. The need for the provision of professional development soft services from the Canada Council was questioned at the Toronto meeting — would they be duplicating work already done by other organizations? Could they not better meet the needs of professional development by strategically boosting support for professional development education in art schools and organizations? While professional development was identified as a goal by the Visual Arts Section, they did not seem to have a well-articulated plan to foster it — accept for tying market-certification to grant eligibility. Conclusions Artists at the Toronto meeting agreed with Council staff that the status of the working visual artist in Canada needs concrete attention — that ways need to be found increase their economic viability and the visibility of what they do. Most of the artists who attended, however, voiced serious misgivings about the proposed new program’s ability to meet artists' needs. The majority of artists supported under the new program will get significantly less money than the current system provides. Crucially, they felt that the new program's "Key Moment" eligibility was too narrowly focused. There was real worry that the new Key Moment criteria would shift the primacy of Council's support away from intellectual creation — to market-certified product creation. Artist Spring Hurlbut was applauded when she urged the VAS to "keep artistic creation as the central focus — Council has historically done a great job of supporting artists and it’s work has distinguished Canada in the world." Recommendations The Canada Council is holding these consultations because they want constructive feedback about this new proposed program. Below is a short list of recommendations —some are gleaned from the Toronto meeting and some are mine. • Increase the Council budget for Visual artists. The VAS is on the bottom rung of arts funding in the Canada Council. There is room to grow. This overdue move will boost needed support for artists and decrease pressure on VAS administration. This is fundamental. • Revisit the Key Moment eligibility requirement. As proposed it skews too much towards market-certification. This will create logistical problems for artists, galleries and museums. It will also undercut the Council’s support of unfettered intellectual creation and ultimately artistic excellence. • Re-affirm the importance of peer assessment. At the Toronto meeting, artists did not recognize a parallel peer system of curators, dealers and critics when it comes to grant assessment. • Support professional development and career sustainability in tangible ways — through specific education materials, programs in schools and further support for artists organizations • Do not reduce funding for the mid-level grant recipients to $10,000. Reducing funds for the majority of grant recipients is a strategically illogical way to improve the status of the artist. • Loosen restrictions for emerging artists and artists with modest projects. The proposed First Solo program does not seem to conform to the way emerging careers develop — smaller group shows etc. • Re-consider the timeline for implementation of the new program. Objections to the new proposal are fundamental, widespread, and not resolvable in the short time remaining. Do not rush this change. There are many details within the Program of Creation/Production for Visual Artists that this article has not touched on. Artists and members of the visual arts community are urged to examine the proposal on the Canada Council’s web site — and respond to it now. Time is running out. Footnote 1 (*François Lachapelle referred to the market and defined it as a as a parallel system of peer assessment composed of recognized professional exhibiting venues. In the proposed new program artists seeking grants will only be eligible if they have commitments from a recognized professional exhibiting venue to show a specific body of work - a product certification process. The definition of recognized professional exhibiting venue seemed to be undeveloped but restrictive. It could include some but not all public museums & galleries, non-profit artist run centres and private for-profit galleries. The terms that would qualify a venue as recognized were not elaborated but the emphasis was on professional. At this point artists’ collectives that coalesce around a project would likely not qualify.) Jim Miller is a visual artist and writer who has exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. Politics and social commentary has always figured in his work. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARCCO P.O. Box 44026, Market Tower Lane Postal Outlet 141 Dundas Street, London, Ontario N6A 5S5 email: jewel.goodwyn@sympatico.ca
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