Former arts council chair slams B.C. cuts
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 | 1:59 PM ET
CBC News
The former chair of the B.C. Arts Council said she stepped down from the post so she can speak freely on cuts to arts spending.
Jane Danzo's resignation was announced Aug. 11 by the province and she spoke to CBC Wednesday about the lack of support for the council from the provincial Liberals.
"And it was made very clear the board of council has no independent voice from the government and therefore I believed very firmly that in order to serve, actually both government and the arts sector better, that I should step down," Danzo said.
Danzo said she felt she had to leave her post to speak independently about the cuts to arts funding and act as an advocate for the arts.
The spring budget axed the funding the B.C. Arts Council hands out to groups by an estimated 50 per cent, from around $14 million to about $8 million.
Despite the cuts, the province then announced a new $10 million Arts Legacy Fund, without consulting the B.C. Arts Council, Danzo said.
"Even after the announcement, the board was not consulted for input, nor was it permitted to know the details as they were developed by ministry staff over a four-month period," Danzo said in her resignation letter to Culture Minister Kevin Krueger.
"Meanwhile, the arts community struggled, some members with life-threatening uncertainty, as they reduced their programming, laid off staff, and made poignant appeals to patrons and donors for further support."
The council has a mandate to advocate for the arts, she said, but "this responsibility is virtually impossible to accomplish because the board's relationship to the government is not at arms-length."
Danzo, who was named chair of the arts council in September 2009, has served on the Vancouver Foundation the BC Arts Renaissance Fund and the Medici Fund.
B.C. arts groups are bracing for deep cuts in this year's grant allocations from the arts council. The council has decided to prioritize arts groups for funding rather than make cuts across the board, meaning some groups will be harder hit, according to a report in Georgia Straight.
