“Country roads take me home, to the place I belong, West Alberta, Mountain momma,” belts Stephen Harper, his Kermit The Frog-esque voice going flat when the notes escape him, stage lights dancing off his Lego-like coif, at last year’s Conservative Christmas party. Bopping his chin robotically, he also busts into a nasally rendition of Guns […]
Arts funding
Posted inArts + Music
Who’s getting HRM’s arts funding and why
First of all, yahoo for arts funding. Second of all, yahoo for detailed reports from the city explaining which arts organization are recommended to receive exactly how much (or nothing at all) and why. Click here for the full report, it’s very informative. Here’s a quick breakdown of how much each HRM-based arts organization (I’d […]
Posted inArts + Music
Gregor Ash’s passion
When Gregor Ash was a kid in Newfoundland, he and his fellow film junkies would head to the Caribou Lounge Saturday mornings, where they’d endure the stench of cigarettes and stale beer for a chance to catch flicks that weren’t on CTV and CBC, their only two channels. Despite the smell, the Atlantic Film Festival’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Briony Carros on talent drain
…on talent drain While other cities are trying to find ways to attract talented, creative people, Halifax needs to work on retaining them. We have an incredible asset, hundreds of students graduate from post-secondary institutions every year, but the municipality is squandering opportunities to develop or encourage the infrastruture necessary to keep them here. The amount of talent […]
Posted inArts + Music
Eleanor King on arms-length arts funding
The city needs an arts council. All major cities in Canada have three-tiered funding opportunities, Federal, Provincial and Municipal. In Halifax, we don’t have municipal funding. An arms-length body would also bring respect and professionalism to arts funding in this town! Right now the city offers $500 if you want to paint a mural on […]
Posted inArts + Music
Art and the city
It’s a telling sign that more than 500 people showed up last Friday in Grand Parade to protest federal arts funding cuts and to rally around the concept of “Vote Arts,” and yet, six hours later, only about 40 to 50 people attended a District 12 municipal candidates debate, hosted at NSCAD University by that […]
Posted inArts + Music
All-party culture club
It’s hardly news to say the arts don’t rank as a top-level issue in the current federal election campaign. But, when asked, each of the four local candidates vying to represent the riding of Halifax in the next Parliament can produce a platform or set of numbers relating to their party’s supposedly solid position on […]
Posted inArts + Music
Spaced out
At a Christmas party held earlier in December, hosted by the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia, artist Jim MacSwain smiles and mingles with peers and friends. It’s a sharp contrast to his demeanour back in October, when he joined fellow artist Suzanne Swannie at her home to talk about the loss of their studios last […]