We Heart the Arts

This was a recent (end of January 2010) fundraiser called "We Heart the Arts", put on to bring awareness to the arts funding cuts in BC:

It has been on display for over ten years, a simple statement, yet dynamic in color and boldness. Its one word message is ignored by passers-by on a daily basis, making its declaration one of slight nostalgia for what once was: a powerful entryway into the world of art and culture, strong and thriving in British Columbia.

LOVE: a steel sculpture by Robert Indiana, stands large and proud outside the Buschlen Mowatt Art Gallery, host to “We Heart the Arts”, a fundraiser designed to bring awareness to the state of Arts and Culture in British Columbia.

Walking into the gallery, a bearded, long-haired, glasses-clad gentleman (think David Gray without any of those things) plays the piano and sings his heart out to a crowd of polite enthusiasts, while others mingle, drinks in hand, among the various paintings and sculptures throughout the gallery.

Buschlen Mowatt, right on the cusp of downtown on West Georgia, boasts an array of art, from a photograph of Snow White standing in a living room holding two babies in her arms while prince charming obliviously watches TV in the background, to Jackson Pollock-like paintings almost an entire wall-length high. It is this diversity in format that makes the gallery a fitting place to not only celebrate and appreciate the arts, but to fight for them.

Spencer Herbert, MLA for Vancouver’s West End, and this evening’s host, (looking very dapper in a grey suit and electric blue shirt, finished off with a yellow tie) is hoping a night like tonight will bring more attention to the importance of Arts and Culture in BC. With the BC Liberals’ recent cuts to arts funding and potentially more in the works, the future is looking pretty weak for BC’s Art and Culture community.

“…it’s just staggering and bad for the economy, bad for our ability to relate to each other, tell our stories and just bad for the province, so we’re trying to push back and get them to re-invest in arts and culture,” Mr. Herbert laments.

The local film and television industry has been hit hard by the arts cuts, as well as tax initiatives other provinces are offering to lure production elsewhere.

“…the film community’s been really struggling because of huge loss of productions to other jurisdictions,” continues Mr. Herbert “and so we’re calling on the Provincial Government to make film and television and the whole digital media sector a priority.”

What does the future hold for artists just trying to make rent?

“We’ll find out March 2nd what the government’s going to do so I think a lot of people are very nervous right now,” Mr. Herbert says.

In the meantime, an evening of celebration, song (and hey, a little booze) helps to lift the spirits of artists who are otherwise very worried about leaving their fate in the hands of the Liberals.

“I think in bleak times you also have to celebrate and show your passion for something, in this case, it’s the arts, and I think that helps build the spirit to take us to that next level,” says Mr. Herbert.

So in the wake of this foreboding climate for Arts and Culture in British Columbia, what will become of its artists? Only the Campbell government knows for sure. Until then, keep optimistically partying and pray Wendy’s is hiring.

-Alisen Down.