NDP pledges increased support for arts community

A New Democratic government will dramatically increase funding to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and to restore arts funding for school programs if the party wins Nov. 30.

Leader Earle McCurdy says N.L. Arts Council funding will grow by $1.75M over three years

CBC News Posted: Oct 29, 2015 6:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 30, 2015

NDP Leader Earle McCurdy (centre) announced Thursday that his party will increase funding to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council if it is elected to form government during the Nov. 30 election. He is pictured here with musician and actor Sean Panting (left), who is the NDP candidate for Mount Scio, and St. John's Centre MHA Gerry Rogers. (CBC)

A New Democratic government will dramatically increase funding to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and to restore arts funding for school programs if the party wins Nov. 30.

NDP Leader EarleMcCurdy said musicians, actors, writers, visual artists and filmmakers"all make a great contributions to how we see ourselves," and they deserve better support.

He said an NDP government will increase the annual grant to the arts council by $1.75 million over three years, bringing it to $3.8 million.

He said this increasewill help leverage more funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and other sources.

"The arts council isa chief source of fundingforartisticcreation andweneed to give them theresourcesto do the job," said McCurdy.

McCurdyalsopledged to increase funding to the provincial arts council, and to restorefunding that would re-establish programs in schools, includingthe visitingartists program.

An economic driver

McCurdy said the arts community accounts for up to $400 million in economic activity in the province, and supports more than 5,000 jobs.

It'sestimatedthat for every dollar of government investment into cultural and heritageactivities, another$3 is generated in spending on goods and services.

McCurdy said that economic contribution is often overlooked, and pointed out that roughly 10 per cent of artists actually earn enough money to make a living from their craft.

He said the median incomefor an artistis just over $10,000, which is less than half the national average.

He said increased funding to the arts council will help improve the situationsince federal funding is often linked to provincial grants.

Currently, about half of the grant applications to the arts council are approved, with the average grant about $4,000.

"That's wellbehindother provinces," he said.

The Canada Council for the Arts dispersed more than $142 million in grants last year, but only one per cent of that came to Newfoundland and Labrador, McCurdy stated.

He said that's not good enough.

"Weclearlyhavea lot more than one percent of the artistictalent in this country," he said.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|