The Federal Government tabled budget 2010 yesterday.  Below is the summary provided by the Canadian Conference of the Arts

Canadian Conference of the Arts Executive Summary

The 2010 Budget includes stable funding to arts and culture with no cuts, but also yields no new investments into the creative economy. The CCA sees no investment towards cultural infrastructure, or funds for promotion abroad and audience development. It is encouraging that charities are given more flexible means to conduct business, and research granting associations will have an increased ability to fund higher education within the knowledge economy.  Moving forward, some concerns include administrative reforms, freezes on departmental operating budgets, and changes to strategic reviews. These measures may not be viewed as cuts at the moment, but may lead to financial difficulties for the arts sector down the road.

Read the full detailed update here

For ten days, March 5 - 14, Dine Out Calgary presents a once-in-a-year opportunity to sample some of the city's top restaurants at value prices. The event makes the perfect pairing to this week's arts events like Theatre Junction's On the Side of the Road and the Calgary Artists for Haitian Relief concert.

Over 90 of Calgary's best restaurants, all located in the heart of the city, will participate in Dine Out Calgary with set price dining for lunch at $15 and $25 and dinner at $25 and $35 per person. The Ultimate Food and Wine Experience features chef's favourites and wine pairings for $85 per person.

In addition to set price dining, Dine Out Calgary offers not-to-be-missed dining experiences. At Rush, River Cafe and Charcut, the newest restaurant in the Cultural District, foodies can enjoy specially prepared menus and informative and engaging conversation with noted food author, Calgary Herald food writer and CBC restaurant critic, John Gilchrist.

For those with a sweet tooth, Olives Restaurant does Desserts on March 9th, where Pastry Chef Rachel Bergan and Executive Chef Johnathan Canning will 'whisk' diners away into a world of sweet decadence with a hands-on cooking class.

Choklat Snobbery 101 at Choklat on March 13th is a fun and fascinating evening of chocolate tasting and wine pairing. Chocolate fans learn the history of the "Food of the Gods" and the artisanal process of "making" chocolate right from the bean. Choklat is the only company in all of Western Canada that gives visitors the opportunity to see and learn how this incredible confection is made.

For the ultimate in wine tasting, on March 11th, Dave Henderson and his staff at The Cellar Wine Store share a variety of fine wines chosen from their extensive inventory of specialty wines from around the world. On March 12th, David Walker at 100 Wines takes a look back at the producers that have made Napa legendary. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse gives meat lovers a delicious course of big reds that perfectly match a succulent cut of Ruth's Chris tasty steak on March 13th.

Seating is limited for the events hosted by John Gilchrist. Tickets are $40 for lunch and $50 for dinner through DineOutCalgary.com. All other bookings can be made directly with participating restaurants.

For more information and a full list of restaurants and events visit DineOutCalgary.com.

Read the full press release.

A new report from cultural research firm Hill Strategies provides an analysis of artists and cultural workers residing in five Canadian cities including Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Calgary findings include information on the city’s 5,100 artists and 23,300 cultural workers and show that Calgary’s creative labour force tends to cluster in centrally located neighbourhoods near the downtown core.

The research study was commissioned by the five Canadian cities included in the study. The City of Calgary, Calgary Arts Development and Calgary Economic Development have all been involved and will be using the research findings in ongoing work to support the city’s arts and creative industries sectors. Comments from each of the organizations follow:  read more »

The Province of Alberta released it's 2010 budget today.  An overview of the Culture and Community Spirit budget is below.  The budget reflects across the board decreases to all areas as anticipated.  The effect of these decreases on each individual program, if any, are yet to be determined.  The following is a strong statement of assurance from Minister Blackett accompanying today's budget, part of which is included here:

"Our 2010-11 budget makes a net reduction of $5 million, or 1.8 per cent, from the 2009-10 forecast, but allow me to explain further.  

Ministry program expenses will actually decrease by $35 million; at the same time, a $30 million one-time grant increase will fund four Alberta capital projects.  The funds for these projects are being provided through the capital fund and not through the department operating budget.  These projects also include some “flow-through” funding from the federal government.

The 2010-11 budget and our 2010-13 Business Plan were put together with the goal of providing the most funding possible to those groups that provide services and supports to the most vulnerable in our society, as well as to increase the competitiveness of our cultural industries.

All areas of my department will share in these budget reductions.  Within the department, we have brought in operational efficiencies and re-examined core roles, which has helped us to make up part of the shortfall.  These changes have also helped focus our budgeting on supporting critically important non-profit, voluntary and cultural sector services.

In my recent meetings with members of these sectors, we discussed ways of enhancing our relationship and having organizations work together to meet short-term challenges.  I look forward to continuing these discussions and finding new and innovative ways to build sustainable cultural and non-profit sector organizations.

My department has also looked for new efficiencies in our grant programs.  By streamlining applications and moving to a quarterly grant schedule, we are striving to keep the impact of budget reductions as small as possible.

While the 2010-11 budget has to face current economic realities, we will not lose the momentum that we have created in helping develop, foster and showcase our culture and community spirit.

We must take this opportunity, during these challenging times, to review what is important, encourage innovation and make it sustainable.  I look forward to working with all of you over the coming year.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Blackett

Minister of Culture and Community Spirit

MLA, Calgary-North West

Budget Overview for Culture And Community Spirit
Budgeted program expense for Culture and Community Spirit is $283.7 million in 2010-11, a net $5-million or 1.8-per-cent reduction from the 2009-10 forecast.  This reflects a $35-million or 15-per-cent reduction in operating expense, and a $30-million one-time increase in capital grants. 
 
The 2010-11 budget includes:
-$165 million for community and voluntary support services, including more than $41 million in capital grants supporting projects such as the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary and the GO Community Centre in Edmonton.  It also includes funding for ongoing programs, with
$38 million for the Community Facility Enhancement Program, $25.5 million for the Community Initiatives Program and $22 million for Major Fairs and Exhibitions. In addition, $16 million is provided for the Community Spirit Donation Grant Program, which encourages more individual donations to non-profit organizations and registered Alberta charities.
-$56 million for arts and cultural industries.  This includes more than $29 million in assistance to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and $17 million in support for Film and Television
Production.  Implementation of Alberta’s cultural policy, The Spirit of Alberta, continues. 
-$47 million for heritage programs.  This includes support to the Royal Alberta Museum, the
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, other museums and historic sites across the province. 
-$8 million for human rights and citizenship.  
 
For information, contact Parker Hogan 780-427-2395

Fashion Central's grand opening celebration takes place during First Thursday, the Cultural District's monthly cultural crawl, on February 4th from 5-9pm.
Located in the Cultural District at Stephen Avenue and First Street SW, the retail complex will sell unique, contemporary and cutting edge fashions of both recognized designer brand stores not typically found in shopping centres, and local and Canadian designer boutiques. The project contains seven street-front shops and eighteen interior units and is the project of Encorp, the developer behind Art Central.

Also launching on First Thursday is the month-long photography festival Exposure 2010, which will open with the exhibition Counter-Photography: Japan's Artists Today at the Triangle Gallery at 7:30pm.  read more »