The government of Ontario is stepping up to the plate in an impressively strong way.  Funding the shortfall of many of the city's large capital projects for the arts and re-defining seed funding through a new $15 million legacy grant for the one year old Luminato Festival.  Check out this article published in today's Toronto Star.

OK Alberta, the bar is set.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending two incredible musical events. The first was Mystic Signs a concert by the Renaissance Singers with guests Calgary Men's Chorus and EnChor. This amazing concert of ancient and contemporary choral music was presented in the dome theatre of the Telus World of Science. It was a selll out show with audience ranges from eight years old to seventy eight years old. After the concert I went over to MacHall to see Guitar Mania, a presentation of the Calgary MidWinter Blues Festival just in time to catch blues legend Hubert Sumlin. It was an amazing show, transforming MacHall for one night into one of the best Blues clubs in North America. Another sell out with an incredible range of audience, I even ran into Marge our favorite elevator operator from our office building.  read more »

We are in the midst of the Arts Space Assessment Process, the Calgary Arts Development led process to identify strong community led arts space proejcts to reccomend for municipal funding or land. Much like developing space, our process sometimes inches forward and sometimes takes a giant leap. Lately we have been leaping along. The Arts Space Assessment Process has brought forward amazing projects that, when completed, will change the city's sky line and bring creative life into many Calgary nieghborhoods.  read more »

I recently heard a woman that worked for a city (not Calgary) in the area of arts & culture saying that the attitude of her police department when it came to the arts was "what do the arts have to do with a hurt child lying in the middle of the street?"

Even upon typing that statement I can't help but see a clear image of a hurt child lying in the middle of the street. That's the power of a visual statement . That's the fodder of artists - and that's what the arts have do with a hurt child lying in the middle of the street.  read more »

DEMOS, a think tank out of the UK, self titled "the Think Tank for every day democracy" recently published a Green Paper and accompanying Podcast titled " So, What *Do* You Do?" which looks at how the creative industries work and how policy can support these industries.  read more »

I recently returned from attending the Creative Cities Network in Edmonton. Being at the conference meant spending four days in 'Deadmonton' (the sister city to 'Cowtown’) and brought me to consider what the real differences were between Calgary and Edmonton.

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This morning the Canada Council and Alberta Foundation for the Arts were in town to launch the Alberta Creative Development Initiative. This anticipated grant program will provide important new dollars for artists, arts administrators and organizations in Alberta. The program was established through a Canada Council Initiative driven by the Council's interest to increase participation from Alberta artists and organizations in their programs.  read more »

In May, 2007 the Canada Council announced the Alberta Creative Development Initiative, the a new $6 million grant program for Alberta arts organizations and artists in partnership with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development and the Edmonton Arts Council. To support this program, and to increase the participation of Albertans and Western Canada in Canada Council programs, the Council is hiring a Program Officer for Western Canada. This Program Officer will be based in Edmonton with extensive travel to Calgary and throughout the Province.  read more »

The Major Community Facilities Enhancement Program's guidelines and application are available now on the Alberta Lotteries web site.

This new one-time program will provide total funding of $140 million over two years for the upgrade and development of indoor and outdoor community facilities in Alberta, including cultural facilities. Applicable projects can receive support for both planning and development of up to a potential $10 million.  read more »

Calgary Arts Development, Edmonton Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts have come together in partnership for a new initiative that will see $2 million per year over 3 years (a million each from the AFA and the Canada Council) for a total of $6 million invested into Alberta's artists and arts organizations. Click on the link below for a complete backgrounder and press release on this initiative.  read more »