Our steering committee has decided to extend the deadline to Monday, January 30 for all award categories EXCEPT the Northlands Award for an Emerging Artist.

Nominations for the Northlands Award for an Emerging Artist are now officially CLOSED.

Nominations continue to be accepted only for:

• Award for Innovative Support by a Business for the Arts
• Award for Sustained Support of the Arts
• John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts
• ATCO Gas Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement by an Edmonton Artist
• CN Youth Artist Award
• DIALOG Award for Excellence in Artistic Direction
• TELUS Courage to Innovate Award

Nominators can deliver their nomination packages to the first floor reception desk at City Hall or e-mail them to admin@pacedmonton.com by 4:30 p.m., Monday, January 30, 2012.  Please click on the icon to download a nomination form:

PLEASE NOTE:

• The nomination deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Monday, January 16, 2012.
• The nomination drop off point is the main floor reception area in City Hall.

PACE is inviting nominations for the following award categories:

Award for Innovative Support by a Business for the Arts recognizes a business that has supported an arts organization, event, project, or individual artist in a creative and original manner.

Award for Sustained Support of the Arts recognizes a business or an individual that has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to supporting the arts. This can be support for a specific arts organization, event, or individual artist or for general widespread support of the arts.

John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts recognizes an individual, arts organization, media organization or business that has promoted the arts in a distinctly creative or exceptional manner. This category can include advocacy, marketing or any activity that increases the profile of the arts, artists, arts organizations, or arts events.

ATCO Gas Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement by an Edmonton Artist ($2,500 cash prize) recognizes an individual artist who, over an extended period of time, has made an outstanding contribution to the arts inEdmonton. Nominees for this award should be based in the greaterEdmonton region and may or may not be currently active as an artist. While that contribution should be primarily through their chosen artistic discipline, nominees will also be recognized for outstanding work in support of the arts in general in theEdmonton region.  Their artistic output should extend for at least 25 years.

ATCO Gas would like to applaud all the nominees for the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement by an Edmonton Artist Award. Their outstanding talent and determination given to Edmonton and to the arts have contributed to the rich fabric of life in our city. ATCO Gas is pleased to honour an individual who is committed to bringing culture and distinction to their community. All the nominees are an encouragement to others, and will no doubt lead the way for generations to follow.

The CN Youth Artist Award ($2,500 cash prize) recognizes the importance of the arts and design to a youth’s education and to the community.  We believe it is the responsibility of caring companies like CN to encourage the development and education of young artists. The award is eligible to anyone attending junior or senior high (Grades 7 through 12). Nominators may not nominate their family members.

At CN, we recognize our citizenship responsibility to the communities in which we operate – not only in our commitment to safety and the environment, but also in making our communities better places to live and work.

Chair:  Jennifer Faulkner (Associate Executive Director, Alberta Ballet)

Co-Vice-Chair:  Keltie Brown (General Manager, Workshop West Theatre)

Co-Vice-Chair:  Kieran Leblanc (Executive Director, Book Publishers Association of Alberta)

Treasurer: Karen Brown Fournell (General Manager, Rapid Fire Theatre)

Directors:

• Marian Brant (General Manager, Cantilon Choirs)
• Carol Holmes (Executive Director, Writers Guild of Alberta)
• Anna-Karolina Szul (Executive Director, SNAP Gallery)
• Meghan Unterschultz (Strategic Communications & Government Relations, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra)

Daniel Cournoyer gives his last report as Chair of PACE at our Oct. 20 AGM

PACE has openings for ten board members.  If you are interested in voting, nominating or being nominated for a position on our board, you first need to make sure you are a full member in good standing.  Call us at 780-485-3085 or e-mail us at admin@pacedmonton.com for more information.  To become a member or renew your membership, click here to download a form.  You can also sign up at the AGM.

Refreshments will be served.  See you on Thursday, October 20!

Slate of Candidates for PACE’s 2011-2012 Board

Please note:  Only PACE members in good standing are eligible to make recommendations.

Recommended charities must meet the following criteria:

L-R: Mayor Stephen Mandel, Catherine Broomfield, Karen Brown Fournell

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival’s Comedy Cares Program and iHuman Youth Society were presented fun “cheques” and real ones at City Hall on September 30.  They were the beneficiaries of the proceeds from the 24th Annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts.

Mayor Stephen Mandel and PACE’s Treasurer Karen Brown Fournel presented iHuman’s Executive Director Catherine Broomfield with a memento “cheque”, laminated onto a skateboard deck symbolizing the youth with whom they work.

Sue Broderick, Board Chair for the Edmonton

Sue Broderick and Karen Brown Fournell joke around following the presentation.

International Street Performers Festival, accepted a series of brightly coloured scarves pulled from a top hat culminating with a final scarf bearing the donation information for their Comedy Cares Program. The presentation’s lighthearted vein was emblematic of of the “healing through laughter” maxim the program brings to all its visits to patients in local long term care facilities.

Saturday, September 17 marks the beginning of the leadership convention for Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives.  Arts advocates in Calgary (through Calgary ArtsVote) and Edmonton (through PACE’s Arts Advocacy Steering Committee) have met with four of the six conservative leadership candidates.  Gary Mar was the first candidate to sit down with us and in recent days we had conversations with three more candidates.  Here is a synopsis of what those candidates, in alphabetical order based on surname, had to say on the arts:

Doug Griffiths

• Doug commented on the work Save Our Fine Arts (SOFA) has been doing and said he sees arts and culture as separate entities.
• Doug sees education, healthcare, jobs/economy, and artistic endeavours as the four pillars of community development.  Without that fourth pillar, he contends communities devolve into nothing more than work camps.
• He said we need to develop the full range of talent we have available to develop.  We need more arts teachers to incorporate fine arts into education programs.
• Doug said the $11 million AFA lost would be regarded as simply a rounding error in the health ministry.
• He talked about Saskatchewan  pairing arts groups with businesses so the organizations eventually becomes self-funded.  People need to understand that artistic creativity drives industry.
• Doug said if the government funds and promotes the arts, that will help attract businesses to follow suit.

Gary Mar

• Gary said he always has time to meet with arts professionals.
• Gary pointed out he had been minister responsible for culture and so can speak about the arts from an intrinsic perspective as well as economic.
• He talked about the benefit of fine arts in the schools.  Arts and culture can teach empathy, give us pride as Albertans.
• Gary noted that every dollar invested in the arts, yields $8 to $10 back.  He looks at investment in the arts not as a cost, but as a value.
• Gary said his commitment is not to permit any more cuts to the arts and to meet with arts groups to see what they need to make arts and culture flourish in Alberta.
• He considers supporting arts and culture as higher priority than sports, for instance, and talked about how the creative class can drive a knowledge-based economy.
• Gary remarked that the amount going to the arts isn’t even the equivalent to a rounding error in health care.  He vowed he would not stop support for the AFA.

Rick Orman

• Rick expressed concern about gaming proceeds going into government’s general revenue instead of being treated separately, saying this could mean the end of arts and culture funding.
• Rick proposed to add to add another 100 million dollars on top of the 148 million now coming from gaming as funding for art, culture and community management.
• He contended the government should use people that understand user groups to decide where the money should go, giving the example of how the Wild Rose Foundation worked.
• Rick said there is a business model component to his plan.   In terms of where we want Alberta to be in the next 10 years, we have to offer arts, culture, recreation and sport.
• Rick proposed putting a branch campus of Alberta College of Art and Design up north.  His northern policy also includes a tourism strategy to address the needs of aboriginal peoples, using their culture to attract visitors.
• He said he’d  minimize duplication of boards and foundations supporting the arts.
• Rick said the private sector needs to be involved.  He sees this as an economic strategy and believed that a signal from government would spur it, saying lottery dollars could cover what  private sector doesn’t support.

Alison Redford

• Alison said she supports the ArtsVote mandate of education, celebration and advocacy.
• She said she believes in a holistic and integrated approach to developing arts and culture in the province - an appreciation for arts and culture should be built into the fabric of our society.
• Alison indicated she would support a dedicated ministry if that was the best solution to the current challenges facing the arts in Alberta.
• Alison stated she strongly believes arts appreciation starts at a young age and getting funding for artists to work in schools is essential.
• As Premier Alison promised to  bring attention to the importance of arts funding, saying we cannot and should not assume businesses and individuals will fund the arts.
• She said she would be looking to partner with groups who demonstrate that they have the support of stakeholders and that they have a plan.
• She explained that she believes that arts and culture leaders from our province are internationally recognized and could play a huge part in telling our story and raising the profile of the values that Albertans espouse and hold dear.

We have met with all the candidates running for leadership of the Alberta Party and we’re making good headway with Progressive Conservative candidates, but today we want to talk to you about the Alberta Liberal candidates we have met.

Alberta Liberal Leadership Candidates

Alberta’s Liberals are taking a new approach to their Leadership Convention.  They have opened it up to all Albertans whether or not they are members of the party.  Albertans had until September 5 to register to vote.  For those of you who are registered, here is some useful information from three of the five candidates regarding their stand on the arts in our province:

Laurie Blakeman

• Laurie characterized the provincial government’s arts funding as “push-me-pull-me”.
• She expressed concern about the mass of “baby boomer” professional artists approaching retirement who are unable to provide for their senior years, many being self-employed and ineligible for certain subsidies.
• Laurie said she believes provincial arts funding should be doubled immediately and tripled over a fixed time period.
• As premier, she would dispense with the AFA and introduce programs to benefit artists directly. For instance, communities could apply for an artist to work in their community on a project and that artist would draw a salary for a period of time.  She advised this would help build a knowledge-based economy and would be stronger than the artist-in-residence program now in place.
• Laurie also considered micro loans for professional artists.
• She’s comfortable having cultural industries separate but equal.
• Laurie also proposed development funding for new artistic initiatives.

Hugh MacDonald

• Hugh decried the fact that last year’s culture budget had $1 million left unexpended.
• Hugh talked about how Norway is  using oil revenues to support the arts and said this should be done in Canada.
• He said he supports a dedicated ministry and stand-alone funding for the arts.
• He felt the provincial government is not sincere about its commitment to the arts.
• Hugh commented that Laurie has been a good advocate for the arts and said that the Liberals are the only party that do this.

Raj Sherman

• Raj said the arts are the heart and soul of the community. He sees the arts as a major part of the economy, adding diversity to it.
• He favoured providing incentives to certain industries to get them on their own feet. He suggested we become the Bollywood of the west saying the spillover would benefit all of society.
• Raj said the AFA needs to listen to professional artists because artists know what needs to be done. If he were premier, he would ask what the problems and solutions are.
• He’s worried fine arts in the schools will be affected by firing teachers. He said there are international competitive issues to also consider. Raj said we should strive to have something like Emily Carr University.
• Raj said the government is spending just as much money monitoring accountability programs as they are funding those they ask to be accountable. He sees the arts as small- and medium-sized businesses and said the arts need stable, predictable funding.
• He said nations are investing in Edmonton, but using the proceeds to invest in their own arts, not ours. Raj said that if government won’t come to the table, neither will industry.

Bruce Payne and Bill Harvey have also declared their candidacies.  Our committee has made repeated attempts to set up meetings with these two men and are waiting to hear back from them, but time is slipping away. The 2011 Alberta Liberal Leadership Convention is taking place on Saturday, September 10.  Go to http://www.albertaliberal.com for more information on candidates and the convention.

Click on this image to read the full letter.

One week following our last delivery of art love postcards and we get a very special letter in the mail.  The Honourable Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, has written us on behalf of Alberta’s government in response to our “I Love Alberta Art” campaign.

As you know, we did receive responses from several MLAs shortly after our postcard deliveries began.  We heard from one hundred per cent of the NDP caucus and a lone PC MLA but, oddly enough, heard nothing from the Alberta Liberals nor the Wildrose Alliance members in response to the letters we sent.

Click on this image to read a PDF version of this letter.

Naturally PACE Chair Daniel Cournoyer, on behalf of the Provincial Advocacy Steering Committee, responded to Minister Blackett – as he did to all MLAs that contacted us – with an earnest invitation to continue the dialogue and further explore the perspectives and circumstances of Alberta’s vital arts sector.

In the interest of spreading this dialogue throughout our province’s political leadership, members of the Provincial Advocacy Steering Committee have been meeting with leadership contenders for each of the parties holding leadership races this year.  We will continue this effort to encourage all parties to make the arts an integral component of their policies and platforms.

In the meantime, we continue to collect signed postcards and are looking forward to at least one more delivery when Alberta’s Legislative Assembly resumes sitting in the fall.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to send in your “I Love Alberta Art” postcard, now is your opportunity.  Simply click here to find an assortment of postcards in different formats that you can download and mail or e-mail for inclusion in our final delivery.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering how effective this campaign has been, here’s a little story you may enjoy:

A couple of people were recently visiting a facility of one of our committee members.  As they were admiring the artwork, they came upon a display of arts advocacy postcards.  Noting their interest, one of our colleagues explained the purpose of the cards and invited them to sign one each.  They emphatically declined, stating that they both work in the Premier’s Office and they have already received so many “I Love Alberta Art” postcards they don’t know what to do with them all!

We humbly offer a simple solution:  Act on them.