Originally published: The Record (Waterloo Region) - Art, Tuesday, May 21, 2002, p. B5

By Martin De Groot

There's an opportunity tomorrow evening for anyone involved in the arts to meet with representatives of both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

They're coming to explain and answer questions about funding programs and granting procedures -- what's available, who can apply and how to put forward the best case.

The time: 7 p.m. The place: Homer Watson House and Gallery in Doon. Everyone is welcome -- including artists in all disciplines, representatives of cultural organizations, or anyone with a general interest in culture.

What distinguishes these two organizations is their size (the Canada Council distributes about $120 million; the OAC over $20 million annually), the principles under which they operate (arm's length, peer assessment) and their long-established preeminence.

They are also among the very few funding bodies that accept applications from artists as well as arts institutions. Each distributes about 20 per cent of their funding as grants to help individuals create art or travel, study or undertake some other form of professional development.

Such grants are awarded in various categories -- smaller amounts for emerging artists, more for mid-career professionals and for those that are fully established. The size of the grants is relatively small -- usually less than $10,000. The impact, however, often goes beyond what money can buy. One of the most important functions of the granting system is that it serves as a means of recognition and validation of the artistic worth of the artist and his or her work.

How do artists and arts organizations in the Waterloo Region fare in the national and provincial granting process? The full reports for this year aren't in yet. But last year's numbers reveal some interesting patterns:

In 2000-01 the tri -city area received about $700,000 in grants from the Canada Council. This is a significant figure, to be sure. But it is less than half of what it would get if the funds were distributed equally on a per capita basis. Of that amount, just over $75,000 went to 11 individual artists (five in music, three in the visual arts and three writers). That's out of a total of more than 2,000 grants awarded to individuals nation-wide.

Interestingly, the Ontario Arts Council totals, which come to about $500,000, are closer to being proportionally equitable. These numbers make sense in that this is an area where cultural production is still at the "emerging" stage of development. It does, however, suggest that the level of awareness of Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council activities may not be as high as it could be. Which is underscores the importance of sessions such as the one at Homer Watson House and Gallery tomorrow night.

Also, on Thursday between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo there will be celebration of the successful completion of the 2002 Brush With Art fundraising campaign. At some point in the evening there will be an announcement of the recipient of very first award to come out of the Brush With Art endowment for the visual arts. This represents something of a milestone in the cultural development of our area in that it is the first locally generated grant that is open to applications from individual artists as well as arts organizations.

It's going to be a party, complete with refreshments, prizes and entertainment by the K-W Children's Drama Workshop. To round out the evening, there will be a talk by Yvonne Shiu, who was inducted into the Order of Canada last year in recognition of her work as an arts volunteer.

She will speak on the importance of supporting the arts in ones community.

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Martin DeGroot is co-host of Monday Night With the Arts on CKWR-FM 98.5 (Mondays at 7:30 p.m.). He comments on arts and culture Tuesdays in The Record. You can reach him by e-mail at: mdg@golden.net

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