MAY 10, 2008
New Legislation Recognizes Important Role Of Artists
McGuinty Government Passes Landmark Legislation

The Ontario legislature today passed legislation that will create a better environment for artists to live and work in Ontario, Culture Minister Caroline Di Cocco announced today.

“The McGuinty government is taking a leadership role in recognizing our artists and their significant contributions to Ontario’s creative economy, quality of life and sense of identity,” said Di Cocco. “This legislation formally recognizes artists’ contributions and introduces Ontario’s first arts and culture strategy. This is a significant foundation upon which to build a better environment for our artists to thrive.”

The Status of Ontario’s Artists Act, 2007:

Formally recognizes artists’ unique economic and social contributions to Ontario’s society
Introduces the province’s first arts and culture strategy
Conveys the government of Ontario’s commitment to implement initiatives that enhance the socio-economic status of artists
Declares the first weekend of June as Celebrate the Artist Weekend

This act is one step in the government’s strategy to help artists in the province make a better living.

“This government understands that while recognition is important, artists continue to face challenges in pursuit of their art,” said Di Cocco. “Artistic communities foster innovation, creativity and a quality of place that gives our province a 21st Century competitive edge. Just as importantly, artists express the spirit and dreams of a society. I am proud that our government is helping them to reflect the best of who we are to the world.”

Other McGuinty government initiatives to improve the lives of artists include:

Strengthening the guidelines for Ontario’s child performers in the entertainment industry
Developing new learning and development opportunities for artists
Boosting annual funding to the Ontario Arts Council by 38 per cent to $55 million over the next three years
Increasing funding to the Ontario Trillium Foundation by 20 per cent over three years to $120 million
Providing $10 million in one time funding to the Arts Endowment Fund.

MAY 2, 2008
Government of Ontario Announces
$20 Million Over Four Years to the Ontario Arts Council

The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister of Culture announced an additional $20 million for the next four years to the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) at a reception held for the arts community in Kingston on Tuesday evening.

This boost to OAC’s annual funding, beginning in 2008/09, brings the total annual investment in the Ontario Arts Council to almost $60 million by 2009/2010.

“The Ontario Arts Council provides vital support to many of Canada’s talented artists and arts organizations,” said Culture Minister Aileen Carroll. “Today’s announcement will bolster our growing arts and culture sector and enhance the quality of life in communities across Ontario.”

“We are delighted with this news,” said Martha Durdin, OAC Chair. “Last year the Ontario Arts Council’s support contributed to the work of more than 1300 artists and 874 organizations across Ontario. These new funds will help more arts flourish in more communities.”

The exciting news will help the Ontario Arts Council respond to pressing needs in the various arts sectors. The money will used to invest in new and established artists and arts organizations.

It will also support growing needs in the Aboriginal, culturally-diverse, francophone and regional arts communities. Arts education, outreach and touring are also priorities.

The Ontario Arts Council is currently in the process of completing its next five-year strategic plan which will be launched in early July. The plan will signal the overall direction for the Ontario Arts Council’s support to the arts throughout Ontario over the next five years.

APRIL 29, 2008
Muskoka – A Designated Arts Community

On April 28, the Council of the District Municipality of Muskoka declared Muskoka to be a Designated Arts Community.

This was the culmination of an initiative presented by Muskoka Arts & Crafts to the Planning and Economic Development Committee of the Council of the District Municipality of Muskoka at their April 10 meeting.

"From national icons, international musicians, renown artists as well people who are picking up a paint brush for the first time, Muskoka inspires creativity. Our artists have become as integral as our landscape," remarked Sara Hall, the president for Muskoka Arts & Crafts who spoke in support of declaring Muskoka as a Designated Arts Community.

"Arts and culture are important to making a community stronger by contributing to the economy and quality of life of its citizens. This designation will help to make the public aware of the strength and richness of the arts community in Muskoka," said Hall.

Information provided by Statistics Canada supports Hall’s economic claim that the arts are big business. Economically, the arts generate 19.1 billion dollars annually in Ontario. Over the course of a year, 54% of people in Ontario attend an arts event or festival and nearly one third of money spent by overnight visitors to the province is spent on arts events.

Muskoka Arts & Crafts believes that focusing on the arts will help to promote Muskoka as a year-round destination and this designation could be used by a variety of organizations and groups such as Muskoka Tourism, the Chambers of Commerce, resorts, businesses, theatre and film, private and public galleries, studio tours, along with arts and music festivals.

"By designating Muskoka as an arts community, District Council will be showing a level of support for the arts that could open the doors to other levels of government funding. Having the visible support of the community is also beneficial to individual artists and organizations when applying for grant money," Hall explained.

Other towns such as Warkworth, which adopted the description in 2004, have used this designation to their advantage. After their municipal councillors embraced the motion, the town benefited from increased publicity and local business now promotes the town as a Designated Arts Community. Artists in the area continue to reap the rewards of living and working in an area that actively supports the arts.

Muskoka Arts & Crafts will be working with a variety of groups to spread the word about this designation. We’ll also be designing and developing posters as well as an information package for artists, businesses, tourism agencies, resorts and attractions to help them utilize this designation to the fullest.

"By passing this motion to declare Muskoka as a Designated Arts Community, the Council of the District Municipality of Muskoka will be making a genuine affirmation to the strength of the arts in this area," Hall concluded. "Council will be giving the arts community visible support and a tool for businesses and organizations to further develop Muskoka’s reputation as a culturally vibrant area."

APRIL 18, 2008
Hilary Clark Cole Receives a Life Time Honourary Membership

At Muskoka Arts & Crafts' 31st Annual Spring Members' Show, Hilary Clark Cole received the organization's highest honour when she was made a Life Time Honourary Membership on April 18, 2008.

This honour was established in 1989 in order to recognize the outstanding contributions of our members who are the heart of the organization.

A member since the early 1970s, Hilary has been an inspirational volunteer and artist.

Art has always been a guiding force for this native of Victoria, British Columbia who graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1969. As a sculptor in welded steel and bronze, Hilary finds that her best work emerges when she sets out to do something that may not be possible in her medium. Because steel is a relatively new sculptural medium compared to bronze, wood or stone, there were not examples of certain techniques and it forced a kind of innovation where Hilary became an artistic pioneer.

Her work can be very small or very large, rough or smooth, monochromatic or colourful. It can range in subject matter from a tiny sculpture of a flower, where the curve of the leaf makes one think it is real, to a ten inch bronze or steel female figure that seems human in its detail and beauty, to the fantasy faces that command the wall, to a study of a crow, steely-natured, with blue-black torch-coloured wings, to a life-size figure such as Silhouette, chunks of weathered steel speaking of power and wild nature. The pieces that give Hilary the most pride and joy is when the steel medium and the artist’s spirit combine successfully. It is then a marriage of material and subject matter and a true work of art.

In a video presentation about her artistic life that was shown at the Opening Reception at the Spring Members’ Show, Hilary remarked: "With a group like Muskoka Arts & Crafts, it is a burgeoning population of artists. We are in fact one of Muskoka’s natural resources in my opinion. We have the lakes the rocks and the trees, and we have the artists."

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MAY 10, 2008 New Legislation Recognizes Important Role Of Artists McGuinty Government Passes Landmark Legislation

MAY 10, 2008
New Legislation Recognizes Important Role Of Artists
McGuinty Government Passes Landmark Legislation