More videos below

Note: please call your MLA and leave a message - it'll only take you about 45 seconds! Thank you. Link includes message suggestions: click here. Resources Alliance for Arts and Culture - resources 1. Easy webform - fill it in and it writes a letter to your elected officials 2. Advocacy Toolkit - Use this PDF! 3. Submission to Vancouver City Council "Restore Arts Funding Now" stickers you can print off! Use Avery # 05214 sticker pages Literature Visual Arts Music Performing Arts More sample letters of protest, if you want to write the BC Gov't about the cuts: Click here Facebook Group - Organizing against Campbell's Cuts to the Arts Facebook group Revealing data visualizations of the arts cuts, by Jeremy Thorp PS. Note new $30 million for the "BC Rural Secretariat" Arts Cuts Data Visualizations "Socio-Economic Impacts of Arts and Cultural Organizations in BC" This report was removed from the BC Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Arts website - story here but it is still available here. It's the source of the "$1.36 return for every $1" figure. Government reports on government spending on the arts: Statistics Canada publishes raw data on government spending on culture. The most recent data is from 2006/07 and is available here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/87f0001x/2009001/part-partie4-eng.htm However, it appears that Statistics Canada no longer does a per-capita comparison of government spending on culture. (I may do this in a subsequent issue of the Arts Research Monitor. You can divide total spending by overall population to get an estimate of per-capita spending.) The most recent, readily-available per-capita figures are from 2003-04 and are available at: http://www.artsresearchmonitor.com/article_details.php?artUID=50272 Note that this data is for "cultural" funding. Data on "arts" funding might include some specific categories from the StatsCan data. And funding for individual arts organizations is another matter. The best report on per-capita and arts-related funding a report by Hill Strategies I did for the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 2005 (using 2002-03 data). Pdf report available here: http://www.ccarts.ca/en/advocacy/publications/policy/documents/KellyHillFinal_001.pdf Stop BC Arts Cuts - YouTube videos (eg. Cattrall video above) YouTube video collection Excellent, entertaining essay on what the arts actually are, and what happens if you cut them, by Kate Armstrong, artist and art professor, Emily Carr University Granville Magazine Facebook group - Save BC Arts and Culture Facebook group Authors speaking out against library funding cuts Thinkcity.ca Inspiration for those making videos about the cuts. Funny satires by: Sean Cullen, Canadian comedian and broadcaster, on why we need Canadian books Will Ferrell & co. spoofing anti-health-care-reform Letter from BC Arts Minister Kevin Krueger, sent in error with revealing formatting: Via email Letter from BC Gaming Minister Rich Coleman Via email Who Are The Wealth Creators? Salon Magazine salon.com Example of national arts advocacy in the US - good website resource Art and the Public Purpose - A New Framework Good reference article from CBC News in 2008, when the Federal Conservatives made their ill-fated bid to cut arts funding. Contains some very useful arguments. "Cultural groups blast additional federal arts cuts" Media stories NOTE: The complete list of media stories on the arts cuts since August can be found here: Up-to-date list of media stories - Facebook group, Organizing Against the Cuts and here BC Arts news - selected arts news stories SELECTED STORIES: "Penticton joins chorus of protests over cuts to arts funding" Penticton Western News Dame Judi Dench says arts funding being lost to London 2012 Olympics Many repertory theatres closing; Minister admits Olympics are the reason BBC "Liberal-arts cuts are bad for B.C.’s economy" By Peter Ladner Business in Vancouver "B.C. Arts Council's strategic plan reveals working artists' average income" ("On average, B.C. working artists earned $21,069 in 2006, which was significantly lower than the average income of $36,000 for the entire labour force.") Georgia Straight "B.C. Arts Council can't write cheques to arts groups" Georgia Straight "Artists fight budget's wrecking ball" Globe and Mail "Arts-cuts website paints gov't as 'disastrous' " The Province "What’s with the Billion-Dollar Roof?" Blog "Taking the breath of Oxygen from the arts " Nelson Daily News "Obama names actors, musicians to arts advisory group" CBC "Metro Vancouver board calls on Premier Gordon Campbell to rescind arts cuts" Georgia Straight "National arts initiative launched" to increase Canadian awareness of the arts Globe & Mail "Arts Cuts blasted" in Nelson and many other BC centres Nelson Star Golden, B.C. Launches New "Put a Face to the Arts" Campaign Alliance for Arts and Culture Canada needs tax fairness not the HST straightgoods.ca Vancouver Foundation report finds arts groups hit hardest Georgia Straight "BC arts sector was growing in importance" - CULTURE CUTS, PART 5 With decline of traditional sectors, arts and culture represent a future needing investment A very well-researched article on the economics of arts funding Xtra West Museums Association meets in Osoyoos, discusses the cuts to arts/museum funding Osoyoos Times "Harper’s ‘poison pill’ could increase B.C.’s budget deficit" - on the HST BC Local News BC arts cuts presentation at the legislature - Video B Channel News "VIFF 2009 Closing Gala: Minister Kevin Krueger says arts give people "sparkle" " by Craig Takeuchi, October 20 Georgia Straight "BC Arts Groups Fight Funding Cuts" by Marsha Lederman Globe and Mail "Children's festival dies due to cuts" Nanaimo News Bulletin "Cuts to Arts Funding in BC" by Aaron Peck Akimbo "Liberals' Tune Has Changed On Gambling" BC Arts News "Organizations funded by gambling could lose $77 million" Vancouver Sun "'Budget Cut Blues' Played for Politicians : Cuts to the arts will lead to cultural bankruptcy, committee told" (Mentions Diana Krall's BCAC-funded training The Tyee "B.C. slashes funds to publishing groups," October 2 CBC online "Rallies decry funding cuts: Arts supporters, parents protest at the legislature Times Colonist "Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Kevin Krueger cuts off interview" October 2 Georgia Straight "If Rich Coleman is the real arts minister, Derek Sturko is the key arts bureaucrat" October 3 Georgia Straight "Kevin Krueger's ministry should drop "culture and arts" from its name" October 3 Georgia Straight "Cultural workers can send a message through B.C. budget consultations" October 2 Georgia Straight "Coun. Heather Deal denied meeting with B.C. arts minister over cuts" October 1 Georgia Straight "UBCM approves motion to restore provincial and federal arts funding" Georgia Straight "BC Arts Cuts 'Devastating' Says Tory Minister" Even the federal Conservatives condemn the BC arts cuts The Tyee "Vancouver artists stage rally protesting B.C. Liberals' arts cuts" Georgia Straight "B.C. artists conflicted over Olympic funds" The Globe and Mail "Atwood, McLachlan, Coupland join campaign against arts cuts" by Marsha Lederman The Globe and Mail "B.C. government report on socio-economic impact of the arts removed from arts ministry website" Georgia Straight "Gaming grant cuts are devastating nonprofits—is this the province's intention?" By Susan Marsden (President of the BC Association for Charitable Gaming) Georgia Straight "Sex and the City star bashes B.C. Liberals' art cuts" The Province "Arts-cuts casualties piling up in Vancouver" by Jessica Werb The Georgia Straight "Visual artists across Canada outraged by BC cuts" Press release from Alternator Gallery and CARFAC national Kelowna.com "Vancouver artists stage rally protesting B.C. Liberals' arts cuts" The Georgia Straight "Flex Your Muscles, BC Arts Community" The Tyee "Flip-flops causing Lib machine to break down," by Michael Smyth The Province Communities get $2.86 million from B.C. government for torch relay parties The Province, on the same day the gaming cuts were announced Artists hit hard by cuts to gaming grants The Globe & Mail The Economist on the Vancouver 2010 Olympics budget overrun The Economist "Government is gambling with other people's money" (Very good article) The Province Semi-adequate article in the Province about the early September anti-cuts rally, but buried on page A18 and ignoring the 91% figure: The Province "Protesters mourn death of arts funding in BC" in the UBC newspaper The Ubyssey For Reference: "Vancouver School Board wants unacceptable funding cuts reversed" The Province "Government cuts steal colour from life" canada.com "Independent Media Arts Alliance calls support art strike" Georgia Straight "Ministers in Hiding" Georgia Straight "Restore Arts Funding Now!" Councillor Woodcock Georgia Straight "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?" by Nobel Award-winning economist Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Krugman's article helps explain why the kind of economic policies the BC Liberals have adopted are outdated and are being abandoned almost everywhere else thanks to the financial crash and recession. New York Times

Videos:
Global TV news broadcast on arts cuts and Kim Cattrall

Video spoof, for inspiration:
Sean Cullen, CBC broadcaster and comedian,
on why "we don't need Canadian books":