Montreal, Wednesday, October 2, 2024 – Several organizations are uniting to create the Common Front for the Arts, dedicated to the sustainability of Quebec culture. The 17 organizations are calling on the Quebec government, through a communication campaign, by loudly proclaiming that “Our culture deserves better than to be slashed.” All are sounding the alarm and calling on the Legault government to react before too many cultural organizations suffer the consequences of insufficient investments in the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).
A Slashed Budget
The Quebec government has been decreasing the budget of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for several years. Over the last three fiscal years, CALQ’s total budget has decreased from $185 million in 2022-2023 to $172 million in 2023-2024. It is projected to be $160 million for 2024-2025, and further reductions are expected if no action is taken.
Beyond CALQ’s total budget, we observe several cuts in more specific grant programs. For mission support, the amounts granted have only increased by 4% over 6 years, while inflation was 22% during the same period.
Between 2022 and autumn 2024, the average support offered to organizations receiving specific programming funding decreased by 35%.
In 2024, for the multi-year grant program alone, the total amount of grant applications submitted to CALQ by cultural organizations amounted to $151 million. However, CALQ only had $94 million available to allocate to these organizations. These requests were 61% higher than CALQ’s capacity. This marks the first time that the gap between the requests addressed to them and the financial capacity to meet them has been so wide, even though organizations requested only the bare minimum to maintain their current operations.
A Commitment Commensurate with Cultural Challenges
The constant increase in costs makes the creation, production, and dissemination of artistic works difficult. To address the challenges shaking the artistic community, the Common Front demands clear actions to ensure the sustainability of the cultural sector:
– Increase the permanent appropriations of the CALQ to $200 million starting in the next financial year;
– Aim to consolidate the CALQ’s budgets by making all of its funding permanent;
– Systematize the indexing of CALQ programs;
– To make local culture a true government priority with a long-term vision for the thousands of artists and cultural workers in the sector.
Artists and workers in the arts sector need recurring commitments from the government to allow Quebec culture to remain an economic sector that benefits all of Quebec society.
A Struggling Sector that Only Asks to Maintain its Current Achievements
The implementation of these actions would enable the cultural sector to overcome the challenges encountered in recent years, particularly the rise in production and dissemination costs, which have been amplified by inflation affecting supplies, services, equipment, and labor. Event-related expenses, especially in regional areas, continue to increase, reinforcing the need for investments to adopt eco-responsible and inclusive practices. Concurrently, digital transformation comes with significant costs for infrastructure and technical skills.
Without additional structural investments, the cultural sector will become greatly weakened, thereby diminishing its capacity to pursue its mission and significantly reducing the services offered to the public:
– Suspension or reduction of artistic projects and public outreach and development activities;
– Degradation of cultural infrastructure and decline in artistic boldness, particularly affecting niche disciplines such as dance, circus and visual arts;
– Reduced support for emerging artists;
– Reduced accessibility to shows and their diversity, especially in the regions;
– Loss of competitiveness on the international stage and reduction of the influence of Quebec culture abroad.
Quotes
“Art constitutes a significant part of Quebec’s distinctiveness and its influence; it is therefore essential to protect artists’ ability to create and to provide financial means for organizations to disseminate these works. One cannot consciously claim that culture is a priority and then condemn its proponents to see their ambitions wither. On the contrary, we must invest in it to preserve it and make it shine, both regionally and internationally. Culture is our collective wealth, and it is unthinkable to see it decline due to lack of investment.”
– Julie-Anne Richard, Executive Director, RIDEAU
“The Quebec government has been cutting the budget of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) for far too long. Our artists are already struggling, and the government is making their situation even worse.”
– Camille Cazin, Executive Director, Quebec Association of Visual Artists (RAAV)
“We are faced with feelings of discouragement, absurdity, and incomprehension, in addition to witnessing the psychological distress of members of our 17 associations representing clients supported in one way or another by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. We are very proud to unite to tell government authorities: Enough is enough!”
– Pierre-Yves Villeneuve, President, Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ)
“We are not asking for luxury. Investments are essential to avoid a major decline in the Quebec cultural scene, and this applies across the entire territory.
We hope the government will listen to us, because by continuing this weakening of our cultural sector, institutions will close, the next generation will receive less support, audiences in the regions will have less access to a diverse range of cultural events, art forms will die out, our international influence will diminish, our expertise will be lost, and jobs in various economic sectors will be eliminated.
– Caroline Gignac, Executive Director, Quebec Theatre Council (CQT)
About the Common Front for the Arts
The Common Front for the Arts brings together 17 organizations (see appendix for member names) representing various artistic and cultural sectors of the province. United by a common objective, these organizations work to defend the vitality, diversity, and future of culture in Quebec. In the face of economic pressures and social challenges, the Common Front calls for government investments in the cultural sector to guarantee the sustainability of Quebec arts and creativity.
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For inquiries
Emma Fortin, TACT
581 745-2681, efortin@tactconseil.ca
Source
The Common Front for the Arts Brings Together
– Association of Contemporary Art Galleries (AGAC)
– Professional association of performing arts presenters – RIDEAU
– Quebec Crafts Council (CMAQ)
– Quebec Music Council (CQM)
– Quebec Theatre Council (CQT)
– En Piste, National Circus Arts Association
– Guild of Musicians of Quebec (GMMQ)
– Peer group of independent research and experimentation arts (REPAIRE)
– Street Arts Association (RAR)
– Association of Visual Arts Artists (RAAV)
– Quebec Association of Self-Managed Artist Centres (RCAAQ)
– Storytelling group in Quebec
– Quebec Dance Association (RQD)
– Quebec Society for the Development of Cultural Periodicals (SODEP)
– Quebec Museums Society (SMQ)
– Union of Artists (UDA)
– Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ)