February 13, 2008 — Increase for Visual Arts at the Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts announced today how it will allocate its new $31.5 million in federal funding. The Visual Arts Section will receive the largest increase of all sections, its budget growing from $17 million to almost $21 million. The allocation between programs within the Visual arts Section should be known in the coming weeks. Laura Margita, Paved Arts’ Executive Director in Saskatoon and PARCA’s representative, as well as Daniel Roy, ARCCC’s Director, attended the National Art Service Organizations’ meeting yesterday, where this announcement was first made.

This increase follows many of the recommendations expressed during the Visual Arts Summit in November. Partner in this Summit, the Artist-Run Centres and Collective Conference is now actively participating in the new Canadian Alliance for the Visual Arts, formed to establish joint strategies for a better recognition of visual arts in Canada.

ARCCC congratulates the Canada Council for the Arts for this necessary increase to the visual arts and thanks the whole staff of the VA Section for demonstrating the needs of the sector.

<Le 13 février 2008 — Augmentation pour les arts visuels au Conseil des Arts du Canada
February 26, 2008 - Visual Arts Alliance applauds motion for artists' tax exemption>