June 25, 2008 - A Productive Year

2007-2008 has been a productive year for the three year old Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference. Recognition of artist-run centres has progressed through many levels of intensive networking efforts.

The Visual Arts Summit, in November 2007, was certainly the highlight of this year. As partner of this Summit organized by the Canadian Museums Association, we assured that issues of concern to artist-run centres were addressed, and that speakers from our community were featured. We also encouraged attendance from artist-run centres’ representatives and were happy to report that around 40 centres were represented, including all the members of our Board of Directors. More than 400 people —artists, curators, art dealers and educators, collectors, etc. attended this Summit, making it a success.

The Summit was followed by the creation of the Visual Arts Alliance, grouping twelve national arts service organizations in the broad field of visual arts, including media arts and crafts. (You will find the complete list of members at the end of this document). This was the first time that these organizations met and discussed their concerns together, working in collaboration rather than in opposition, as had been the case for too long. By getting to know one another better, the members of the Alliance realized that our problems are universal, and that together, we can work more efficiently to solve them. This Alliance is not a formal association, it is a group united to advocate for a better recognition of the visual arts in Canada. Each of the members will hold a six-month Rotating Chair position; CAMDO’s Director Shawn van Sluys assumed the first term, I will assume the second, from July to December 2008.

The Alliance has been meeting regularly since January 2008, to discuss concerns, share information and expertise, and to work on the Agenda for the Visual Arts that was adopted at the end of the Summit. The Alliance recognizes the need to support arguments made to stakeholders, politicians, bureaucrats and the public, through solid research. We have been busy lately creating the Research Plan document, identifying areas of research that have to be examined in depth for a better appreciation of visual arts in Canada: Structural and Economic Study of the Sector; Market Development; and, Work Conditions of Visual Artists, Cultural Workers and Volunteers. We hope that our research will be completed by a panel of university-based researchers and will direct discussions with a number of universities across Canada. This research will provide a descriptive understanding of the sector’s dynamics, relationships and opportunities, while also prescribing actions and solutions to facilitate the growth and health of the visual and media arts in Canada.

The Visual Arts Alliance is a privileged place to network with our peers and raise awareness of the specificity of artist-run culture in the Canadian visual arts’ ecosystem. In an ecosystem, all parts are equally important and the whole system will thrive if all parts are healthy. Artist-run centres have been at the forefront of creation in this country for 35 years. Too busy doing it, in fact, we have been less effective at promoting ourselves and many people, even in our milieu, still do not know what artist-run centres are about. It is our hope that involvement in this Alliance will help dispel this lack of awareness and bring recognition to the “Research & Development” specificity of artist-run culture.

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2007-2008 also saw the conclusion of an “historical agreement” on exhibition rights between CARFAC/RAAV and CMA/CAMDO. Although we were not part of the negotiations leading to this agreement, we know that our study of artist fees paid in artist-run centres created last fall was used as a basis to establish the recommended rates. These rates are lower than what most artist-run centres are generally paying, and we must admit we were a bit disappointed. We would like to take this occasion to remind artist-run centres that these rates are “recommended minimum” fees and encourage all of us in the Canadian Arts ecosystem to surpass this in order to fully recognize artists’ work.

We all recognize that this agreement is not perfect, but it nevertheless has ended years of misunderstanding and has enabled better communication and collaboration. This agreement also advocates for the creation of an Exhibition Right Fund, based on the model of the Public Lending Right Fund. All of our partners in the Alliance know that artist-run centres must absolutely be included in future discussions regarding artist fees and in the eventual creation of this Exhibition Right Fund, and so we are being consulted. The double status of artist-run centres, simultaneously representing artists and presenters, can be a bit confusing to some; rather than considering it a handicap, we believe this status to be an advantage, allowing us a better understanding of both viewpoints.

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Throughout the year, we were a part of Canada Council consultations on their Strategic and Action Plans. In the last few months, we have also been busy monitoring the results of the evaluation of artist-run centres by the Council. We are grateful for the 20% increase that was invested in the Assistance to Artist-Run Centres’ Program that will enable centres to better fulfil their missions. We also had some reserves concerning the way this increase had been allocated between centres and/or regions. Our Board met with Pierre Arpin, Head of Visual Arts at the Council, to express these concerns. We were pleased to hear that the process used to allocate this year’s increase could be questioned and revised for the next evaluation. We were also told that a visual arts advisory committee would be formed this coming fall, with representatives from all sectors of the visual arts: artists, artist-run centres, museums, art dealers, etc. We intend to work closely with the Council to make sure that the Assistance to Artist-Run Centres’ Program is fully adapted to our needs, and that artist-run culture in every region of Canada has the means to develop to its fullest potential.

We have tried to be present everywhere where artist-run centres should be represented. In February this year, our President Bastien Gilbert attended the Super Market Art Fair, an artist-run event in Stockholm (Sweden) and I wrote an article on Canadian artist-run centres for the fair’s catalogue. In the last few months, I attended AGAVF’s AGM, CARFAC’s Round Table and AGM and CAMDO’s Symposium, in order to learn more about our peers’ concerns. Our Board members are active on every regional front, and many of us have been involved in decentre, a publication on artist-run culture that was recently launched by YYZBooks.

Yes, it has been a productive and busy year, and the coming one will be just as busy. In Ottawa, this November 7-10, Artist-Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario, in partnership with ARCCC-CCCAA, will host a national conference for artist-run centres; hot buttons / points chauds, which will address the most current and pressing issues and concerns for artist-run centres within Canada. A meeting of artist-run centres’ representatives will follow the conference; the first one since 2004, when our organization was founded right after InFest, in Vancouver. We certainly hope that you will be present. For more information on this upcoming conference, please visit www.arcco.ca.

If you have questions regarding ARCCC-CCCAA’s activities and networking please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to speak with you.

We look forward to seeing you in Ottawa in November. In the meantime, have a great summer.

Daniel Roy,
Director of the Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference (ARCCC-CCCAA)
danielroy@arccc-cccaa.org

Members (and representatives) of ARCCC-CCCAA:
The Aboriginal Region (Elwood Jimmy)
Alberta Association of Artist-Run Centres (Todd Janes)
Artist-Run Centres Association of the Atlantic (Michelle Bush)
Artist-Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario (Jewell Goodwyn)
Pacific Association of Artist-Run Centres (Jonathan Middleton)
Plains Association of Artist-Run Centres (Laura Margita)
Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec (Bastien Gilbert)
VERRUE Manitoba (Theo Sims)

Members of the Visual Arts Alliance:
Aboriginal Curatorial Collective (ACC)
Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC)
Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference (ARCCC-CCCAA)
Association des groupes en arts visuels francophones (AGAVF)
Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC)
Canadian Art Gallery Educators (CAGE)
Canadian Art Museum Directors’ Organization (CAMDO)
Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF)
Canadian Museum Association (CMA)
Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA)
Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV)
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA)


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