Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT: 1999 Cultural Grants Budget Ceiling
 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Council established the annual civic grants program in March 1978. Budget ceilings for the Cultural Grants program are approved annually.

PURPOSE

In the context of the Director of Finance's cover report, the purpose of this report is to establish a budget ceiling for the 1999 Cultural Grants program, which includes Operating, Project, Incentive and Theatre Rental grants.

BACKGROUND

The City's Cultural grants to non-profit arts organizations play a valuable and necessary role in ensuring the vitality, cultural diversity, and accessibility of the arts in our community. Civic Operating, Project, and Theatre Rental grants assist with the creation, production, presentation and exhibition of local artists' work, and help provide opportunities for Vancouver residents to experience the work of artists from around the world. Grants in the Incentive category provide developmental support for art and artists from diverse communities, encourage intercultural activities, and help non-profit arts groups undertake the organizational renewal and audience outreach that are key to their survival.

For 1999, 115 Operating and Project grant applications totalling $1,818,500 have been received. Applications the other grant categories are received and reviewed later in the year. Table I, following, shows how the current requests compare with those in the past four years. Staff note the reduction in the number of applications, and attribute this to the non-return of groups turned down for grants last year, and the establishment of a second Project grant deadline later this year, as explained in the Discussion section of this report.

Table 1
Operating and Project Grant Applications

  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Applications:          
Appl. funded in previous year 106 109 105 98 95
Return appl. not funded in prev. year 10 15 8 15 2
New applicants 34 19 22 18 18
Total requests 150 143 135 131 115
Appl. that haven't returned:          
Appl. funded in previous year 8 10 15 7 12
Appl. not funded in previous year 12 16 15 15 23
Total non-returns 20 26 30 22 35

DISCUSSION

1999 Budget Ceiling

For 1998, Council approved a final Cultural Grants budget totalling $3,015,175, including a $26,575 adjustment in the rental grant budget to offset the costs of increased Civic Theatre rental rates. Given that the Director of Finance advises that the 1999 budget figures are to include a 1% reduction on last year's budget, and a 1% cost of living increase, staff are submitting a 1999 Cultural Grants budget ceiling of $3,015,175, the same as last year.. Within this budget ceiling, funds are allocated to the different Cultural Grant categories based on priorities and anticipated needs. This distribution is summarized in Table 2, following:

Table 2
1999 Cultural Grants Budget

Grant Category 1998 Original Approved 1998 Actual Approved 1999 Budget Recommended
Operating $1,286,615 $1,261,900 $1,262,140
Project $70,000 $81,540 $84,000
Incentive* $80,000 $87,700 $85,000
Theatre Rental $1,551,985 $1,584,035 $1,584,035
TOTAL $2,988,600 $3,015,175 $3,015,175

* Includes Organizational Development and Diversity Initiatives

Operating Grants

Operating grants contribute to the financial stability that arts organizations need over the long term to develop and maintain quality programming. To be considered for Operating grants an applicant must have received a Project grant for at least two consecutive years, and have an ongoing presence in the community. For 1999, the City has received 88 Operating requests totalling $1,689,000. Staff recommend a budget of $1,262,140 in this category.

Project Grants

Project grants are designed to assist one-time initiatives, and to support organizations that work on a project by project basis. To provide greater flexibility for smaller arts groups unable to confirm project details far enough in advance of a once-a-year deadline, staff have introduced a second deadline for Project grants, scheduled for June at the same time as the first Diversity Initiatives deadline. Staff do not anticipate that the second Project deadline will result in an increase in the number of groups receiving Project grants, and note the decrease in the number of requests in the current round (see Table 1).

For 1999, the City has received 27 Project grant requests totalling $129,500. In addition, 14 former Project grant applicants have applied in the Operating category this year, and many of these are expected to be referred back to the Project category following staff review. Staff recommend a budget of $84,000 in this category.

Incentive Grants

For 1999, staff are recommending a budget of $85,000 for Incentive grants, with $60,000 designated for Diversity Initiatives and $25,000 for Organizational Development.

Diversity Initiatives:

The grant program known as Diversity Initiatives, which replaced Cross-Cultural Initiatives (CCI) last year, is designed to help build artistic capacity in distinct communities (as defined by race, ethnicity and disability). It assists with professional development training, developmental projects or groups from distinct communities, and cross-cultural artistic collaborations. Grants totalling $67,800 were approved for the program's first run in Fall 1998, an increase over the $50,000 previously allocated to CCI grants. Staff believe that to meet its objectives, Diversity Initiatives will need a higher budget level than CCI had, and are proposing a budget of $60,000.

Organizational Development:

Organizational change and renewal have become increasingly important in the cultural sector given shifting demographics, greater competition for audiences, budget reductions, and policy changes by funding agencies. Organizational Development grants encourage and assist arts organizations to upgrade staff skills, secure the expertise they need to address specific operational problems, and undertake long-range planning and audience development initiatives.

Of the $25,000 in Organizational Development, staff recommend that $15,000 be designated as the City's contribution to the cultural component of the Arts Partners in Organizational Development program (known as ArtsPOD), and the rest for arts administration training and audience development collaborations. Established in 1989, the POD program helps non-profit groups identify organizational problems and develop strategies to address them. Last year, Arts POD was funded by the B.C. Arts Council and Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as by the original funding partners, the Vancouver Foundation and City of Vancouver, for a total of $90,000 province-wide.

Theatre Rental Grants

Theatre Rental grants are provided to established arts organizations that regularly use one of the three Civic Theatres. Council approved the current timetable and process for these grants on July 27, 1995, providing for seasonally based grants considered in the summer of each year. The budget ceiling for these grants is established at the same time as the rest of the Cultural Grants budget, and adjusted later in the year, if necessary, to address any additional costs related to Civic Theatre rental rate increases.

For 1999, staff propose a Rental Grants budget of $1,584,035, the same level as last year. As described in the Director of Finance's cover report on civic grant funding ceilings, this amount includes $100,000 to provide continued support for the Vancouver Symphony Society's office space rental in the Orpheum.

CONCLUSION

While the budget presented in this report provides for no change from last year in the overall Cultural Grants budget, staff are recommending increases and decreases in the specific grant categories. This redistribution of funds among the categories is based on last year's actual levels, anticipated recommendation levels this year, and current priorities for encouraging diversity and providing for stability in the arts and cultural sector, while supporting some new activity and first-time applicants.

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