Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT: 1999 Diversity Initiatives Grants: First Deadline
 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Council approved a budget of $60,000 for the Diversity Initiatives component of the 1999 Cultural Grants budget on Feb. 2, 1999. The Diversity Initiatives program guidelines were approved by Council on July 28, 1998.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

This report makes recommendations for three Diversity Initiative grants totalling $19,000.

BACKGROUND

The Diversity Initiatives program is designed to support cross-cultural artistic partnerships and artistic development in distinct communities (as defined by race, ethnicity or disability). Applicants must be based in Vancouver and activities must take place within the city of Vancouver. The program applies to activity in the performing or visual arts, and provides grants for four types of activities:

(1) Artistic Leadership Training: towards the costs of internships and mentorships for artists from distinct communities in the following areas: curation, artistic direction, and artistic production.

(2) Artistic Development Projects: for projects designed to contribute to the artistic development of a professionally led arts group from one or more distinct communities. Projects must include new creation or interpretation.

(3) Cross-Cultural Artistic Projects: to assist with collaborative projects between two or more arts groups, one of which must be from a distinct community.

(4) Cross-Cultural Artistic Residencies: to assist with a residency for one or more artists from a distinct community hosted by a non-profit society from a mainstream or other distinct community.

DISCUSSION

Six applications were received for the June 17, 1999 Diversity Initiatives program deadline, and one was subsequently withdrawn. Grants are recommended for three of the remaining five requests, listed in Table 1 and discussed in more detail following.

Table 1
Diversity Initiatives Recommendations

Organization(Sponsor) Requested Recommended
Americas on the Verge $8,494 $0
Curious Tongue (Touchstone Theatre) $10,000 $8,000
Rumble Productions $8,300 $8,000
Soc. for the Dev.of Latin American Culture $21,700 $3,000
Touchstone Theatre $6,000 $0
Total $54,494 $19,000

Americas on the Verge Society

The society has requested support for the addition of two visual arts exhibitions and a theatre/parade component to its inaugural film festival and conference this October. The overall objective of the society is to provide insights into the diversity of artistic and social perspectives existing under the heading “Latin American”, and to raise the profile of Latin American artists working in Vancouver. Staff do not recommend funding at this time, noting that the proposed initiatives do not meet the criteria or priorities of either of the two Diversity Initiative components under consideration: cross-cultural artistic projects and artistic residencies.

Curious Tongue

Curious Tongue, under the auspice of Touchstone Theatre, has applied for a $10,000 artistic development project grant in support of its full-scale production of Je me souviens, a multicultural portrait of life in Montreal and Vancouver from a Black Anglo perspective. The total budget for the production, scheduled for the Firehall Arts Centre early next year, is $27,700. Staff recommend a grant of $8,000.

Rumble Productions

A $8,000 grant is recommended towards an artistic internship for Adrienne Wong. Ms. Wong is a graduate of the SFU School for Contemporary Arts and already has had some experience as an actor, director, playwright and dramaturge. The next stage in her

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professional development is direct experience with an established producing theatre company where she can gain the skill and knowledge necessary to become an artistic director/producer. Rumble Productions Society has agreed to work with Ms. Wong on artistic production, play directing, fund-raising and administration.

Society for the Development of Latin American Arts (SODELA)

The society represents a broad network of Latin American artists in Vancouver, including an active group of performers working as Mictlan Theatre. The group’s initial request was for funds to cover most of the costs of a full-scale production of the group’s second play, Run Jacinto Run. Following a review of the proposal with Mictlan’s artistic director, staff recommend a $3,000 grant towards the development stages of the project, including a workshop production in November of this year

Touchstone Theatre

The company has applied for $6,000 in support of an artistic residency for First Nations playwright Drew Hayden Taylor, who will adapt a play for the Brecht in the Park series next year. Staff note that the Diversity Initiatives artistic residency program is not an appropriate source of funding for this initiative. Since Mr. Taylor, who is based in Toronto, will be spending relatively short periods of time in Vancouver, the impact of his involvement with Touchstone on the local community is hard to ascertain. A grant is not recommended.

CONCLUSION

Changes in the program now known as Diversity Initiatives were introduced last July to provide more developmental assistance to artists and arts groups from distinct communities. In its first round last November the program supported 11 initiatives, a number of which have already been successfully completed, notably Devil Box Cabaret, Que Pasa with La Raza, and Verdant Stones. Reports on all 11 projects are due at the end of the year.

The Diversity Initiative requests in this report were made for the first of two annual deadlines. The second deadline for this year is scheduled for October. Approval of the recommendations will leave an unallocated balance of $41,000 in the Diversity Initiatives component of the 1999 Cultural Grants budget.

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