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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Visual Art A Different Kind of Vancouver Problem

Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 2:36 PM

A few months ago I wrote a piece about Seattle's Vancouver problem: namely, that Seattle art often feels like a scattered and history-less place, while Vancouver art has a sense both of itself and of its past—and is close enough to make us consider it. That picked up plenty of conversation in all directions.

One perk of Vancouver: its artist-run centers, which are government-funded.

But now what the hell is going on?

Today I see on Regina Hackett's blog that the BC government is planning an 80 percent cut to its arts and culture sector. Wow.

More here.

Comments (6) RSS

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Well, Vancouver used to be the cultural center for the west coast in Canada, and thereby got the largest share of fed arts grants, but given the actual riding distribution of seats held by the current in-power party at the fed level, and the same at the provincial level, I'm not real surprised they're being slashed to the bone.

Especially in BC (and somewhat at the fed level in Canada), elections have direct consequences. Somebody has to pay for the Olympics after all ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on September 8, 2009 at 3:13 PM

Hmm missed that first post but I would pretty much completely disagree with that. Vancouver has its pluses but I have always thought it is rather pathetic culturally for a city its size. We have 4 art museums, doesn't Vancouver just have just 1? It has a few good galleries (Center A comes to mind) but I would say Seattle has more. And doesn't Vancouver have like twice or more the urban population of Seattle? Some cool stuff has come out of there for sure, especially photography, but in general I would say the Vancouver cultural scene is further proof that Canadians aren't exactly the most innovative people on earth.

Posted by Rhizome on September 8, 2009 at 6:56 PM

Wait ... the Vancouver Art Gallery is an actual art gallery? I thought it was just a place to smoke pot once a year!

Anyway, I'm not surprised that we have received such a cut. The BC Liberals lied about our current deficit (it turns out it's in the billions, not the millions), so we will be receiving a LOT more cuts.

And Rhizoma, we have more than one art gallery. I am not sure the exact numbers, but I have visited the Gallery 88, the Hill's Native Art Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Petley Jones Gallery. I'm not an artsy type (possibly the furthest thing from it), so I couldn't tell you if Seattle's more cultural than BC.

Posted by Nova on September 8, 2009 at 7:47 PM

There's always the steam clock if you want culture - plus a free mugging thrown in if you head the wrong way for a block or two.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on September 8, 2009 at 8:49 PM

THERES NOTHING WORSE THAN THE BC LIBERALS THEY HAVE TAKEN OUR WHITE CULTRUE AND DILLUTED IT WITH THE ORIENTALS WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD ALL THESE SO CALLED ART PROGRAMS

Posted by BC NATIVE on September 8, 2009 at 9:06 PM

I believe Vancouver has more than one arts writer, and most aren't neurotic, ditzy or as biased as ours!

Posted by M. Darling, Darling on September 8, 2009 at 9:17 PM