New BC Artists in Art Bank
The Canada Council Art Bank recently acquired 52 works of art with a total value of $165,820. The selection committee chose the works from almost 2,400 submissions received from across Canada. The committee took into consideration regional representation and cultural diversity and paid particular attention to works by young and emerging artists in making their selections. All the artists represented by the recent acquisitions were not previously represented in the collection.
The Art Bank was created in order to support the efforts of Canadian visual artists and to provide government offices with the opportunity to rent Canadian art for their offices and public spaces. The Art Bank collection is now open to corporations and private businesses. The Art Bank includes some 18,000 artworks; it currently has over 6,400 works rented to more than 200 government and corporate clients.
The next deadline date for submissions of artwork to the Art Bank has not been confirmed. Artists are encouraged to check the Art Bank website www.artbank.ca regularly for deadlines and other Art Bank news.
Art + Education
More and more, articles supporting teaching with art versus the teaching of art are appearing in mainstream media. The articles focus on teaching techniques that use visual and performing arts practices to teach academic courses. Recently, Maclean's magazine (September 22) included such an article. It's no well documented that arts-oriented learning was noted for its ability to inspire children, develop stronger overall skills, and provide new methods of teaching traditional lessons. Rather than write a report on the pioneers, children piece together quilts. When math gets boring, a class is encouraged to sing the timestables.
To read the articles, go to:
http://www.macleans.ca
Some Surprising Arts Expenses
An Access to Information request has revealed that for the past six years National Gallery of Canada director Pierre Theberge has spent about $100,000 a year using the services of expensive hotels and restaurants during the past six years. He spent $292,249 on air and train travel, $154,988 on accommodation and $28,339 on meals - including one $140 tip on one meal in Ottawa. His gas bills total $7,101, and his total cost for renting a car is $13,863. Whereas there may be a rationale for these expenditures, it is shocking to read given the state of arts funding across Canada.
This is especially troubling given that Mr. Theberge is best responsible for a $1-million art show in Shawinigan, Que., the home riding of Prime Minister Jean Chretien who appointed Mr. Theberge to his position at the National Gallery, and because in 2000, the Ottawa Citizen newspaper obtained 1,600 pages of claims Mr. Theberge incurred on overseas business trips. Mr. Theberge was quoted in the article saying that travel was essential to his job: "You have to see your colleagues, you have to maintain your presence, you have to lobby for shows, you have to know what's cooking." He said.
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