FACE TO FACE: Should arts groups continue to get federal tax dollars?
"I'll get the barn. You get the gang together and we'll put on a show!"
Thus emoted a pre-teen Mickey Rooney to Judy Garland in Babes on Broadway.
"But where will we get the money?" Judy would say, wide-eyed.
If they had changed it to Babes on Granville, I would have supported a Canada Council grant for even this objectionable little over-actor.
Clearly, I am in favour of public funding for the arts (and, parenthetically, of motherhood and being nice).
It's amazing to me that we would find it necessary to discuss this subject. Are there two sides to this debate? Are there those out there who think the pittance of public support for the arts is ruining our economy or country?
We aren't in a tizzy about publicly funding amateur sports or Olympic athletes or ridiculous jets, so why is arts funding controversial?
I suppose my "scrap the CBC" colleague can't be expected to fully understand the spiritual value of the arts in that he hasn't had the privilege of living in the City of the Arts as have I, lo these past 30 years.
Given this cultural deprivation and that he doesn't get upset about our giving away billions to rich people each year, what does my colleague find so objectionable about funding the arts?
I can only guess:
The politics and subjectivity involved in deciding who gets money for artistic endeavour is probably disgraceful. I'm sure lots of deserving young artists are overlooked for the more politically favoured. I wish they would fix that.
I'm sure our francophone and First Nations countrymen get more than their fair share of funding to save their cultural heritage. We can handle this.
I am also sure that people can cite outrageous stories about charlatan Canadian artists living on the Canada Council dole in Bora Bora.
But for every obscure pop artist living on a beach, receiving a Canadian government grant for 50 years without producing any appreciable art, one can also cite fledgling Canadian artists who, with just a small hand up, might produce spectacular performances or works of art for the edification of us all.
Come on, it's $188 million. Let's just buy 64 new jets instead of 65.
Face to Face columnist Jim Nelson is a retired Tri-City teacher and principal who lives in Port Moody. He has contributed a number of columns on education-related issues to The Tri-City News.
