Q & A with Martha Durdin, OAC Chair

1 – What do you feel you can bring to the role of Chair of the Ontario Arts Council?

Aside from my experience in the business world, I have an older brother who is a visual artist.  His experience has given me insight into the challenges that artists face.  The need to create is a powerful one.

We must ensure that those with the talent and vision to contribute to the artistic resources of this province are given the support that allows them to do so.  If in my role as Chair, I can help make this happen, then that for me is a useful contribution.

2 – How important is it to have an Ontario Arts Council? 

A provincially mandated arts council is essential to our cultural infrastructure.  It nurtures the development of those artists who have the courage to take on a life in the arts and those organizations that support their work.

The Ontario Arts Council ensures that there are provincially-funded programs that respond to the needs of the arts community;  that these programs are run by experienced arts professionals and that there is input from the arts community in the form of jurors and advisors in the granting process. 

Finally the board of this arts council, made up of volunteers from the wider community, ensures that the accountability and transparency of this process is protected.

3 -  When you look to the Ontario Arts Council’s future, what do you see?

We know from Stats Canada projections that in ten years Ontario’s population will be 32 per cent visible minority and in Toronto and the surrounding area, that this number rises to 55 per cent. 

It is absolutely essential that the Ontario Arts Council’s programs be accessible; that they fund arts activities that reflect the wider population; and that artists are able to practice their art wherever they live in Ontario. 

For instance, Francophones from diverse communities are growing in number and we will ensure that our programs are responsive to all Francophones.  We recently introduced the new Access and Career Development program for arts professionals of colour and Aboriginal arts professionals who face systemic barriers in the pursuit of their artistic careers. 

We have also made arts education central in our strategic plan.  In the next few years we hope to see an artist-in-residence in every school board of the province. I hope that in ten years, the Ontario Arts Council will have contributed much to the arts education activity that will exist in Ontario schools. 

4 – What is the most urgent issue facing the arts community at the moment?

Arts organizations are facing new challenges. Never before have audiences had as many options for their leisure time and their disposable income.  This means that organizations have to work harder to connect with audiences. 

We will be exploring how to help arts organizations with this particular challenge over this fiscal year.  In the meantime we have committed to providing multi-year operating grants to eligible arts organizations starting in 2007/2008.

Over the past decade, arts organizations have also become much more sophisticated in their ability to pursue new sources of financial support. 

Right now most of their energy is directed to survival.  We know that the arts community needs a significant financial investment to live up to its full potential for growth.  That is why the Ontario Arts Council has recently prepared a business case for the provincial government asking for a substantial increase in our funding. 

The arts contribute so much to the overall fabric of our society.  There is ample evidence that the arts support creative communities and strong economies and that every dollar invested by the provincial government in OAC operating grant recipients has a 20 to 1 return.

5 – How  would you like your fellow board colleagues to contribute to the ongoing activities of the Ontario Arts Council?

My fellow board members represent communities, both geographical and cultural, around the province.  They are eager to represent the OAC when they are in their communities and bring their perspective back to the OAC board table. 

Ontario’s arts community is vibrant and ever-changing.  It is our responsibility to ensure that the Ontario Arts Council be just as vital and current. We have a responsibility to nurture the activities in the smaller communities and not just those in the large urban centres.