News release

Arts and Culture Partnership Council Recommedations Accepted

Tourism and Culture (Aug. 1999 - Dec. 2003)

TOURISM/CULTURE--Arts and Culture Partnership Council Recommendations Accepted


A new Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council will be based on partnership and accountability, as recommended by culture-sector representatives in a report released today, Nov. 5. It will also be guided by principles of artistic autonomy and independent assessment with respect to artistic merit.

Tourism and Culture Minister Rodney MacDonald has accepted all of the recommendations for the new council.

"I am very pleased with the recommendations, and we will immediately begin the process of forming the new council," said Mr. MacDonald. "The new council will operate with significant savings in administrative costs, while fostering a healthy environment for arts and culture in Nova Scotia."

The report was prepared by a culture-sector team appointed last April and chaired by actor and theatre director Eva Moore of Halifax.

"There are a number of benefits to a partnership approach, including more involvement from the arts and culture sector," said Ms. Moore. "The new council will have greater stability in planning, access to more resources and a shared responsibility in reporting its activities and results."

The committee also recommended that:

  • all regions be represented on the new council;
  • the council and the Department of Tourism and Culture work together to oversee provincial investment in arts and culture initiatives;
  • the council be responsible for program review, investment priority review and strategic planning advice;
  • the council gather ongoing stakeholder input on plans and priorities;
  • the Department of Finance review the performance of the Endowment Fund designed to provide support to the arts and culture sector;
  • the purchase component of the Nova Scotia Art Bank be reinstated and artworks be placed in locations outside of the Halifax metro area; and
  • the council table an annual report in the Nova Scotia legislature.

The full report is available on the department's Web site, at www.gov.ns.ca/dtc/a_c_p_c_report.pdf .

"This is a made-in-Nova Scotia arts and culture council," said Mr. MacDonald. "We believe this new approach can address the specific character of the province's cultural community and serve a broad range of cultural development initiatives."

The new council will have 15 representatives, 13 from the arts and culture community and two from government.

A call for applications from volunteers who want to sit on the new council began today. The council is expected to be in operation early in the new year.

Since the closure of the former arts council last March, $270,000 more has been allocated to six funding programs for arts and culture. Since the closure, all programs previously offered through the former council and all mechanisms used to ensure independent decision-making have remained intact.

In the past three years, new culture programs have been created in the department that focus on export growth and community cultural development. The department currently invests more than $5 million a year in cultural programming, with additional provincial resources supporting cultural tourism and cultural heritage activities throughout the province.

The department has also worked in co-operation with the Canadian Conference of the Arts to reinstate the Arts inFusion Program, which puts artists in the schools to work with children in arts education. The department has committed a new investment of over $38,000 and the program will be now be managed through a partnership with the ArtsSmarts program, the department, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The latter two partners will manage the program on behalf of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and the McConnell Family Foundation.