Firing Back, "What Makes Art So Sacred?"

Yesterday some time, Kathryn Marshall fired back against the angry letters, emails and critical writing that we have been amassing on the internet against her widely disputed interview with Ezra Levant.  The link is posted below to her personal blog so you can read it for yourself.  Megan Dart pointed it out to me this morning, and I had a chance to read it, go grab a cup of tea and think on it.

Thoughts from 'Artists'

I always feel weird putting up posts or smart, insightful words my friends put up and know that the main categorization that I put them under is 'artist'.  The word 'artist' is something easy for the public to separate a sense of 'us' and 'them' from.  But in truth, I do fundamentally believe that everyone has artistic talent, everyone has a desire, and capability to express themselves artistically.  Which is not to detract from us who make a career out of it, some of us choose to do it professionally, whatever that means.

But in the interests of making 'artists' less faceless, less like French mimes, less like your high school Drama queen who waxed Shakespeare at you, less like that hippie chick you always see walking down the street with a sketchbook, artists are people, Canadians, in this case, who are interested in presenting ideas, truths, and stories to their audiences.  As wide and as varied as our nation is, we produce artists of ever walk, vocation, media, and message there is.  Here's some interesting snippets of responses since the Sun Media explosion.

Megan Dart on Taking The Fight to Sun News

Artist, Writer, Blogger and Social Media Guru Megan Dart took the time this morning to write a detailed post about what we can do as concerned Citizens about misleading and untruthful journalism that Sun News Network is perpetuating.

Check out her post here.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/megan-dart/seven-things-you-can-do-to-stick-it-to-sun-news/10150233563938865

If you don't have or don't like facebook, you can also find it here.
http://yegartsandpolitics.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/seventhings/

Also I got the video uploaded into youtube after a ripping job, apologies for the low quality but I didn't want to run more passes or spend more than half an hour on it today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdHyxKZkTw

Sun News Network Attacks Artists

This has literally just made its way across my desk.  I'm in rehearsal right now composing on the fly while stage managing and now am having difficulty doing either until I write about this.

Jim Flaherty's Followup Comments on Summerworks

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty weighed in today with some followup comments to the breaking story across the nation about Toronto's Summerworks losing their funding.

His response?  "Don't count on it."

Well That Happened

Well that happened.  What we now look forward to is a 4 year Conservative Majority.  I actually had to take a day off to process those results and think on it.  I think in part we're still waiting a little bit to see what the actual totals were of people who voted, in many's the way, the internet, facebook, twitter, gave 'progressive' people perhaps a slightly skewed sense of the world.  As is what always happens, the constrains of our reality give us a warped view.  For example, on my facebook I know or can link immediately to about 750 people.  Of this 750, perhaps a dozen were openly Conservative supporters.  You would think those odds somewhat indicitave, but they of course are not.  Many of my friends are arts industry in some form or another, or tend to share my similar viewpoints.

There was definitely a moment of deep sadness, perhaps even slight impending terror as I watched the numbers climb higher and higher.  For many in my industry, it is representative of a government which is doing its best to silence us, to kill us, to literally remove our work and erase its possibility of happening.  I was in a heated debate with a non-artist who countered that under Harper's tenure thus far, he had created a 75 dollar per child program for those enrolled in arts.  It's true, he did that.  But that program does not help those of us who are career artists, unless we are directly involved in promoting youth arts.  What about arts for adults?  What about arts and stories exclusively for adults?

There was a moment where I briefly considered that this would be a good time to study abroad, work abroad.  Kelsey even mentioned that this would be a great time for us to go work Cruise ships, which is also true.  Then I realized that it isn't what we should do.  Arts, and artists in Canada are here to stay.  We won't be strong-armed out by a government.  Even over four years, what seems like an insurmountable amount of time, he cannot outright kill institutions like the Opera, or the Symphony.  Some companies in our cities operate on tens of millions of dollars, employ hundreds of people.  There is an infrastructure in place of developing artistic creativity, that as much as the Harper government wants to politically silence, there are simply too many of us.

I am reminded that we are Canadian people.  That we are unbowed, and free, free to create and work and explore.  We face challenges now, yes.  We will assuredly face bigger challenges in the years to come, but we are not going to run and hide.  If anything, I deeply hope our work will flourish under persecution.  That's my fervent wish, much as I would like a more social, more democratic and engaged Canada...well they always say that your best work happens under the gun.

I will of course be updating this political blog less now that the election is done, but will continue to report on interesting news and articles as they develop.  An Election is a first step in democracy, not the last.  It's up to us to continue to be engaged over the next 4 years, to draw attention to the issues, to hold our representatives accountable, to ask questions and demand answers.

I leave you with a quote by a great man.  No it isn't the Martin Luther King mis-attributed one, but rather from David Van Belle, whom I had the pleasure of working with earlier this season.

Progressive friends, put your shoulders to the wheel. Locally, personally, daily. BE the political change you want in your own life. Open up. Listen to people. Meet people. Talk to people. Help people. Get creative. Act with love, not fear. That's how we get through this.   -David Van Belle

I'm Afraid

• I don't disagree with anything you say, Lester.  It's just that I have to be careful with what I write.  If I write out anything too critical, too outspoken, it could be seen and I could lose funding for my company.  I could lose my job and the people employ.  I think you're brave, aren't you afraid that by being outspoken you might not get grants again?

I am afraid of that.