FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22 2016
OTTAWA – CARFAC (Canadian Artists’ Representation/ Le Front des Artistes Canadiens) is encouraged to see the federal government make major investments in the Canada Council for the Arts with a promise to double their budget within five years.
Visual artists in Canada contribute greatly to the economy and our cultural identity, yet more than half subsist on less than $18,000/year. Providing for more federal grants through the Canada Council for the Arts will have a significant and positive effect on artists’ incomes and the sustainability of their lives.
“Since 1968 CARFAC has been fighting for the rights of visual artists. As a member of the Canadian Arts Coalition, we have been asking the federal government to double the funding for the Canada Council for the Arts for more than a decade.”, said Susan Tooke, artist and CARFAC National Spokesperson from Halifax today . “These financial commitments will contribute to the success of our careers, the growth of our artistic practices and the strength of our sector”.
The Canadian Arts Coalition said in a statement released today: “The arts and cultural sector represents 4% of Canada’s labour force and contributes $48 billion to Canada’s annual GDP, making it an enormous source of strength to the Canadian economy.”
CARFAC is a non-profit corporation that is the national voice of Canada’s professional visual artists. Our mandate is to promote the visual arts in Canada, to promote a socio-economic climate that is conducive to the production of visual arts in Canada, and to conduct research and engage in public education for these purposes.
For more information contact:
Darrah Teitel
Director of National Advocacy and Communications
613-233-6161, communications@carfac.ca