Grants For Art Cultures The Humanities

The Canada Council for the Arts is the country’s largest provider of grants for artists and arts organizations, benefiting not only writers, visual artists, performers, and musicians but Canadian culture as a whole. In The Roots of Culture, the Power of Art Monica Gattinger outlines the history of the Canada Council, the impetus for its foundation, and the ongoing debate about its goals and impact. Tracing the Council’s gradual shift from focusing on artistic supply and building the roots of Canadian arts and culture in its early years to its expanded focus on the power of the arts in society over time, Gattinger describes how leaders have navigated core tensions inherent in the Council’s activities. She examines the arguments for and against “art for art’s sake” and pursuing broader social and economic aims through the arts, as well as the inherent political conflicts between serving the needs of the artistic community and the needs of Canadian society, between leadership and followership, between autonomy and collaboration, and between emerging and established artistic practices. Combining lively storytelling with insightful analysis, and beautifully produced with dozens of photos of the art, people, and events that have shaped the organization through the years, The Roots of Culture, the Power of Art is essential reading for those with an interest in Canadian arts and culture and cultural policy.

First published in 1990, this investigative overview of the politics of arts’ and cultural funding examines the question of public support for the arts. Looking at both popular commercial forms of culture, including radio, pop music and cinema, and the more traditional highbrow arts such as drama and opera, Art, Culture and Enterprise was the first book of its kind to deal systematically with the politics of contemporary culture. Drawing examples from specific British venues, Justin Lewis shows how innovative projects work in practice, and considers arts marketing and the promotion of culture as an economic strategy. A particularly relevant title in the context of the debate surrounding Arts Council funding, this reissue will prove valuable for artists, administrators and students of media and cultural studies, alongside those with a general interest in the future of public art and culture.