Photo by Whitehorse Star
Tourism and Culture Minister Jeanie Dendys
Funding for Advanced Artist Award doubled
As part of its responses to the impact of COVID-19 across the arts sector, the Yukon government is increasing funding for the annual fall intake of the Advanced Artist Award program from $75,000 to $150,000.
As part of its responses to the impact of COVID-19 across the arts sector, the Yukon government is increasing funding for the annual fall intake of the Advanced Artist Award program from $75,000 to $150,000.
Funded in partnership with Lotteries Yukon, the Advanced Artist Award makes available up to $10,000 for projects and personal artistic development for established artists with a substantial body of publicly exhibited work.
Applications are adjudicated through an arm’s-length process by a peer jury of fellow Yukon artists.
The funding increase to the annual Oct. 1 intake will allow more eligible projects to receive financial support.
“Yukon has a strong and diverse arts community that continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tourism and Culture Minister Jeanie Dendys said Wednesday.
“The Government of Yukon is proud to support Yukon artists through these difficult times.”
An enhanced intake of the Advanced Artist Award held last spring provided $150,000 to 22 Yukon artists working in film, music, poetry, painting, textiles and more.
To date, the government has provided $350,000 in additional arts funding to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the arts sector.
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Comments (12)
Up 3 Down 0
Aurora on Oct 2, 2020 at 11:41 am
@lynx (please apologize to that gorgeous wildcat).... Is it ever possible for a liberal puppet to ever say anything authentic and or accurate? Never seems to be and that is why your kind are called brainwashed. So pathetic and as usual when a liberal does not like what someone else says and is unable to sensor them, they scream 'hate' like a magic wand of rescue for their most delicate emotions. Truth is always hate to those who hate the truth. There are some really level headed reasonable people who do not support tax payer grants but I would not expect you to understand that while you live in your imaginary hypocritical bubble. In general, the least tolerant people ARE liberals...they even started the KKK south of us.
Tell it to someone else, that the conservatives are the least tolerant when we have been silently putting up with liberal BS for decades now and that was our mistake by looking at the social and political scene now...what a sordid mess.
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Lynx on Sep 30, 2020 at 9:55 pm
Wow, so much hate for the arts and artists in this comments section from the local conservatives. What kind of grey, monotonous world do you want to live in?
I fear for our Arts Community (and LGBTQ2S+ community) if the Yukon Party happens to win the next election.
Up 17 Down 1
Oya on Sep 29, 2020 at 2:45 pm
@ Aurora - I so agree with your comment.... ESPECIALLY the part that said, "It is not fellow taxpayers' responsibility to help out non essential artists..."
Up 8 Down 2
Obi on Sep 29, 2020 at 1:30 pm
If you are good, people will pay for what you make!
"True ease in art comes from talent not chance, as those move easiest
who have learned to dance".
Up 5 Down 4
Benny Labranche on Sep 29, 2020 at 10:22 am
Is there a link to where we can find more info about the organization and or the grants application?
Up 13 Down 2
Auckland on Sep 27, 2020 at 9:46 am
@ Groucho...I agree with you primarily but I would say rather that artists fit more in these two categories if it has to be narrowed to only two: The passionate artist and the novel artist. Many great artists are not professional (selling their work) and many hobby artists are selling a lot of their stuff. It all comes down to how serious an artist is. Some artists are adults and some are like children and should not be taken seriously.
The other thing is....we live in an era of great fallacies and one of them is that art is 'in the eye of the beholder' when this is not actually true. Art in fact, to be real art and according to many older dictionaries, must be done with some noticeable degree of skill and taste first and foremost. The eye of the beholder thing falls second to that and is a fickle thing in itself. Art however is a word that we know describes something specific and certain.
"All art is expression but most expression is not art."
So let us rethink and relearn what art really is in this twisted day and not fall for the lies....let us give it back its soul.
Up 18 Down 2
Yuke Awn on Sep 27, 2020 at 9:14 am
It’s always the same usual suspects who get the funding too, probably friends of the “anonymous adjudicators”. Administrators are payed more than anyone, lol what a joke.
Up 18 Down 0
Groucho d'North on Sep 26, 2020 at 11:06 am
Creating art is a profession for some and a hobby for others. It's often hard to determine which is which. As art is in the eye of the beholder not all works are appreciated equally and some get called a waste of taxpayers money. But that is a criticism of the adjudicators who select which artists qualify for this funding based on previous works.
Perhaps for this round of funding, awards could flow to the real artists to get their projects supported and encourage them to grow their talents. Artists who spend some time and actually create something inspiring to demonstrate skill and ability as an artist creator, something people would want to purchase because they like it.
Gathering a basket of odd shaped pine cones and old gum boots and arranging them in a pattern is not art and should not be evaluated in the same vein as a well painted picture that people can identify and appreciate the skill, time and effort that went into creating it. Some very talented young artists are less than encouraged when the work they agonized over for weeks is passed over and a political statement bunch of twigs and old bones receives financial support from the Arts program. Or is it really just Art for Art's sake?
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Aurora on Sep 25, 2020 at 11:50 pm
As a lifelong independent artist...I am disgusted and ashamed of both the government and artists who would take this money especially NOW when people are headed for worse times and no government handouts will enable any artist to survive when they are not already able to stand on their own by working a regular job. And it is not fellow taxpayers' responsibility to help out none essential artists when people really ARE starving in this country and have been for decades.
Liberals are SO great at taking from others but not giving. Ever heard of a grant recipient turning around and indirectly giving something back to maybe the poor who do not even have a roof over their head? Ever heard of a liberal politician giving their own money to the destitute. No, they just steal from taxpayers and give it to whoever they think votes for them...at the end of the year maybe 2% to the actual poor.
When government turns artistic communities into socialist camps and encourages them to expect it, there is no REAL arts community but a manufactured political sect of whiners and wannabes. Others lose all respect for artists themselves. I look over my shoulder wondering what they assume I take in grants when I know they lump artists in one basic camp and I almost cannot fault them when some 98% of artists would take grants if they could get them. And no I have never tried. And for anyone who is wondering...yep it is me and for those who don't know...you don't need to know. Just know, that not all artists covet taxpayers hard earned dollars and not all artists are socialists.
And yeah I am sick and tired of what goes on in the name of 'art'....get a real job and if you are a real artist, you will find some way to do real art no matter what comes your way. You don't need help or approval from some sleazy government department. I have seen amazing art done on brown paper bags and scrap wood. Just freaking grow up and take care of your own artistic affairs and if you can't...remember there ARE worse things in life like starving. You take grant money for your art and later find out you really do need welfare to eat and it won't be there for you.
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Woodcutter on Sep 25, 2020 at 2:10 pm
As a lover of Art, this is great news and isn't this what we are defending when we say we are here to defend freedom? To all the conservatives lament all this spending will eventually make it into your masters wallet and the great works created will end up in their spaces.
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Matthew on Sep 25, 2020 at 6:24 am
How is this NOT a complete waste of money? Start donating to the food bank for eff sakes! So many hungry and homeless coming up...
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JC on Sep 24, 2020 at 9:56 pm
"The Government of Yukon is proud to support Yukon artists through these difficult times". Of course the Liberal government is. There's plenty of deficit money ready to be squandered. And of course JTs favourite country China has plenty of money to loan him. He's already got Canada at least a trillion dollars in debt. Thanks to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. By the way, for those who don't know, the 4 out of 10 largest banks in the world are in China. And that folks, is not racist.