unimaginative2
Senior Member
Ontario unveils millions for arts
Surprise $75.5-million in grants will allow major museums to whittle down debt
KATE TAYLOR AND JAMES ADAMS
April 3, 2008
In a series of surprise announcements, the Ontario government is busy unveiling $75.5-million worth of last-minute grants to major cultural institutions.
The money, from the budget for the fiscal year that ended Monday, will help the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario pay off operating deficits incurred during their current renovations, as well as fund Toronto's Luminato Festival and Ontario Science Centre, Science North in Sudbury and various library systems.
"It's going to knock down our debt," ROM president William Thorsell said yesterday, after an opening at the museum during which Culture Minister Aileen Carroll announced a $12.1-million, one-time operating grant for his institution. The grant will eliminate the operating deficit the ROM accumulated when its attendance dropped during the construction of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, which opened last year.
Similarly, the Art Gallery of Ontario, which is currently closed for renovations, will use its $8.6-million to help pay the deficit it has been running during its year-long closing, and to pay off a $4.8-million debt that dates to a funding crunch in 1992.
"We're grateful to the province, which believes in culture as a driver of economic prosperity," AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum said yesterday. "This support will enable us to plan our operation in the transformed AGO with a clean slate."
Ms. Carroll and Premier Dalton McGuinty are expected to formally announce the investments in culture at a luncheon Monday at the Canadian Club honouring Luminato co-founders Tony Gagliano and David Pecaut. Luminato is to receive $15-million.
The surprise grants are being paid out of fourth-quarter revenues from the previous fiscal year, but also appear to be part of a strategy on the McGuinty government's part to invest more heavily in arts and culture. In last week's budget, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced he would be adding $64-million to the Culture Ministry's total budget over the next four years, beginning with the fiscal year that started this week.
"The Premier really gets the value of the arts," a senior Culture ministry official said yesterday, remarking that culture figures prominently in the government's economic planning.
Other grants include $10-million toward a planned expansion of the Toronto Reference Library, $15-million for the operations of the Southern Ontario Library Service and $5-million to Knowledge Ontario, a cultural and educational organization providing digital content through public libraries.
The Canadian Film Centre will get $2.5-million for repairs and improvements, while the Cultural Attractions Fund will get $4-million to extend its marketing activities.
Three other institutions will use the money to retire debt: the Ontario Science Centre and the Science North will receive $2.2-million and $388,000, respectively, while the Ontario Heritage Fund gets $747,000.
Surprise $75.5-million in grants will allow major museums to whittle down debt
KATE TAYLOR AND JAMES ADAMS
April 3, 2008
In a series of surprise announcements, the Ontario government is busy unveiling $75.5-million worth of last-minute grants to major cultural institutions.
The money, from the budget for the fiscal year that ended Monday, will help the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario pay off operating deficits incurred during their current renovations, as well as fund Toronto's Luminato Festival and Ontario Science Centre, Science North in Sudbury and various library systems.
"It's going to knock down our debt," ROM president William Thorsell said yesterday, after an opening at the museum during which Culture Minister Aileen Carroll announced a $12.1-million, one-time operating grant for his institution. The grant will eliminate the operating deficit the ROM accumulated when its attendance dropped during the construction of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, which opened last year.
Similarly, the Art Gallery of Ontario, which is currently closed for renovations, will use its $8.6-million to help pay the deficit it has been running during its year-long closing, and to pay off a $4.8-million debt that dates to a funding crunch in 1992.
"We're grateful to the province, which believes in culture as a driver of economic prosperity," AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum said yesterday. "This support will enable us to plan our operation in the transformed AGO with a clean slate."
Ms. Carroll and Premier Dalton McGuinty are expected to formally announce the investments in culture at a luncheon Monday at the Canadian Club honouring Luminato co-founders Tony Gagliano and David Pecaut. Luminato is to receive $15-million.
The surprise grants are being paid out of fourth-quarter revenues from the previous fiscal year, but also appear to be part of a strategy on the McGuinty government's part to invest more heavily in arts and culture. In last week's budget, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced he would be adding $64-million to the Culture Ministry's total budget over the next four years, beginning with the fiscal year that started this week.
"The Premier really gets the value of the arts," a senior Culture ministry official said yesterday, remarking that culture figures prominently in the government's economic planning.
Other grants include $10-million toward a planned expansion of the Toronto Reference Library, $15-million for the operations of the Southern Ontario Library Service and $5-million to Knowledge Ontario, a cultural and educational organization providing digital content through public libraries.
The Canadian Film Centre will get $2.5-million for repairs and improvements, while the Cultural Attractions Fund will get $4-million to extend its marketing activities.
Three other institutions will use the money to retire debt: the Ontario Science Centre and the Science North will receive $2.2-million and $388,000, respectively, while the Ontario Heritage Fund gets $747,000.
