Newfoundland and Labrador has a strong history and rich culture in the arts. Whether it’s storytelling, theatre, music or visual arts, artists in our province are leaving their mark across the province, country, and globe. Standing in front of the LSPU Hall with local artists, Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Candidate for St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi, Sheilagh O’Leary announced today the party’s commitment to raising the funding for Arts NL.
“Art is engrained in everything we do as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We keep our culture and heritage alive through our voices, our stories, and our songs,” said O’Leary. “We know that artists are often struggling to get the funding they need for their projects, and with an added investment, we see this as an opportunity to continue growing our diverse artist workforce right here in our province.”
The ripple effect from the Year of the Arts funding showed a clear benefit, providing more opportunities for local artists to not only be able to work in the arts, but to be able to stay in the province and focus on art that highlights our rich and diverse culture. The NL NDP is committing to raising the Arts NL funding level to match the Year of the Arts, and make that the regular funding amount.
The current Arts NL funding for grants is $5 million, and the NDP commitment, as outlined in their costed platform, would see this raised another $2.7 million, giving more artists the ability to receive grant funding for their projects, creating more jobs and opportunities at all levels.
“This is about delivering a better deal for artists all across this province. We’ve seen millions of dollars in empty promises from both the Liberals and Conservatives, promises with no costing and no plan,” said O’Leary. “We’ve seen this movie before – we know that both the Liberals and Conservatives will promise the moon and stars during an election year and the first thing they’ll do if they’re elected is reward their insiders and donors and that will mean cuts to programs that so many rely on – those in the arts know this all too well.”
“To artists, we see the value you bring to keeping the spirit and history of our province alive. We believe that art equals work, and that you deserve to be compensated for that work and only NDP MHAs will be your voice, standing up jobs and livelihoods.”