Over the past few years, Sudbury has experienced an "artistic renaissance."
Interestingly enough, this renaissance has occurred without any new physical structures — no new performing arts centre, no new art gallery or new library.
At any of the many meetings I have attended over the years related to development of the arts, the main focus has been on "bricks and mortar" — almost always about building "something."
The simple fact is, the arts do not depend on things as much as they do on creative activity, which takes place regardless of any facility.
As past chair of the Sudbury Arts Council, our organization, together with other community groups, recommended promoting and supporting the arts (and other civic endeavours) by whatever means including a community guide as part of a co-coordinated awareness program. We need to let our citizens know what we are and what we are doing and how they can participate.
There is always talk of building facilities, especially for the performing arts; however, at present, there are a multitude of venues available for use for audiences from a few hundred to more than a thousand including auditoriums at Sudbury Secondary, Laurentian University (three theatres), Theatre Cambrian, Sudbury
Theatre Centre, College Boréal and ethnic halls, school auditoriums, church facilities and so on throughout Greater Sudbury.
The same applies to art exhibitions and other shows — we do have lots of spaces and more could impact the viability of those existing.
So, there are a number of factors to be considered when supporting the arts, and, perhaps, the creation of venues is not the most important. We have just about the lowest — some say the lowest — per-capital direct investment in arts groups and individual artists in any Ontario municipality.
But at the same time, we have one of the most active and involved cultural communities in the province. How much more could we do if more dollars were available to encourage local artistic endeavours and perhaps not just the construction of facilities?
Maybe the arts organizations and individual artists should be asked whether they would prefer more direct support in whatever form that might take or in the building of physical structures, especially in the downtown area.
Council should await the report of consultants to be hired to examine the currently proposed new arena and events centre, which could include an arts component, before making any decision with respect to any new individual venues.
John Lindsay
Sudbury