OAC funds 9 local art groups

Nine local arts organizations are benefiting from $264,000 worth of Ontario Arts Council funding.

Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci was joined by local OAC board member Bela Ravi to make the announcement Oct. 9.

“This city truly believes we should support the arts,” Bartolucci said. “We should never ever lose sight that the cultural sector is a huge driver of our gross domestic product.”

Provincially, arts and culture account for more than 250,000 jobs held by working Ontarians, generating some $19.7 billion to the province.

Thanks to OAC grants, a number of local groups will be able to continue investing artistically in the community.

Grant recipients include:

Cinéfest - $20,000 for its 2013 operations

Éditions Prise de parole - $71,750 for its 2012-13 operations

La Slague du Carrefour francophone - $5,000 to create an audience development plan

Northern Lights Festival Boréal - $15,000 for its 2012 operations

River and Sky Music Festival - $7,500 for its 2012 festival

Scrivener Press - $3,750 for publication of its 2012 titles

Sudbury Symphony Orchestra - $25,000 for its 2012-13 six-concert series

Sudbury Theatre Centre - $100,000 toward its 2012-13 season

Théatre du Nouvel-Ontario - $16,000 toward its touring production Two Rooms – II (Deux)

“The arts are an integral part of our everyday lives,” Bartolucci said. “We take a great deal of pleasure in supporting you.”

Martin Lajeunesse from TNO said the funding will allow the professional Francophone theatre company to tour its production to 15 communites throughout three provinces.

“We have become exporters of a 'made in Sudbury' cultural product,” he said, and Funding makes projects like this that much more possible.

David Savoy, artistic director of the STC, said OAC funding has proven valuable.

“So much of what we do wouldn't happen without help from the OAC.”