Canada Council
Encyclopedia
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation
established in 1957 to act as an arts council
of the government of Canada
, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the art
s. It funds Canadian
artists and encourages the production of art in Canada. The current chair of the Canada Council is Joseph L. Rotman.
, Ontario
, that reports to the Crown through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Its annual appropriation from parliament is supplemented by endowment income, donations, and bequests. Its main duty is alloting grants to Canadian artists based on the merits of their applications. The council also funds and administers many of Canada's top arts awards, including the Governor General's Literary Awards
.
The council has six main divisions. Each of these co-ordinates grant-giving to a different area of the arts:
These are complemented by three groups that work with all the sections:
, which has the largest collection of contemporary
Canadian art in the world, including some 18,000 artworks, 6,400 of which are currently rented to more than 200 government and corporate clients.
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO
and the Public Lending Right
Commission operate under its aegis. It also operates a Musical Instrument Bank. Established in 1985, the Instrument Bank has acquired many valuable stringed instruments that are loaned mostly to Canadian musicians, often as a result of juried competitions.
The Council promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities. The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor General's Literary Awards and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Each year the council receives some 16,000 grant requests, which are reviewed by panels of artists set up by each division of the council. In 2006-07, the Council awarded some 6,000 grants to artists and arts organizations and made payments to more than 15,400 authors through the Public Lending Right Commission. Grants and payments totaled more than $152 million.
and included in an Annual Report to Parliament.
Crown corporations of Canada
Canadian Crown corporations are enterprises owned by the federal government of Canada , one of Canada's provincial governments or one of the territorial governments. Crown corporations have a long standing presence in the country and have been instrumental in the formation of the state...
established in 1957 to act as an arts council
Arts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
of the government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
s. It funds Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
artists and encourages the production of art in Canada. The current chair of the Canada Council is Joseph L. Rotman.
Organization
The Canada Council is an arms-length agency based in OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, that reports to the Crown through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Its annual appropriation from parliament is supplemented by endowment income, donations, and bequests. Its main duty is alloting grants to Canadian artists based on the merits of their applications. The council also funds and administers many of Canada's top arts awards, including the Governor General's Literary Awards
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
.
The council has six main divisions. Each of these co-ordinates grant-giving to a different area of the arts:
- visual artsVisual artsThe visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
- media arts
- danceDanceDance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
- musicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- theatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
- writingLiteratureLiterature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and publishingPublishingPublishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
These are complemented by three groups that work with all the sections:
- AboriginalAboriginal peoples in CanadaAboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
Arts Secretariat, which fosters First Peoples art in all media - Equity Office, which encourages diversity in arts funding
- Inter-Arts Office, to deal with proposals that combine or transcend traditional artistic disciplines
Activities
The Canada Council supervises the Art BankArt Bank
The Art Bank is a division of the Canada Council for the Arts that rents works of art to public and private sector offices.Established in the 1970s the Art Bank buys art from notable Canadian artists through a system of peer review juries. The Bank continues to expand its collection, buying 52...
, which has the largest collection of contemporary
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
Canadian art in the world, including some 18,000 artworks, 6,400 of which are currently rented to more than 200 government and corporate clients.
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and the Public Lending Right
Public Lending Right
A Public Lending Right program, is a program intended to either compensate authors for the potential loss of sales from their works being available in public libraries, or as a governmental support of the arts, through support of works available in public libraries, such as books, music and...
Commission operate under its aegis. It also operates a Musical Instrument Bank. Established in 1985, the Instrument Bank has acquired many valuable stringed instruments that are loaned mostly to Canadian musicians, often as a result of juried competitions.
The Council promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities. The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor General's Literary Awards and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Each year the council receives some 16,000 grant requests, which are reviewed by panels of artists set up by each division of the council. In 2006-07, the Council awarded some 6,000 grants to artists and arts organizations and made payments to more than 15,400 authors through the Public Lending Right Commission. Grants and payments totaled more than $152 million.
Funding
The Canada Council is called from time to time to appear before parliamentary committees, particularly the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Its accounts are audited by the Auditor General of CanadaAuditor General of Canada
The role of the Auditor General of Canada is to aid accountability by conducting independent audits of federal government operations. The Auditor General reports to the House of Commons, not to the government...
and included in an Annual Report to Parliament.
Chairs of the Canada Council
- Brooke ClaxtonBrooke ClaxtonBrooke Claxton, PC, DCM, KC was a Canadian veteran of World War I, federal Minister of National Health and Welfare and Minister of National Defence.-Early life:...
1957–1960 - Claude BissellClaude BissellClaude Thomas Bissell, was a Canadian author and educator.-Biography:He was the eighth president of the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1971. He played a major part in the expansion of the University of Toronto, tripling the size of the university during his tenure.He was born in Meaford,...
1960–1962 - Douglas B. Weldon 1962–1964
- Jean MartineauJean MartineauJean Martineau, CC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and President of the Canada Council for the Arts from 1964 to 1969.-Biography:Jean Martineau was educated at the Université de Montréal. He was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1919....
1964–1969 - John G. Prentice 1969–1974
- Brian FlemmingBrian FlemmingBrian Flemming is an American film director and playwright.- Early career :Flemming was born and raised in California's San Fernando Valley, and studied English at the University of California, Irvine, graduating in 1998...
(interim) 1974–1975 - Gertrude M. Laing 1975–1978
- Mavor MooreMavor MooreJames Mavor Moore, CC, OBC was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator.-Biography:...
1979–1983 - Maureen ForresterMaureen ForresterMaureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, was a Canadian operatic contralto.-Life and career:Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in a poor section of Montreal, Quebec. She was one of four children to Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmaker, and his Irish-born wife, the former May Arnold. She...
1983–1988 - Allan GotliebAllan GotliebAllan Ezra Gotlieb, is a Canadian public servant and author.-Life and career:Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gotlieb received his BA from the University of California at Berkeley, his MA from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his LL.B degree from Harvard University, where he was editor of...
1989–1994 - Donna Scott 1994–1998
- Jean-Louis RouxJean-Louis RouxJean-Louis Roux, CC, CQ is a noted entertainer and playwright, senator, and briefly the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Canada.-Biography:...
1998–2004 - Karen KainKaren KainKaren Alexandria Kain, CC is a retired Canadian ballet dancer, and currently the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada.-Early Training:...
2004–2008 - Joseph L. Rotman 2008–