Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 05/00) - In the NWT, applications to the Canada Council for the Arts currently only come from six communities.

This year, to date, the council has awarded $100,595 of their total budget of $103,008,149 to various NWT projects covering three areas -- aboriginal peoples collaborative exchange, millennium arts fund and multidisciplinary festival programs. This amounts to one per cent of the funds for 12 per cent of the Canadian population.

There were 29 grant applications from Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Fort Good Hope, Fort Rae, Inuvik and Yellowknife.

John Goldsmith, head of communications for the arts council, said an average of one in four applicants in the NWT receive an annual grant.

Last week, Goldsmith joined arts council chairman Jean-Louis Roux and director Shirley L. Thomson during their three-day visit to Yellowknife to conduct information sessions with the arts community.

"Yes, you might say it's a very fast tour, but we're still able to get a flavour and meet the artists," says Thomson.

Roux and Thomson met with officials from Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and Education, Culture and Employment. They toured the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and attended the world premiere of The Arctic Circle War at the Northern Arts and Culture Centre. They also attended a reception for the arts community at the heritage centre.

"I've been with the council for two years, and we've been travelling together, Shirley, John and myself, with other members of our staff, for 18 months," says Roux.

Roux and Thomson try to visit as many communities as possible throughout the country.

"It's a big country, we haven't begun to cover it all," adds Goldsmith.

"It's very important for us to do this though, because we want to know the artists. So the artist becomes more than a name and a project on an application. And we want to talk to the directors and the administrators of the arts organizations. It just makes our ability to advise the board of the Canada Council and implement our mandate more effectively," says Thomson.

Asked if traditional arts and crafts fall under the council's mandate, Thomson said they have a category called "fine crafts," adding that work dealing with a traditional form and finding a contemporary expression would fall into that category.

Thomson added there are council programs that support story-telling, as well as mentorship situations between young artists and elders.

She added they would like to travel throughout the NWT, but said "it's a matter of time."

Goldsmith said the model of visiting communities -- such as when two aboriginal arts officers visited Pangnirtung and Iglulik in early April -- is one the council hopes to continue.

One area the council is currently examining involves simplifying the grant application process for aboriginal people.

The process, which is often complex, requires extensive support materials, such as portfolios and slides of the work. Goldsmith cites the Inuit Art Foundation's method of calling in applications as one alternative.