Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (July 19/02) - More funding and a collective place to be creative -- those were two of the chief pleas from members of the arts community in Fort Simpson Saturday.

Close to 20 people spent a few hours meeting with members of an advisory panel charged by the territorial government with devising a new arts strategy for the NWT.

Tonya Makletzoff, an artist and an organizer of the Open Sky Festival, said a common space for artists is something that also needs support at the community level.

Art may be commercial -- and Makletzoff made no apologies for that -- but it also a nourishing outlet for some, she said.

"People expressing themselves in a healthy way is awesome," she said.

George Tuccaro, a member of the NWT Arts Council, described the arts sector as a "very viable industry in the North." However, the council's $140,000 annual budget was not nearly enough to meet the demands of 72 applications seeking a total of $700,000 Tuccaro noted.

"Over the years there's been so much attention paid to things other than the arts," he said.

Sonny MacDonald, a Fort Smith artist and co-chair of the advisory panel, said the GNWT should promote the arts just as it does oil and gas or mining. The panel, which will make recommendations to cabinet in the fall, is an avenue to allow the territorial government, artists and organizations to "walk hand in hand," MacDonald said.

"I'm a very staunch supporter of the arts, I always have been," he said. "The funding is very low and hopefully through due process there will be more in there."

Many suggestions

Boris Atamanenko, with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, said other suggestions the panel has been hearing include creating a fine arts school, allowing artists to act as mentors in schools and assist in developing the curriculum, inaugurating NWT arts awards and encouraging the purchasing of art.

To enhance artists' ability to market their own wares, the government could offer more workshops on writing business plans or for proposals to obtain grants or contributions, said Atamanenko.

Some artists would also prefer to see designated funds administered locally rather than "top down" from Yellowknife, he added. However, the overall funding level is a major factor.

"It (the arts) just plain does need more dollars," Atamanenko acknowledged.

The panel is in Inuvik for the Great Northern Arts Festival this week. They have already visited Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Liard. Stops in several other communities is still on their itinerary.