Yellowknife (Nov 08/04) - Theatre is hot in the Yukon, film and television is the place to be in Nunavut, and in the NWT artists like to get together and hang out.

That's what one might take away from the provincial and territorial breakdowns in the Canada Council's annual report released this week.

Nancy Schmidt prepares for the Great Northern Arts Festival fashion show in Inuvik in July. The festival was one of three festivals in the NWT to get funding from the Canada Council last year.

In Nunavut, the biggest chunk of cash went to Iglulik's burgeoning media arts projects. In the Yukon, the biggest cheque was written out to the Nakai Theatre.

But in the NWT, the largest cheques were for the interdisciplinary category for arts and music festivals, and for the Aboriginal Arts Secretariat for participation in the aboriginal people's collaborative exchange program.

The Open Sky Festival, the Great Northern Arts Festival and Folk on the Rocks all received grants.

The total number of applications for Canada Council funding from artists and arts organizations in the NWT doubled to 30, up from 15 the year before.

Donna Balkan, the senior communications manager for the Canada Council, said the increase may have been the result of their outreach programs.

Victoria Henry, director of the Canada Council's Art Bank, visited the NWT last fall and purchased works from six artists.

"There are also more individual artists applying for grants," said Balkan.

She hopes that information officer Francesca Ranalli-Atherton's visit to the NWT in the spring of this year will result in even more applications.

In 2002-2003, one NWT artist, Leela Gilday, received a music grant.

This year, eight NWT artists received funding for creation, outreach or collaboration projects.

"This is good news for the NWT," said Balkan.

The council awarded two theatre grants to Yellowknifers Ben Nind ($14,000) and Keath Schooler ($14,000); one film grant to Fort Providence's Leah Marie Dorion ($20,000); one writing grant to Yellowknife's Jamie Bastedo ($20,000); and one music grant to Gilday ($3,000).

Two artists received money to travel on collaborative exchanges, Brendalyn Trennert of Hay River to Siberia ($3,000), and Donna Bernhardt of Tuktoyaktuk to Nova Scotia ($7,000). One artist, Yellowknife's Goota Ashoona, received $3,000 to travel to an exhibit of her work in Washington, D.C.

The Mary Kaeser Library in Fort Smith ($9,380) and the Leela Gilday Group ($900) also received grants under the Arts Organizations heading.

Applications in the various categories are evaluated by peer assessment committees of three to five members. What was notable last year was that there was a peer assessor from the NWT.

Balkan didn't know how many NWT peer assessors there had been in previous years, but said they aim for as much regional balance as can be accommodated on a small committee.

Here is a comparison of Canada Council grants in the NWT between 2003-2004 and 2002-2003

Number of applications for funding Canada Council received from NWT artists and arts organizations

2003-2004 -- 30
2002-2003 -- 15

Number of successful applications

2003-2004 -- 14
2002-2003 -- 7

Total value of Canada Council grants to the NWT

2003-2004 -- $157,665
2002-2003 -- $104,550

Total number of grants to NWT artists

2003-2004 -- 8
2002-2003 -- 1

Total number of Canada Council grants to NWT arts organizations

2003-2004 -- 6
2002-2003 -- 6

Number of artists or art professionals from NWT who served on the peer assessment committee

2003-2004 -- 1

Total value of Canada Council grants nationwide in 2003-2004 -- $125,957,452