LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Funding is NWT artists' greatest challenge, territorial artisans said during a three-day conference in Fort Simpson.

Michael Blyth, left, Open Sky Creative Society's programming co-ordinator, and Tyler Sibbeston, right, listen while Chuck Blyth raises a point during the Dehcho Artists' Conference that the society held in Fort Simpson. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The Open Sky Creative Society held the Dehcho Artists' Conference from March 9 to 11. The conference is part of a three-year capacity-building project for the society, said Michael Blyth, Open Sky's programming co-ordinator.

The purpose of the conference was to identify ways the society can better serve Deh Cho artists and to examine ways to make the society more effective, Blyth said. The Open Sky Creative Society was formed in 1999 by local artists and arts supporters as an arts and cultural service organization. The society is best known for its annual festival, its arts gallery and the arts workshops it organizes.

A session where artists identified their needs dominated the second day of the conference. John Sabourin, an artist who's originally from Fort Simpson but is currently living in Kingston, Ont., said there was some good conversation around the table but that the topics were familiar ones.

More funding would help artists and groups like Open Sky the most, Sabourin said. Fort Simpson also needs a craft shop where Dene products could be sold, he added.

D'Arcy J. Moses, an artist and designer from Wrigley, agreed funding is the most pressing issue for artists.

Moses questioned how much money the territorial government puts towards the arts and crafts sector in the NWT compared to the exploration and development of non-renewable resources.

"You can't even compare," Moses said.

"It's not being taken seriously as a trade."

Moses said activities such as tanning moosehide constitutes a skilled trade and the government needs to change its mindset so it sees it as such.

Moses is concerned the territory is losing its traditional skills including moosehide tanning, beading and tufting.

"The skills are being lost with the passing of elders," he said.

Not enough funding is being put into the arts to maintain the skills, he said.

"Largely the arts and crafts just get pocket change," said Moses.

In order to perpetuate the traditional arts more funding is needed and ways need to be found to get youth excited in the crafts, he said. Consumers also need to be reeducated about the value of products like moccasins.

Funding was a central theme at the conference because everything is related to it, said Blyth. People have a lot of ideas but they all take money for infrastructure, staff or supplies, he said.

Open Sky is in the process of sorting through all of the ideas that came out of the conference. The society's board will then go through them and decide which are within its mandate and which are feasible, said Blyth.

Some of the ideas will be incorporated into the society's plans for 2012, which is the second year of the capacity building project. In the final year the society will examine how closely it met the goals and what changes and adjustments need to be made.

Blyth said he was pleased with the conference and impressed by the volume of useful comments that came out of the discussions.

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