Survey examines how well art-funding works

Aboriginal artists and organizations had until the middle of this month to fill out a survey relating their experiences with current arts funding. The survey, funded through the Alberta Creative Development Initiative, was developed by Sherri Chisan, of Blue Quills First Nations College, and Calgary-based arts management consultant Sally Truss. The goal of the survey is to determine how well the current funding opportunities work for Aboriginal artists. Actors, technicians, film-makers, writers, hide-tanners, visual artists, dancers and every range of artist were invited to participate anonymously. Survey and focus group results will be shared with a number of funding organizations, including Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Blue Quills First Nations College, the Calgary Foundation, the Edmonton Foundation and others, with the aim of improving funding for Aboriginal arts.