Thank you so much. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, and thank you to Canadian Heritage. It is a department that we have grown to love over the past 20 years of working and building Arts on the Ave in Edmonton, Alberta.
Let me share the story of Arts on the Ave first. Thirty-two years ago, my husband and I wanted to buy a house. When we looked at Edmonton and the landscape, we saw that we could buy a house in the Alberta Avenue district. That district was an old, historical neighbourhood. Though it was widely seen to have a lot of crime and grime, I was a theatre artist and it was affordable for us, so we thought: Let's do it. We bought the house.
We went for a picnic. We put down our gingham blanket, and there was a fellow who was chasing a woman with a two-by-four across the picnic. We looked and saw needles scattered everywhere. My husband and I asked ourselves, “Is this the place that we need to make a home?”
It was a big question, but as we began to live in the community, we began to bump into local artists in the little neighbourhood pubs and in the little cultural grocery stores, and we began to collect and gather in homes. It was fantastic. We began to ask the question of what the arts can do to build community. This was a neighbourhood that needed a lot of love, and our hope and prayer was that we could edify this community through the arts.
The answer was the Kaleido Family Arts Festival. We closed five blocks of 118 Avenue, which was known as the strip, and we filled the rooftops with artists. Sidewalks, alleyways, storefronts and vacant lots were filled with theatre, dance, music, visual arts, artisans and street performances for three full days, and it transformed the neighbourhood. The neighbours, the newspapers, everyone started talking. Instead of saying “prostitution meets produce” and talking about crime, grime and exploitation, people began to talk about hope, creativity, resilience and what the arts can do—they change people. People see a neighbourhood. They can change themselves, and we change each other.
From there, we began a space, The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse, an art social enterprise. Everyone said, “We'll give you six months, Christy, to see if this will work.” We've been there for 19 years, but we are in a critical time right now, because funding is difficult. It is our office. It is our hub. It is our performance space.
We are also looking at building ArtsCommon 118 in the next three years.
Next came Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Winter Festival, a francophone, Ukrainian, Asian and Latino winter festival—all things winter in Edmonton, including heritage, storytelling, music and culture. It was two days in which everything came alive again on 118 Avenue.
The impacts, however, extend far beyond the festivals. Arts and culture reduce isolation, build belonging, support local businesses, animate spaces, cause vacant lots to come to life, strengthen food security and create safer, more connected communities. You all know this. You're the champions who do this, but we need your help to find sustainable ways to do it. Our spaces are in jeopardy.
Arts and cultural programming create those connections. I read a report from the Edmonton Arts Council and found that arts and festivals generate more than $171 million annually in economic activity in Edmonton.
The arts are not simply an expense; they're an investment. Where there is art, there is life. There's connection. There's support, and there's vibrancy. Our little organization is an incredible team of people who not only do art but also help newcomers. The grassroots organization that we work in doesn't just do one thing. We're hybrid, and that's what makes it difficult with Canadian Heritage. We don't fit in a box nicely. When it comes to looking at any kind of specialty work that we need—say, for the practice of accessibility, community and the artist's practice—the definition of professional artist seems to be a hindrance.
Canada's increasing cultural diversity and the arrival of many newcomers has been great in our community. We support them. We help them. We give them a leg-up. We help them write their grants. However, the pot is stretching, and there's no extra funding for those individuals, which makes it really difficult.
We also encourage Canadian Heritage to focus on four actions. The first is defining “professional artist”. The endowment program seems to be a key piece to sustainability.
The second is increasing long-term operational multi-year funding for cultural spaces. That is a piece right now that is really in jeopardy.
The third is taking a renewed look at the infrastructure—what's old, what is new and what is to come for the next generation.
The fourth is building communities through arts and heritage programs. As I said, it's fantastic, but we as an arts organization are helping the younger arts groups try to manage and to walk through those grant programs.
What began as a small grassroots movement in our struggling neighbourhood has become a major force in Edmonton. I'm so proud of our team and our thousands of volunteers, but we can't do this alone. Arts, heritage and culture are not separate from community safety, economic development, mental well-being, belonging or neighbourhood renewal.
We have linked arms with you for two decades, and we are so glad we have. We are so thankful to have this conversation and the many more to come.
