After Red Deer’s city council decided to cut funding for the arts, there were, sadly, few responses against the cuts.
The cuts were announced in mid-January.
Advocate freelance columnist Bill Greenwood told us on Jan. 26 that “art is a frill’ while letter writer Alfred Jonas followed with an article headlined, “Art is sometimes much more than a frill.”
I support Jonas.
The decline of the influence of the church led to reduced funding for the arts; the upside to that was that artists were freer to express themselves and leave open interpretation to the viewer.
This is what open communication, free speech, is about. That is why funding art is important.
Advocate managing editor John Stewart said in an editorial: “It is about conversation and perspective and social statement.”
I agree. If we believe in free speech, then we should encourage it always as I believe it is more important than any other “infrastructure.”
Many people have the good fortune to travel to Europe to absorb the great art and architecture available there.
Supporting art in our local environment and displaying it publicly affirms that importance and gives our children the opportunity to grow up feeling that there are more things in life to be aware of.
A pipefitter or welder who sees a piece if pipe from a pipeline or a steelworker who sees a piece of a girder incorporated into a sculpture might look at his work differently and even wonder what is the artist trying to do or say.
At the very least, their skills may be appreciated and their lives are enriched by that appreciation.
As a community we owe it to our citizens to provide as broad an education as possible and provide a legacy of appreciation to those who follow.
I believe art is an important aspect of our well-being and our society and some economists are beginning to realize that the social aspects of a healthy community are more important even than the role economics plays in a community.
A healthy community leads to a healthy economy.
I see Red Deer trying to develop a more attractive environment for tourism first rather than developing a rich vibrant cultural community.
In my view, sustaining funding to the arts is more important.
Berne Mills
Red Deer