N.S. puts $2m into arts sector

Herald, Halifax, May 2, 2013
The province announced a new program Wednesday to invest $2million in arts, culture and heritage.

The annual funding, from a new Support4Culture-designated lottery program, is the first increase in arts funding in years.

“This is a good day, I think we can all agree. We’re finally ending a long drought in terms of new investment in the cultural sector,” said Ronald Bourgeois, chairman of the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council.

“It’s going to create employment and it’s going to grow the industry.”

In making the announcement at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Leonard Preyra said this is the first time in Atlantic Canada that arts and culture have benefited from lottery profits. (A similar program exists in other provinces.)

“This is another component to help grow the creative economy in Nova Scotia,” he said.

There has been a Support4Sport lottery program for seven years in Nova Scotia that has raised a about $18 million for amateur sport, said Bob MacKinnon, acting president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation.

Details of the designated lottery products, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the fund, will be released later.

The Support4Culture funding will be managed by the department in consultation with the Leadership Council, the government’s advisory body on culture, and Arts Nova Scotia, the new arts funding mechanism, and heritage interests.

“I think there will be a balance struck between Arts Nova and other areas of the sector,” Bourgeois said.