The History of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa: Part I
by Loretto Beninger

In celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Council for the Arts in Ottawa's story is to be remembered for the many battles it has fought to carve a space for its civic arts sector in the national capital city. In competition and in comparison, Ottawa's unique situation as home to federal institutions both enriches and challenges its development of local artists, cultural organizations, and municipal arts infrastructure. Their accomplishments are frequently overshadowed by the offerings of the national. For the CAO, therein lies the challenge.

The notion of nation and the role that culture plays in that development is fairly clear if commonality is the guiding theme. In countries where the same shared geographical space or religion or political view or language is the "glue" that gives rise to a sense of nationhood, art and culture is valued publicly because it not only commemorates the history of communal values and traditions but also records and informs the contemporary activities of nation building.

Canada, with its small, multi-ethnic population scattered over a vast geographical space, does not have these standard points of alliance. Its history is one of shared diversity, not commonality. As a result, in a nation where immigration practices and geographical barriers regionalize rather than nationalize the country, it is not shared culture but rather commercialism that is the nation's binding tool.

With a philosophy in Canada of nationalism based on commerce rather than shared culture, those activities that gain profit have more merit than those that do not. Health, education, religion, culture and other social, not-for-profit systems are marginalized.

Prior to the advent of World War II, Canadian artists were especially affected by this agenda and economic, political and social barriers were in place to hinder the establishment of cultural market systems on the national, regional and municipal levels. First, until the 1950s, the publicly funded provincial education systems did not address arts education and there were few Canadian opportunities to participate in higher education in the field, which meant that those with talent had to study (and then work) abroad. Second, for those professional artists who returned to work in Canada, the country's small population and vast geography, plus its dearth of public facilities, made touring and exhibition nearly impossible. Hence the public was unaccustomed to Canadian arts products. Third, the United States' superior market population and more temperate climate, combined with its formidable cultural entertainment distribution system, allowed American mass-produced entertainment objects to overwhelm the Canadian arts market not filled by Canadians. Work opportunities for Canadian artists were thus scarce.

But during World War II, Ottawa underwent a major transformation in its acceptance of culture as part of a new social order. Professional artists from the United States, Europe and Canada came to the capital to work as writers, actors, musicians, composers, photographers, filmmakers and visual artists in military bands, the National Gallery of Art, the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission, the Canadian Bank Note Company, the Queen's Printer, the Mint, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Bureau of Public Information, and the National Film Board. They were needed to communicate ideas of loyalty, patriotism and nationalism through art and thus serve the needs of a nation at war. The complementary interests of governments and the arts community became apparent.

Post-war municipal planners recognized that Ottawa, with the country's largest professional arts labour force, had significant assets. A 1954 brochure outlined a vision of "providing space for new imposing structures to house departments, museums, theatres and convention halls [where the town design would] ally the aesthetic and the practical […] from which will emerge a capital distinguishable by the union of art and nature." To capitalize on these advantages, the city's Department of Public Recreation created the Ottawa Arts Council in 1955, to act as liaison between the city and the arts sector, and to explore future economic possibilities through cultural attractions. Arts Council chairman Dr. Lassierer noted "Big enterprises, when they think of moving to a new city, look at the cultural activities it offers just as they look at labour conditions, transportation and schools. Support of an arts council is not just idealism. It is an investment in a more attractive and prosperous community." Everything pointed to an inclusive future.

But it wasn't until 1979 that the dream began to be realized, as a result of the election of reform mayor, Marion Dewar. Prior to that, the intervening years had not been kind to the sector and attempts to build on the possibilities of the 1940s and 1950s had largely failed. Several factors contributed to this downturn.

In the 1960s, there were hopes that Ottawa would receive Centennial Commission funds to build Centennial libraries, theatres, art galleries, opera houses, music halls, and museums. But unlike other Canadian cities, Ottawa was denied on the basis that it would have national facilities to use. Protests that long runs, storage, production, administration, and the myriad other details that were part of the civic performance and exhibition environment could not be had in federal institutions were ignored, as were the complaints that not-for-profit groups could ill-afford the union and commercial rental rates of these facilities.

In the 1960s and 1970s, similar to the larger North American trend of suburb migration and the subsequent flow of artists into the cheaper rent areas of abandoned downtowns, Ottawa's artists moved into the Rideau Street, Elgin Street and Byward Market's selection of empty factories and heritage buildings. Art schools, theatres, dance studios, galleries, and coffee houses flourished in the newly established arts districts.

But in 1975, the National Capital Commission decided to change its federal real estate practices from cost recovery to profit, and expropriated many of the downtown buildings that artists used. Despite lobbies of protest, the arts districts were dismantled and the artists and their audiences, dispersed.

In addition to the facilities problems, economic threats came when the City of Ottawa and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (RMOC) decided to fund a National Arts Centre request in 1974, for $239,000.00. The City gave it a one-time donation of $100,000.00 (which was more than twice the total civic grants given to the local arts community from 1944 to 1974, of $37,025.00). The RMOC provided the remainder, with further donations of $100,000.00 in 1975 and 1976, $165,000.00 in 1977, and $127,375.00 in 1978. Information about these requests and disbursements was not made public.

In 1978, Councillor Marion Dewar uncovered the RMOC practice, met with local arts groups, revealed her findings, and suggested the sector mobilize politically if change was desired. She was elected mayor in November 1978 and took office in January 1979. Under her leadership, the identity of Ottawa began to evolve from one that abdicated civic cultural responsibilities to suit national purposes to one that included championing the cause of the local arts sector.

Dewar listened to the claims of unfair competition practices, accepted them as legitimate, and laid plans to resolve problems. On 1 April 1980 she formed the Mayor's Arts Advisory Group (MAG), which identified facilities, funding, publicity, programming, liaison, and establishment of an arts council as major areas of concern. Their research was published in September 1980. From that point on, improvements developed quickly.

By October 1982, the former glory of the two-month long Summer Lakeside Festival of the Arts (1958 - 1962) was resurrected in the form of Celebration Arts Ottawa. This event was held in the old (and abandoned since 1974) Teachers' College on Elgin Street. The Council for the Arts in Ottawa (CAO) was created to plan for future festival successes.

In 1984, Celebration Arts was renamed the Ottawa Festival of the Arts. By 1985, it was a bold and brassy weeklong blitz with hundreds of local performance and exhibition activities entertaining thousands of residents and tourists. The activities injected great energy and enthusiasm into the arts community and provided an excellent overview of the arts in the Ottawa-Carleton region.

Approval was also voiced from the corporate sector, which benefited from the economic spin-off effects of the festival in restaurants, hotels, souvenir shops, and taxi services. Local artist entrepreneurs realized new performance bookings and sales of objet d'art.

By 1987, Ottawa cultural festivals were a major economic draw for the region, and over one year showed an 80% increase in operating budgets, from $3 million in 1986 to $5.4 million in 1987. Local collaboration to pool talent and resources resulted in the 1987 creation of the National Capital Region Festival Network. Within this network the Festival of Spring (Canadian Tulip Festival) attracted a million visitors. Other festivals blossomed, including the Franco-ontarien Festival (est. 1976), the Festival for the Folks (later known as the Ottawa Folk Festival, est. 1976), the Ottawa International Film Festival (est. 1976), Winterlude (est. 1979), the Ottawa Jazz Festival (est. 1980), and the Ottawa Dance Festival (est. 1984).

For the CAO, success brought difficulties. Festival profitability was based on an extreme reliance of volunteer labour and investors were loath to commit under such conditions. No long-term business plans could be made. The Department of Recreation also abdicated responsibility and its May 1987 publication of the Arts Facilities in Ottawa Report found 97.1% of its 1981-1986 capital budget of $27,063,480.00 was spent on athletic facilities, while only 2.9% remained for repairs and maintenance on multipurpose facilities used for arts activities. This situation gained national notoriety when in November 1987, the CBC aired "Arts in the City - Does Anybody Care?" and revealed Ottawa's $1.15 per capita ($707,250.00) was low in comparison to other per capita allotment in cities such as Oshawa ($11.68), Toronto ($9.00), Saskatoon ($5.27), Windsor ($4.48), Hamilton ($3.56), and Regina ($2.98).

This practice of institution non-investment forced the closure of the Ottawa Dance Theatre, Theatre 2000, Penguin Theatre, Wells Gallery, Braam Gallery, York Street Theatre Company, Ann Doran Gallery, and Hibernia Gallery. Was the Ottawa Festival of the Arts next? What was at stake was the essence of local artistic identity in a national capital setting and the creation of a vibrant and living arts scene reflective of the people who lived in the city and called it home. The CAO added the role of liaison between the city and the arts community to its list of future responsibilities.

¹ Duxbury, August 2004