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News Archive - November 2009


19th November 2009

Letter to the membership - speak out on cuts to arts funding

Dear Seymour Art Gallery Members,

As you know, the arts across British Columbia have suffered extreme funding cuts from the BC government. While difficult to gauge exactly, the best reading of the situation is that the arts may well suffer an 85%-90% cut over two years. This is the result of extreme cuts to the British Columbia Arts Council as well as Gaming grant cuts.

We have previously communicated the impact of the Provincial Gaming grant cuts on your Seymour Art Gallery, in particular. The loss of our Provincial Gaming grant of $35,000, which represented more than half of the Gallery's normal public funding, has forced us to find a way to continue operating without a full-time professional Director/Curator. With difficulty, we are managing to operate on this basis for an interim period - thanks to Jacquie's advance exhibition planning, and with the Fowlers' very generous 2008 donation to the Gallery. But our current mode of operation is not sustainable over a longer term.

Together with a multitude of arts organizations throughout BC, we are asking supporters of the Seymour Art Gallery to send a message to the BC government that these cuts are massive, destructive, out of proportion and unacceptable. The government is currently working on the next BC budget, and needs to hear from all affected consumers of culture, donors, and other concerned citizens, including YOU.

Please follow the following link to send a clear message - easily! Please feel free to customize the message to make it more particular to the situation of your Seymour art Gallery. Your message WILL BE SENT AUTOMATICALLY to Premier Gordon Campbell, Kevin Krueger (Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts), Rich Coleman (Minister of Housing and Social Development), Colin Hansen (Minister of Finance), and your MLA.

Speak Out About BC Arts Cuts | Alliance Arts and Culture

BC Arts organizations need to demonstrate that there is a strong groundswell of opposition to these drastic cuts in arts and culture funding, and hear directly from everyone who is affected. We ask you to please do your part to preserve BC's strong cultural and arts environment, including our great little Gallery in Deep Cove. It is imperative that we get this message out to as many supporters as possible, and we strongly encourage you to forward this e-mail to family and friends.

Many thanks

Board of Directors

Seymour Art Gallery

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We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver through The Arts Office:


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