At the risk of sounding like a cliché, this is truly an exciting time to be involved in and with the Arts in Durham Region. There is more creative and artistic talent in our communities today than at any other time. Our artists are doing amazing work, not only in their own communities but well beyond, The Young Singers, Ajax Creative Arts, the StoneCircle Theater and the Durham West Arts Centre just to name a few. One of the many roles of the PineRidge Arts Council is to promote the value of the Arts, which we do very successfully through our newsletter ArtScene. With the help of The Ontario Trillium Foundation and the undying dedication of editors Lou and Cathy Schnippering, plus the help of our devoted volunteers, ArtScene reaches thousands of residents of Durham and the surrounding area. The Arts community has a lot of work to do, to garner stronger government, corporate and private sector investments and support for the Arts. The Canada Council’s budget for all the Arts in 2002-03 was $142 million, Berlin’s annual government subsidy funding to the opera alone

that same year was the equivalent to $215 million (CDN). In a statement recently made by Richard Bradshaw, General Director of the Canadian Opera Company, at a Roundtable Discussion at the National Arts Centre, he cited the example of Denmark, where the state subsidy for the Arts, is six times greater than Canada’s federal subsidy, yet Denmark’s population is roughly the size of Toronto. Mr. Bradshaw reiterated that government should provide stabilization to arts organizations, “It’s time to wake up and wonder why we are so far behind the rest of the world in funding the arts”. I must say, I agree with Mr. Bradshaw, government should be providing greater core funding to our arts organizations. This would help them establish a stable base, which in turn would enable them to conduct broader fundraising activities. The Arts should not need an excuse for adequate Funding! April Polak, President April 2005

When I first started thinking about this report I could not make up my mind as to what to write about. Then I asked myself, what is it that makes PineRidge Arts Council and organizations like us successful? The answer was easy, volunteers! According to studies done in 2003 on volunteerism in Canada, especially in the arts sector, volunteers number about 351,000, 5.4% of the total 6.5 million Canadians that give their time. These volunteers provided 51.9 million hours. This is the equivalent to about 27,000 full time, all–year jobs. Using the Canadian arts industry average hourly wage of $13.24 at 40 hours per week and 48 weeks per year, this volunteer contribution can be valued at $690 million. Some of the volunteer positions were reported as consulting, office or administrative work, performing, committee member or board member, a higher portion of these volunteers reported that they organized or supervised events, especially fundraising events that the organization(s) depend on to make ends meet. The following is a break down of arts volunteers for each province.

Province # of Arts Volunteers # of Hours Estimated $ Value Alberta 55,000 – 8,100,000 – $107,200,000 British Columbia 47,000 – 6,900,000 – $91,400,000 Manitoba 18,000 – 2,700,000 – $35,700,000 New Brunswick 9,000 – 1,300,000 – $17,200,000 Newfoundland and Labrador 7,000 – 1,000,000 – $13,200,000 Nova Scotia 14,000 – 2,100,000 – $27,800,000 Ontario 112,000 – 16,600,000 – $219,800,000 Prince Edward Island 2,000 – 400,000 – $5,300,000 Quebec 64,000 – 9,400,000 – $24,500,000 Saskatchewan 23,000 – 3,500,000 – $46,300,000 TOTAL 351,000 – 51,900,000 – $687,200,000 PineRidge Arts Council has no paid staff and is run solely by volunteers, who in 2005 provided a conservative estimate of appoximatelly 4,500 hours. Most of these hours were logged by a core group of only seven volunteers. They look after such events as the Juried Art Show; Art in Public Places; the Annual General Meeting and our outstanding newsletter “ArtScene.” I have said more times than I can count that the volunteers of PineRidge Arts Council are the hardest working and the most fun loving volunteers I have ever had the honour and privilege to work with. Without these people who give so selflessly of their time we would not exist. Thank you to all volunteers. April Polak