Local arts groups pleased with the province’s latest budget

The province's cultural organizations are applauding the government's commitment to the arts.

According to a statement from a group of arts and culture groups around the province, the Houston government's latest budget, released March 23, adopted the sector’s recommendations to address a 16-year budget freeze and “ensure the vitality and well-being of communities across Nova Scotia.”

According to their statement, in the weeks leading up to the budget address, leaders of cultural organizations presented five recommendations for inclusion in the 2023-2024 provincial budget. 

They say many of the recommendations are reflected in the budget, including a doubling of the provincial investment in operating funding programs for cultural organizations in Nova Scotia.

That program has been frozen since 2006, they say, while the consumer price index has risen by more than 42 per cent during that time. 

“Many arts and culture organizations in Nova Scotia have never been able to access operational funding, because the funding envelope has been frozen since 2006,” says Stephanie Domet, co-founder and co-executive director of AfterWords Literary Festival in the release.

“This investment will allow organizations like mine to be more sustainable, and ultimately, our audience, Nova Scotians, will benefit enormously.”

Among the Halifax-based organizations signed to the statement is the 2B theatre company, the AfterWords Literary Festival, the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP), the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op, Eastern Front Theatre in Dartmouth, the Halifax Gay Men's Chorus, the Halifax Jazz Festival, and the Khyber Centre for the Arts.

As outlined in the 2022 Artists’ In Mind Report on Artists’ Mental Health and Well-being in Nova Scotia, more than 70 per cent of artists surveyed said that financial insecurity most affected their well-being and mental health.

“Artist spaces build and nurture communities, offering free, sliding scale or low admission to public programming and resources for creativity, connection, and our mental health,” says Hannah Guinan, director of the Khyber Centre for the Arts in the release.

“A generational investment from the province indicates that artist mental well-being, and vibrant arts and cultural lives matter in Nova Scotia.”