I originally began writing this piece as a satire, criticizing the administration for its disregard towards the arts community at Queen’s. It was called, “First thing, let’s kill all the poets” and was equal parts Jonathan Swift and Jon Stewart. But I soon discovered that satire is incredibly difficult to write without sounding like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum over why he can’t have another juice box from the fridge—more trite than clever. I explained this difficulty to a friend, going into great detail about arts funding and the campus wide space shortage. He told me to scrap my entire piece and try to write honestly and passionately. I scoffed at the idea, but agreed to give it a try.
How can Queen’s be better? Come out of the gates blazing with unheralded support for the arts community and Queen’s will be leading the pack as part of Canada’s cultural renaissance. With the launch of the Luminato Festival in Toronto this year, and new provincially allotted funding for the Ontario Arts Council, things are looking up for the first time in years.
Admittedly, things aren’t perfect, and Canada still lags far behind Europe in its arts funding. Canadian grants generally make up about 20 to 30 per cent of an arts organization’s operating budget. In many countries in Europe, companies will enjoy government funding of up to 80 per cent of the operating budget. It means that everyone can afford to go to the theatre or the symphony—it’s no longer an event exclusively for those who can afford the hefty prices. European nations are unwilling to compromise when it comes to preserving the vibrancy of their culture and so they fork over the resources to put themselves at the forefront of artistic innovation across the globe. That’s the kind of vision to which Queen’s should be aspiring. Why are we content to sit at the back of the class when it comes to funding the arts?
In an increasingly competitive market to woo high school applicants to Queen’s, one way that we can stand out is by fostering a thriving arts community. One of the biggest hindrances to that reality now is a fundamental lack of space for clubs, productions, orchestras, dance troupes and everyday use by the students. The Queen’s Centre and the gift from Alfred Bader of $14 million to build a performance space at the J.K. Tett Centre on King Street are certainly steps in the right direction. But they pale in comparison to York University’s $107.5 million arts facility that opened last year. If Queen’s took on an initiative like that, the University would be inundated with interest from both students and potential faculty.
A step like that would indicate not only the University’s capacity to support the arts but also a deep-seated passion for the arts on an institutional level. An art exhibition or a music recital will never come anywhere close to being part of the Queen’s experience in the same way that the community unites for a Homecoming football game. I’m not necessarily equating the two, but when varsity teams have their own coach buses and student theatre groups are scrounging to turn classrooms into makeshift theatres, there’s a disparity that can’t be ignored.
Principal Karen Hitchcock began her tenure as Principal on July 1, 2004 and it took her almost three years to visit the drama department at Theological Hall. Hitchcock was suitably impressed that she returned a week later to take in the production of Doctor Faustus directed by Siminovitch Prize Recipient Jillian Keiley. But it raises the question, why did it take this long for the principal to visit a department that opens its doors to the public regularly and is the public face of the University for many Kingston residents?
The arts as a whole are not incredibly high on many people’s priority lists. These departments are often very resource-intensive without bringing in the grant money or sponsors that the sciences can boast. We joke that the University stuck the drama department in the basement of Theological Hall to try and forget about us, and sometimes we like being the underdog on campus. We like that it’s a challenge to thrive when the odds are against us; it makes the successes that much sweeter. But it shouldn’t be this hard. The situation has reached the point where it borders on disgrace to the University as a whole.
Embrace the arts. Encourage dissonance and disagreement. Use the arts as a vehicle to ignite debate and discussion on campus. Engage the world? Queen’s has to figure out how to engage itself first.
—Michael Murphy is a fourth-year drama major and is the founding artistic director of Staged and Confused Productions. He has also served as co-executive of Drama DSC for two years, and most recently directed Into the Woods for QMT.
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