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From
the pen of
Robert Genn
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Robert Genn's twice weekly letter for
insight and inspiration for your artistic
career.
May 4, 2010
"During the last while there have
been a few letters relating art to various
belief systems in which little or no
evidence exists to prove or disprove
their magic. To try to make our readers'
positions clear, a work of art may be
deemed worthy by critics, dealers, collectors,
and even the general public, and yet
show little or no evidence of meaning.
In apparently talentless work, one needs
a leap of faith to think there is something
there. More than anything, some art
cannot work without a liturgy.
Yesterday, I was in Canada's National
Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario. A dozen
or so kids were on the floor below the
large Barnett Newman Voice of Fire. "I
want you to look at this painting and
tell me what you think," said their
teacher, allowing significant time for
contemplation. A timid hand went up. "It's
not very good," said a boy. "It's
just three stripes going up," said
another.
The enthusiastic teacher allowed his
students might be willing to change
their minds. He launched into a well-informed
history and deconstruction of the painting
that had me, the eavesdropper, in thrall.
I took notes. By the time he got around
to saying how much Canadian taxpayers
had paid for the painting, and the foofaraw
it caused, the kids and I were well
into a second look..."
Read the illustrated responses to the
last letter: "The
Strange Case of George and Linda".
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of page.
Peace of Mind
I recently received an e-mail regarding
a member of the arts community who had
become ill, was no longer able to work
and needed some financial assistance.
As I have done in the past, I sent a
cheque to assist, though I knew this
was only a band-aid solution. In the
e-mail it indicated that the individual
had no savings, no RRSPs, and no Disability
Insurance. Unfortunately this is not
an uncommon story. I suspect that many
readers of this article are in need
of reviewing their financial management
strategy.
As I wrote the cheque I thought back
to other cheques that I have written
in similar situations and decided it
was time to spread the word to freelancers
about the importance of carrying Disability
Insurance. To begin, I conducted an
unscientific survey, asking freelancers
if they have disability insurance. The
good news was that the majority knew
what Disability Insurance was; the bad
news was that the majority did not carry
it.
I know that this is an old topic but
clearly the message has not resonated
with its target. This is evidenced by
the recent announcement in the States
that the Altman Family will be matching
donations to support a fund for members
of the arts community who have been
injured or fallen ill.
Why didn’t the surveyed freelancers
have coverage? One individual seriously
said, “I don’t require coverage
because I am careful at work”.
Most indicated that they are covered
by WSIB or the group plan offered with
their membership in an industry association.
While these are valuable to freelancers,
WSIB only covers an individual when
they are injured on the job and many
group plans only offer short-term coverage.
Disability Insurance offers extended
coverage and, most importantly, covers
you when you slip in front of a bus,
fall ill, or, in the worst case, have
been diagnosed with an incurable disease.
After understanding the limitations
of WSIB and group plans the next reason
given for not having coverage was the
cost and hassle of signing up. I did
not have an answer for this so I enlisted
the help of my Insurance Broker to review
various plans and find a financially
viable option with simple sign up procedures.
For those unaware, Disability Insurance
is a form of insurance coverage that
provides a portion of income lost as
the result of a total or partial disability
caused by either an accident or an illness.
Who should carry this insurance? Everyone.
Who MUST carry this insurance? While
it is not the law, it is commonsense
that all individuals who are freelance
and/or small business owners should
carry disability insurance.
As noted, the reason many individuals
in the arts community don’t have
disability insurance is because it is
perceived to be expensive. On average
by investing approximately 3% of your
annual income you can protect almost
90% of your income. More importantly
Disability Insurance offers peace of
mind, knowing that in the event that
you are injured or fall ill, your financial
situation will remain relatively solvent.
As a small business owner, I am very
aware of the cost of insurance and the
need for Disability Insurance. But I
am also very aware of the cost when
an individual does not carry the necessary
insurance and becomes injured or is
fallen by an illness. We are all human
and tragedy can strike at anytime. There
are too many in the community who have
ignored the need for RRSP’s, life
insurance, savings, and most importantly
Disability Insurance.
This article is only the first step
in ensuring that I don’t have
to write any more cheques.
Step 2 - continue to spread the word
about the importance of Disability Insurance
Step 3 - offer assistance to those with
questions
Step 4 - source a cost effective and
hassle free disability insurance plan
Step 5 - ensure that the curriculum
in all Arts related programs includes
a course on the
financial responsibilities of the freelance
community
Disability Insurance = Peace of Mind.
aidan cosgrave
J.S.T. Productions
jstproductions@bellnet.ca
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Recent Artist CD Reviews
Chris MacLean Feet Be Still (Independent)
Show of Hands Arrogance Ignorance and
Greed (Independent)
Jenny Whiteley Forgive or Forget (Black
Hen)
Ariana Gillis To Make it Make Sense
(Independent)
Po’ Girl Live Po’ (Girl
Music, Inc.)
Review Samples
at Penguin Eggs
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Canadian
Conference
of the Arts
|
Ottawa
CCA Bulletin 7/10
March 4, 2010
"2010 Federal Budget: The Action Plan
Winding Down, but Administrative Reform
Ramping Up Executive Summary The 2010
Budget includes stable funding to arts
and culture with no cuts, but also yields
no new investments into the creative
economy. The CCA sees no investment
towards cultural infrastructure, or
funds for promotion abroad and audience
development. It is encouraging that
charities are given more flexible means
to conduct business, and research granting
associations will have an increased
ability to fund higher education within
the knowledge economy. Moving forward,
some concerns include administrative
reforms, freezes on departmental operating
budgets, and changes to strategic reviews.
These measures may not be viewed as
cuts at the moment, but may lead to
financial difficulties for the arts
sector down the road.
Just the Facts
After an uncharacteristically long Speech
from the Throne yesterday, the Hon.
Minister of Finance, James Flaherty
tabled the Federal Budget for 2010 titled:
Leading the Way on jobs and Growth.
The government returned to Parliament
yesterday after a two-month long prorogation,
taken to recalibrate the agenda. Today,
with the Main Estimates for 2010-2011
in hand, the CCA examines how the 2010
Federal Budget will impact Canada’s
arts and culture sector.
To begin, there is no mention of arts
in the 2010 Federal Budget. The overarching
theme of the Budget places an emphasis
on winding down the second year of Canada’s
Economic Action Plan, and preparing
for frugal spending in years to come a
total of $17.6 billion in savings over
the next five years. In the following
analysis the CCA will outline how government
spending will impact the ability of
programs to stabilize and nurture the
arts sector and the creative economy..."
Publication of
Canadian
Conference of the Arts
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of page.
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