A non-profit membership-based registered charity, the Council for the Arts in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

(CAO) champions the arts as the bedrock for an engaged citizenry in a vibrant growing community. It focuses on services for its diverse membership. Through advocacy, information and

advice Advice (noun) or advise (verb) may refer to: * Advice (opinion), an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct * Advice (constitutional law) a frequently binding instruction issued to a constitutional office-holder * Advice (p ...

to members, it seeks to increase

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...

and support for the arts in the

national capital region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. Its membership includes over 200 artists and arts organizations, and individual and corporate supporters of the arts.

Mandate

The CAO works to raise the profile of the arts in Ottawa, develop arts policy, and educate the public on issues that affect the arts community. Through strengthening relationships with government and offering specialized services to its members, the Council promotes a more robust financial commitment to the arts and aims to reflect the region's shifting cultural identity.

Funding

The Council is funded primarily by the

City of Ottawa The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws. It is overseen by the City Manage ...

and the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by On ...

. Each year it receives additional funding from multiple sources, including corporations, foundations, and other government bodies.

Governance

Former textile designer Ottawa-born Peter Honeywell is the Executive Director of the Council.Profile
CAO website He has held the position since 1991, and as well as acting as an advisor to boards and other arts organizations, Honeywell has been a member of the Ontario Minister's Advisory Council for Art and Culture since 2010. The CAO is led by a 12-member board of directors with Mr. Honeywell.

Brief history

Based on a recommendation from the Mayor of Ottawa's Advisory Committee on the Arts, the CAO was founded in 1982.About Us
CAO website It produced a 17-day arts festival featuring 65 events that showcased the arts across disciplines. Council activities also included producing catalogues, managing a space for 40 working artists and a gallery, publishing a bi-monthly 28-page tabloid, producing provincial and regional conferences, advocacy, skills workshops and special arts projects. By 1990, the CAO was running a major deficit. After community consultations, the Council downsized and refocused its efforts from arts production to providing services to artists and arts organizations in the region. Through an aggressive program to restore the Council to fiscal health, the CAO's debt was eliminated in its entirety by 1994.

Partners, programs, and activities

With partners, the CAO has founded five awards granted annually. They include the Business Recognition Award that acknowledges businesses that have made a significant contribution to the local arts community, and the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award, established in memory of the Hungarian-born Ottawa-based sculptor. He was one of the artists who received commissions for Expo 67. Working with

Corel Corporation Cascade Parent Limited, doing business as Alludo (pronounced like "all you do"), is a Canadian software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, specializing in graphics processing. Formerly called the Corel Corporation ( ; from the abbreviation ...

and the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

, the Council has established the Corel Arts Award (1998) and the RBC Emerging Artist Award (2010). It also regularly partners with artists and arts organizations on projects and campaigns. Key partners include

CARFAC Canadian Artists' Representation/ (CARFAC) is a non-profit corporation that serves as the national voice of Canada's professional visual artists. The mandate of CARFAC is to promote the visual arts in Canada, to promote a socio-economic climate ...

Ontario, Ottawa Arts Court Foundation, AOE Arts Council, Ottawa Art Gallery, Culture Days and the

. In 2010–11, the Council completed a landmark two-year research project, ''Arts and the Capital City''. The report explored the many dimensions of the arts in the nation's capital including capital funding, infrastructure, and sustainable arts practices.

Advocacy for arts funding

Committed to active advocacy for stable and long term funding for local arts publicly Arts community expects budget cuts
CBC News, 11 February 2004.
CBC News, 24 January 2005. and behind-the-scenes, the Council has helped to build and lead several campaigns against cuts.
''The Ottawa Citizen'', 13 February 2007. In response to the Harris government cutbacks to the arts in the late 1990s, the CAO was involved in developing Community Arts Ontario, a provincial network of organizations and individuals that support the arts. In the 2000s, CAO threw itself into the campaign for the reinstatement of a proposed $500,000 cut to arts funding in the municipal budget by working with other arts organizations and individuals. Together they developed two Ottawa arts awareness campaigns. A campaign called ''My Ottawa includes Culture'' was launched in 2004. Through town hall meetings, demonstrations and information campaigns, the cuts were eventually reversed.

2008–2009 Controversy: invitation to Larry O'Brien, Mayor of Ottawa, revoked

When a $6 million cut to the arts loomed in 2008 for the 2009 city budget, the campaign was reborn as, ''My Ottawa Still includes Culture'' with a new tactic. The traditional invitation given to the

Mayor of Ottawa In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

to give the keynote speech at the Council's annual fundraiser was revoked. The Council always invites the sitting Mayor to deliver a keynote speech to the ''Sweetheart Lunch for the Arts'', and the "un-invitation" was interpreted as a response to the cuts and dramatically raised the public profile of the issue. Through the combined efforts of all the arts organizations and supporters of the arts fighting the cuts, the proposed $6 million cuts were reversed.

Location

The CAO offices and board room are located in rented premises at the Arts Court, Ottawa's central municipal cultural complex. The building was constructed in 1870 and was the Carleton County Courthouse.Carleton County Courthouse
on Canada's Historic Places, a federal, provincial & territorial collaboration The Micaela Fitch Room, the Council's board room, was renovated by CAO volunteers in 1999. The work revealed a 14-foot brick vaulted ceiling and arched windows. Since its complete restoration, the space is used for meetings, classes, auditions, workshops and receptions.