<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/spacingmedia.com\/uploads\/images\/line-grey-1pixel-600wide.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dear Friends and Colleagues:<\/p>\n
This week, the City of Toronto\u2019s Executive Committee approved a report from the City Manager to close \u201cmuseums with the least attendance, and revenues compared to costs.\u201d\u00a0 Another proposal asks the City Manager to report on further extensive cuts to culture programs.<\/p>\n
These proposals indicate a misunderstanding of what museums are. In any city, museums are about identity, linking the past to the present. In Toronto, the world\u2019s most multicultural city, museums are even more crucial to social cohesion.<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s historic museums – Montgomery\u2019s Inn, Spadina House, McKenzie House, Colborne Lodge, Market Gallery, Gibson House, Zion Schoolhouse, Scarborough Historic Museum and Fort York \u2013 are the repository of our collective heritage.\u00a0 Destroy them and you destroy the DNA of who we are and how we got here.\u00a0 Each of these sites, whether they be in downtown Toronto,\u00a0 Scarborough, North York or Etobicoke, reflect not only our past, but are also neighbourhood hubs for sharing and learning about our modern diverse communities.<\/p>\n
Clearly there is room for improving the attendance and the financial performance of these museums. However, closures are not the answer. The museum closings will be before City Council on Monday September 26th. I urge you to write to the Mayor and members of City Council to raise your voice in opposition to this proposal.<\/p>\n
Gail Dexter Lord and Barry Lord
\nCo-Presidents
\nLord Cultural Resources<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
September 20, 2011<\/p>\n
Dear Mayor Ford and Councillors<\/p>\n
City Council unanimously adopted the Creative Capital Gains Report, a plan that puts Toronto on target to be a Global Creative City through a balanced strategy of public and private initiatives.<\/p>\n
As members of the advisory team appointed to produce this plan, we studied the issues for four months under the leadership of our co-chairs Robert Foster, President & CEO, Capital Canada Limited, Karen Kain, CEO, National Ballet and Jim Prentice, Senior Vice President and Vice Chairman, CIBC, with the advice of world famous economist Richard Florida, internationally respected consultant Gail Lord, Nichole Anderson, President & CEO, Business for the Arts, Cameron Bailey, Co-Director, Toronto International Film Festival, Claire Hopkinson, Executive Director, Toronto Arts Council, Che Kothari, Executive Director, Manifesto, Kevin Stolarick, Research Director, The Martin Prosperity Institute and the assistance of the Mayor’s advisor Jeff Melanson, Co-CEO, Canada\u2019s National Ballet School, as well as Rita Davies, Director of Culture for the City.<\/p>\n
The report proves that for Toronto to be economically successful in these competitive times, our City must be a Global Creative City. A thriving arts, culture and museums sector is key to success in attracting profitable industries (to provide employment), talented employees (to fill knowledge-based jobs), residents (to buy and rent property and pay taxes) and tourists to fill our hotels and shop in our stores. Wherever there is cultural activity, property values rise and revenue is generated. There is a reason Toronto is building more condominiums than any other city in North America.<\/p>\n
The City has a crucial part to play by providing seed money so that other levels of government and the private sector can play their part. The private sector looks to the key government agencies to provide leadership, assess the alternatives and determine where funds should be allocated. Equally important is the role of the Mayor and Council in building confidence and providing a positive investment climate so that there can be “capital gains”.<\/p>\n
We are deeply concerned that the budget alternatives being proposed will put the city back by 25 years at a time when the small level of investment recommended in the report and adopted by Council will move us to the top of the global competitive stage.<\/p>\n
Toronto is the envy of cities world-wide. It is a delicate ecology that keeps us there. As our competitors (like New York, Chicago and Montreal) invest more per capita than we do – we must not invest less. They are strengthening their cities in cultural development because it builds a stronger economy. We have a head start. We cannot throw it away.<\/p>\n
We also recognize the requirement to manage the city in a fiscally responsible manner and consequently we are prepared and wish to participate in a process that will assist in attaining the financial goals necessary to ensure we have a financially strong, vibrant city. We believe that this can be achieved without any reduction in the grant levels to our many arts organizations. We welcome an opportunity to review arts and culture spending with the goal of identifying potential efficiencies that will strengthen the city and the overall cultural sector.<\/p>\n
We look forward to the opportunity to work with the city administrators to achieve these important goals as we continue to strive to build one of the great cities of the world.<\/p>\n
Sincerely<\/p>\n
The Creative Capital Advisory Council
\nRobert Foster
\nKaren Kain
\nJim Prentice
\nJeff Melanson
\nGail Lord
\nRichard Florida
\nKevin Stolarick
\nNichole Anderson
\nCameron Bailey
\nClaire Hopkinson
\nChe Kothari<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the vision for Toronto’s waterfront may have been saved in the last day by the massive public and professional response to the Rob and\/or Doug Ford alternate pop-up surprise vision, other sectors are beginning to mobilize. Below are two open letters from some cultural heavyweights. The first is from Gail Dexter Lord and BarryContinue reading “On to the case for the City of Toronto’s museums and culture funding”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[8645,18474,18473,11634,18488,18487,8418,18501,984,18483,431,792,756,6435,18476,18494,4693,2409,18502,353,5212,18495,14697,4584,91,352,1814,18478,18472,18493,18481,18479,18475,18482,18489,18500,18477,2315,12651,426,2408,38,16989,469,18490,18486,1154,5974,8636,2712,18484,5210,18485,18480,89,18498,18499,19,5680,18491,11287,18503,18492,18496,496,18497],"class_list":["post-22681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-advisor","tag-ballet","tag-barry-lord","tag-business","tag-cameron-bailey","tag-cameron-bailey-claire-hopkinson-che-kothari","tag-canadas-national-ballet-school","tag-capital-canada-limited","tag-ceo","tag-che-kothari","tag-chicago","tag-cibc","tag-city-council","tag-city-manager","tag-claire-hopkinson","tag-co-ceo","tag-co-director","tag-colborne-lodge","tag-creative-capital-advisory-council","tag-director","tag-director-of-culture-for-the-city","tag-director-research","tag-doug-ford","tag-economist","tag-etobicoke","tag-executive-director","tag-fort-york","tag-gail-dexter","tag-gail-lord","tag-internationally-respected-consultant","tag-jeff-melanson","tag-jim-prentice","tag-jim-prentice-jeff-melanson-gail","tag-karen-kain","tag-kevin-stolarick","tag-lord-cultural-resources","tag-manifesto","tag-market-gallery","tag-martin-prosperity-institute","tag-mayor","tag-montgomerys-inn","tag-montreal","tag-national-ballet","tag-new-york","tag-nichole-anderson","tag-nichole-anderson-cameron-bailey-claire","tag-north-america","tag-president-ceo","tag-research","tag-richard-florida","tag-richard-florida-kevin-stolarick-nichole-anderson-cameron","tag-rita-davies","tag-robert-foster","tag-robert-foster-karen-kain-jim","tag-scarborough","tag-scarborough-historic-museum","tag-the-martin-prosperity-institute","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-arts-council","tag-toronto-international-film","tag-toronto-international-film-festival","tag-torontos-executive-committee","tag-vice-president-and-vice-chairman","tag-world-famous-economist","tag-york","tag-zion-schoolhouse"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn to the case for the City of Toronto's museums and culture funding - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/09\/21\/on-to-the-case-for-the-city-of-torontos-museums\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On to the case for the City of Toronto's museums and culture funding - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the vision for Toronto’s waterfront may have been saved in the last day by the massive public and professional response to the Rob and\/or Doug Ford alternate pop-up surprise vision, other sectors are beginning to mobilize. 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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/75\/201897972_20183608e5_z.jpg?zz=1\" "\\"gibson")
<\/p>\n