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Print ArticleOn May 5th as part of International Youth Week, hundreds of young artists and organizers will rally at City Hall and discuss the BeautifulCity.ca campaign. Going to Executive Committee on June 2nd and City Council for decision in early July, this city building initiative would see the proceeds from the currently proposed billboard charge dedicated to art in the public sphere and enforcement of the City of Toronto's signage laws.
Once implemented, it would mean a historic increase to Toronto's arts budget: enough to more than double the numbers of artists receiving individual grants or, to fund hundreds of new arts projects across the city.
The BeautifulCity.ca proposal will also help spur the economy. A Council for Business and the Arts study in 2006 stated that "for every one dollar of public arts funding in a regional economy, eight are generated." However, in 2008, the Martin Prosperity Institute found that "the fact that average cities around the country have expanded their cultural expenditures by more than four times as much as the City of Toronto has put Toronto on the low end of competitive growth."
The proposal also emphasizes funding the work of talented young artists who live in Toronto's most impoverished communities. This will not only make Toronto a more fair and reflective city—but also healthier. According to a report from the University of Pennsylvania "Low income neighborhoods with higher cultural participation are four times more likely than average to have low delinquency rates. Neighborhoods with an active arts scene are nearly three times more likely to see their poverty rates decline and their population increase."
BeautifulCity.ca is endorsed by 40 organizations, 1400 signatories and backed by multiple Councillors. Environics found that 7/10 Toronto voters support "a tax on billboards with the funds going to public art," making the proposal the most popular tax measure a government could implement.
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