Victoria staff are recommending to extend the city’s $72,000 Indigenous artist-in-residence position to the end of this year.
The city already had an artist in residence last year at a budgeted $72,000 when council decided to also name Lindsay Delaronde as the city’s first Indigenous artist in residence as part of its reconciliation efforts.
Like artist in residence Luke Ramsey, Delaronde is paid $42,000 a year for 20 hours a week of work and has access to a project budget of up to $30,000. Her residency is due to expire March 1.
City staff says the position “has improved the city’s engagement with vulnerable and disadvantaged citizens, created opportunities for the public to participate in the city’s reconciliation journey, and supported local artists and businesses through collaborative art projects.”
They are recommending extension of the program to Dec. 31, 2018, with $61,500 coming from the Arts in Public Places Reserve Fund to cover the costs.
The city had declared 2017 — Canada’s 150th year — the year of reconciliation.
Mayor Lisa Helps, who last year said she would support the Indigenous artist in residence as a one-year expense only, now says she supports the residency extension because it comes at the recommendation of the citizen-member art in public places committee.
“We don’t set up these committees so that we can ignore them,” Helps said.
However, Helps said she wants the committee to consider having just one artist in residence for 2019 and moving forward from then.
“What I would like to ask them to consider, and I may make a motion to this effect on Thursday, is from 2019 forward to just having an artist in residence who may be Indigenous and who may not be Indigenous,” Helps said.
“I think the artist in residence and the Indigenous artist in residence programs provide great value,” she said, adding that the residencies have saved consultation fees the city would have otherwise paid.
Delaronde is a multidisciplinary Iroquois Mohawk artist who works in print making, painting, drawing, video and performing.
