My WTF moment of the day
Normally I'm skeptical of critics of arts funding. A lot of modern art makes for easy targets. I think the first time I experienced this was when the National Art Gallery bought the voice of fire. It doesn't look like much in a 1" by 2" reproduction on newsprint but when I stood before it I was actually really moved by it.
But back to my WTF moment. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation handed out the annual Teddy awards today. These sarcastic awards are designed to draw attention to what the CTF feels are the biggest waists of Taxpayers money in the previous year. This part caught my attention when I heard the report on CBC radio.
And the federal Teddy goes to the Canada Council for the Arts for ‘Best Achievement in Special Effects with Taxpayer Dollars.’ The federally funded agency spent $15,000 last year to help bring a Belgian art exhibit to Quebec that produces a poop-like substance when fed with food. It also spent $40,000 on a project that seeks to fly a giant inflatable banana over the state of Texas . The Canada Council literally knows how to make an art out of waste,” said Gaudet.
The emphasis is mine...
This project is real (see: Geostationary Banana Over Texas)...or rather it was as it apparently has been put on hold because they couldn't raise enough money. And various source I've seen have quoted totals between $55000 - $100000 of Canadian Tax money (both federal and from Quebec) has been grant to the project. You'd think for that sort of dough, we'd at least insisted they fly the banana over The Canadian Parries or something.
But back to my WTF moment. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation handed out the annual Teddy awards today. These sarcastic awards are designed to draw attention to what the CTF feels are the biggest waists of Taxpayers money in the previous year. This part caught my attention when I heard the report on CBC radio.
And the federal Teddy goes to the Canada Council for the Arts for ‘Best Achievement in Special Effects with Taxpayer Dollars.’ The federally funded agency spent $15,000 last year to help bring a Belgian art exhibit to Quebec that produces a poop-like substance when fed with food. It also spent $40,000 on a project that seeks to fly a giant inflatable banana over the state of Texas . The Canada Council literally knows how to make an art out of waste,” said Gaudet.
The emphasis is mine...
This project is real (see: Geostationary Banana Over Texas)...or rather it was as it apparently has been put on hold because they couldn't raise enough money. And various source I've seen have quoted totals between $55000 - $100000 of Canadian Tax money (both federal and from Quebec) has been grant to the project. You'd think for that sort of dough, we'd at least insisted they fly the banana over The Canadian Parries or something.