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Alberta Foundation for the Arts

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) was formed in 1991 as a crown agency of the Government of Alberta. The AFA was an amalgamation of previous arts funding institutions: the Alberta Foundation of the Literary Arts, the Alberta Foundation of the Performing Arts and the Alberta Art Foundation, all overseen by the Minister of Alberta Community Development.

Managing to persevere through the political upheavals of the 1990s, the AFA continues to make funding available for the arts. While the source of government support may have changed (in terms of amounts and how it was offered during the 1970s and 1980s, to the lottery-fund driven model it is today), grant money  is still available to Alberta's artists.

	Doug Main, Minister of Culture and Multiculturalism in 1991, discusses the creation of the AFA. Listen Now

While the AFA has received its share of protest from its controversial beginnings, the amount of funding available has not decreased over the past decade. Nor had the amount increased (maintained at approximately $16 million per annum) until 2003, when Gene Zwozdesky, the Minister of Community Development, delivered news that the AFA budget would be increased for the first time in more than 10 years, provisioning an additional $8 million to disperse amongst the artists of the province.

	Glen Buick, former executive director of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts talks to Tommy Banks. Listen Now

One of the staples of the AFA, and one of the oldest forms of government support of the arts in the province, is the provincial art collection, comprised of work created by Alberta artists. Once the mandate of the Alberta Art Foundation, the now 30-year old collection totaled, for the 2003 year ending, 6,939 pieces, valued at approximately $7,439,000.

In 1997, 25 years after the creation of the collection, numerous art shows were held to showcase the vast collection. More than 150,000 Albertans turned out to appreciate their artistic heritage.

This legacy has paid dividends in numerous ways. According to a survey of Albertans conducted by Community Development for their 2003 Annual Report, just under 90 percent of Albertans said that they had attended an arts or cultural activity in the previous year, and just over 88 percent agreed that arts and culture were important in contributing to overall quality of life in the province. Funding of arts organizations by the Alberta Foundation of the Arts help make such numbers possible. Incidentally, the survey reinforces previous polls that also indicated Albertans are passionate supporters and consumers of the arts.

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