Now I am not an artist, stick figures and painting Warhammer models as a kid was the breadth of my artistic skill. A couple of weeks back we had our regular call for additional Arts funding in Windsor and it got me thinking. This story was based on the municipal benchmarking network 2022 report that compares cities is the foundation of this story and as you can see by the data below Windsor is an outlier.

Their 2021 Culture specific report which breaks this data down a few different ways paints a similar picture of Windsor as a lagging. As the reporting tool and the article both state, there are weird comparative difference between specific grants and where other municipal investment in Arts and Culture.

I would also look at the fact that only a small number of cities are in the many these cities are not what I would call comparable communities. Calgary is not a comparable City IMO to Windsor, and them investing at more than double the median value probably skews up the average lines etc. That being said I agree there isn’t sufficient Arts and Cultural funding but when thinking about it, I find myself thinking about geography of arts and culture in Windsor and the political implications of that.

Geography of Arts and Culture in Windsor

I am not an expert on every venue and activity in Windsor that host arts and cultural events. I was also surprised to find a lack of a comprehensive list online when I went looking. When I think about Arts and Culture in Windsor where do I think about?

I think about the core of the City. Starting in Ward 2 you have Mackenzie Hall then the University where arts and culture events like the University players are hosted; then you head downtown (Ward 3) where the major venues exist – Capital and Chrysler Theaters, Art Windsor Essex, Chimczuk museum, SOCA to galleries like Artcite and the Bioart Lab; then to Walkerville (Ward 4) with it’s own theater, a number of boutique shops and studios, the Art Council Space and Willistead Manor surrounded by heritage neighbourhoods; to Ford City (Ward 5) where part of the revival was embracing graffiti when the neighbourhood renewal kickstarted the art alleys. Across these neighbourhood are dozens of small venues for music and art – Phog jumping to mind as a leader in this space.

You get beyond these areas and the impact of Arts and Culture is harder to see. Sure suburbanized spaces are less “welcoming” to art and culture and fewer institutional facilities and venues. That structural feature creates areas of have and nots in our community from an Arts and Culture perspective.

The problem with this is that it falls into the same political narratives core vs suburban. Downtown residents like the arts, suburbanites would rather go to Spitsfire games or to the Mall for movie. This coupled with the narrative that the South Windsorite comes downtown a handful of times per year for arts and culture activities is alive and well. Maybe a trip to the market one or two times per year, walking through the sculpture park on fireworks night, a night out at WIFF, maybe a Casino show followed up by a drink but that’s it. Now I don’t believe this to entirely be true but due to the suburban nature of outer wards, in many ways Arts and Culture is out of sight and out of mind for residents and elected officials.

For artist and organization, I wonder if the continued struggle for funding is due to the lack of geographic distribution of art and culture events to other parts of the City. When AWE launched Look Outside event with life size painting it went downtown, Ottawa street and Amherstburg. These adds a nice little feature to a saturated environment but it doesn’t actual expose people who might not normally go to these areas. Why not line the Ganatchio Trail in East Windsor with painting and a message encouraging people to go see more downtown? Think about WFCU Centre or the Capri Pizza Arena, both outside the core, but also significant municipal facilities. How can artists help turn those into art hubs that then draws people to the existing other facilities.

There plenty of parks where outdoor exhibits could be placed, lots of walls both municipal owned and private that could be covered in murals to help create feelings of community, and there are venues for live performance although maybe not the usual places that people think about. Activating some of these spaces, then creates the political environment where investment can occur. People see it and like it, as part of their day to day lives, they will want more.

Artist need more funding in Windsor, but simply crying poor in the context of an affordability crisis and a budget cycle that will likely be trying and “hold the line” is an ineffective tactic. Organizations and artist should think strategically about how to have more visibility in parts of the community without significant Art and Culture footprint. This overtime will help create environment for politicians to approve more funding whereas, right now the council math will likely see a losing vote.