Become a Member

Hello folks,

As the weather begins to warm, I thank you for your continued support of the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance. Your membership is important – it strengthens our voice helping us advocate on your and the arts community’s behalf.

COVID-19 has been hard on the arts and now that we begin to emerge from the ongoing pandemic the arts have never needed advocacy more. There will be little relief for the arts with mostly status quo funding and an added PST to admission and entertainment (effective October 1, 2022). Over the past year the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance consulted with the arts community and met with the government about the unique needs of the arts and culture sector in these unprecedented times. Some of the examples of the advocacy and community engagement work we have done in the past few months include:

• January 2022 –  SAA sent a Letter to Premier Scott Moe in response to the ineligibility of Saskatchewan workers, including artists and arts organizations, to access the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.
• February 2022 – Hosted an online event titled “State of Emergence: Why We Need Artists Right Now” with Shannon Litzenberger which explored what would it mean for a society to ambitiously mobilize artists to do their most essential work well and fully, with the aim of catalyzing transformative change? You can watch a recording of this exciting and thought-provoking event online here. ASL interpretation is included in the recording.
• March 2022 – Partnered with the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expression (CDCE) to present an online event about Bill C-11 to discuss and engage about what is at stake for the cultural community in Saskatchewan in regards to Bill-C11.
• April 2022 – SAA presented a letter in person at the Legislature to Premier Scott Moe & Minister Laura Ross regarding upcoming the PST Expansion on admissions and recreation and initiated an online petition against the PST expansion. Advocacy around this issue continues.
• May 2022 – Listen to Dis’ and the SAA are partnering to present an online event on May 31 called “Pajama Party Politics: There is no justice without access” to explore about why it’s important we all, as artists and cultural workers, both independently and as part of organizations, do the work to catch up and keep up with the current understanding of access and accommodation with and for the Deaf/disabled community.

As we continue our advocacy and engagement work, we recognize that organizations and artists are still struggling with continued loss of sponsorship dollars, the reluctance of audience members to return to live events and the pressure of accumulated deficits, so we are offering a “pay what you can” system for membership fees. We ask that you choose from the list of suggested contributions, and contribute what your organization is financially capable of at this time.

In the coming year, SAA will continue to consult with arts communities throughout the province and continue our research through an updated artist survey, which will build on data originally collected through SPAR in 2014. Also, equally importantly, the SAA will be building a renewed advocacy and research strategy and framework.

To view our ongoing work, visit www.saskartsalliance.ca and to stay up to date on what we are up to, please make sure you are signed up for our e-newsletter and follow us on social media – you can find all of that information on our Linktree!

We ask you to please maintain your support of our arts advocacy by renewing your membership today. If you have any questions or concerns, or would simply like to chat, please contact me at director@artsalliance.sk.ca or by phone at 306-550-3463.

Sincerely,
Em Ironstar
Executive Director