COMMITTEE ON STATUS OF THE ARTIST REAPPOINTED

The Minister's Advisory Committee on the Status of the Artist (MACSA) has been reappointed until the end of January 2006.

The committee provides the Culture, Youth and Recreation Minister with advice and recommendations on ways to achieve the objectives of the Status of the Artist Act. The committee, which delivered a report in October 2003, is now being asked to conduct further research, analysis and consultation on the recommendations made in that report.

"The Status of the Artist Act is such an important piece of legislation because it recognizes the contributions professional artists make to our society," Culture, Youth and Recreation Minister Joan Beatty said. "Our goal is to create an atmosphere where artists can prosper and their work can find an audience and a market not just in Saskatchewan but across Canada and around the world."

Beatty said it's important to identify ways in which the legislation can meet these goals, which is why the work of the committee is so vital.

The recommendations the committee is working on include: a model to support collective bargaining and protection for job action for self-employed artists; the role and mandate of a Permanent Advisory Committee; and the definition of professional artist, so that the legislation can be applied with certainty.

"I certainly look forward to reviewing these recommendations, and to any others that may arise out of the committee's work in these next months," Beatty said. "The committee has an important and challenging task ahead of it, one that will ultimately affect every professional artist in this province."

The committee is chaired once again by Barbara Young, and is comprised of: Saskatoon actor Kent Allen; Regina-based artist-association representative Mike Burns; Regina visual artist Patrick Close; Meacham-based ceramicist Charley Farrero; Saskatoon singer-songwriter Eileen Laverty; Regina composer and musician David Lawlor; Regina art-gallery business manager Allen Lefebvre; Sakimay First Nation multidisciplinary artist Lynn Acoose; Saskatoon theatre manager Sheldon Born; Saskatoon musician and composer Cameron McConnell; executive director of the Culture and Heritage Branch of Culture, Youth and Recreation Dawn Martin; and Mary Ellen Wellsch, the manager of Legal Policy and Legislation Services at Saskatchewan Labour.

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For More Information, Contact:

Randy King Culture, Youth and Recreation Regina Phone: (306) 787-7519