Art Matters for Everyone
As a fellow student I would like to reach out to all Concordia students, but particularly students in fine arts.
In the upcoming CSU elections, there’ll be a question that asks whether or not you agree with per-faculty fee-levy referendums. It’s important for people to know the full impact of this question, and why voting no is so important.
For those that don’t know, the Art Matters festival is a fee-levy group. We couldn’t do what we do without the stability and funding provided by a stable fee levy. With it, Art Matters has become a renowned and unique arts festival in North America.
Fine arts students should know that the exact same people who were pushing for the current per-faculty fee-levy referendum also tried to push for an immediate 20 per cent cut to Art Matters funding (as well as five other fee-levy groups) by asking for JMSB students to opt-out en masse. This was done without any consultation or discussion with the people directly concerned.
Per-faculty fee-levy referendums have the potential to destroy the sense of community at Concordia that fee-levy groups and related projects cultivate. Art Matters is not exclusive to the fine arts, it is for the Concordia community at large, just like the Sustainable Business Conference is something fine arts students and all students can attend and learn from. After all, Art Matters is called “Art Matters” because it is not solely for other artists, but for everyone.
I feel fine arts students in particular should be coming out in large numbers in the upcoming CSU elections, to defend Art Matters, to defend fee-levy groups and to defend the values of a Concordia community. Please visit ConcordiaCommunity.org for more information.
