ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Together we can show the government how united we are. ​Join us at the last rally to protest this devastating budget. ​The All Hands on Deck rally is Friday, March 27 at noon at Province House in Kjipuktuk/ Halifax (rain or shine). Join us in advocating for saving the arts in Nova Scotia.

If you can’t make it to the rally (or even if you can) please take some time today to write a personalized letter to the Premier, your MLA, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Communitites, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. Let them know how cutting arts and culture funding will impact you as an artist and your community. Ask them to restore funding to the Artists in the Schools program. Tell them that culture is critical.

VANS’ IMPACT STATEMENT

We are at a crucial moment right now as we go into the provincial budget vote. We have increased our advocacy efforts: from interviews with media, to attending community rallies, our letter-writing campaigns to MLA’s and other government officials, and asking for support and from you.

Here at VANS, we are going into fiscal year 2026-2027 facing a 20% cut to our operational funding, as well as a complete cancellation of the Artists in Schools funding stream from both Arts Nova Scotia and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, which funds our Professional Artists in the Schools (PAINTS) program. Not to mention, reduced access to any project funding from Arts Nova Scotia, the Culture Innovation Fund and the Strategic Development Fund from the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage (CCTH), to name a few.

What does this mean exactly?  For our day-to-day operations, we are losing a dedicated staff member who works on our marketing, social media and community outreach. We have been rebuilding this component of our organization’s work for the past 2 years and we were finally feeling we are getting some good advancement. With this budget cut, we are at least two steps back. Members are going to notice that there will be reduced programming options and effects on our service delivery. Our Mentorship program will have fewer participants, our spring and fall workshop offerings will be reduced from 12 workshops to 8 or 10.  We will not be able to offer the VANS-in-Residence program as it is now, which is a big aspect of our community-based programming, especially in our work in rural Nova Scotia.  That community work will also be impacted, as our operating model that once could support a portion of rural outreach will also have to be reconsidered.

The impact of a loss of a core program, Professional Artists in the Schools (PAINTS) is going to be quite devastating on many levels. In its current iteration, PAINTS has been around for almost 20 years, with Andrea Ritchie being its solid and consistent coordinator.  We have been able to offer thousands of school-aged children and youth access to visual arts-based workshops and learning moments in their classrooms which are not available through the school curriculum. The Equity Subsidy program that we have in place for schools that have at least a 60% student population that belongs to equity-deserving communities was well-accessed and has created an increased participation in the PAINTS program.  The relationships that have been built between artists and teachers in the many communities are so important, not to mention the ability for visual artists to have an income stream in already challenging times. Many of these connections have also led to other opportunities like artistic projects, exhibitions and local government partnerships. We are losing all of these, and more, because of the ill-sighted decision making process the current provincial government has been going through.

Even with these oncoming radical changes, our mandate of supporting and working for artists still continues and is still our priority.  We ask, if you can help support us even further by responding to these calls to action: share our socials, be well-informed on the current state of the sector and how this budget really affects us in multiple ways, beyond the obvious. You can also help further uplift organizations like ours by being members, supporting us financially if you can, participating in our programming, and engaging with artists through purchasing and/or promoting their work. Working in the arts, culture and heritage sectors has become even more challenging; yet we still choose to as we believe in the impact of the intricate and beautiful work that we do.

Thank you – for being there for us, and with us.

 Therese 

Therese Cruz, Executive Director, Visual Arts Nova Scotia

Template letters you can use to send to your MLA can be found here: nsarts.ca and here: visualarts.ns.ca/advocacy-resources/ and here: halifamous.ca/speak-up. YOUR voice matters.

Premier Tim Houston
Email: premier@novascotia.ca
Phone: 902-424-6600

Your MLA
Find your electoral district/ MLA: https://enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca/edinfo/

Minister of Communities, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Dave Ritcey
Email: mlaritcey@gmail.com
Phone: 902-897-0884 (constituency office)
Phone: 902-424-4889 (CCTH office)

Minister of Finance John Lohr
Email: FinanceMinister@novascotia.ca
Phone: 902-424-5554

LETTER TEMPLATE

WRITE YOUR MLA: Find out your Electoral district and MLA here: https://enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca/edinfo/.

CC: FinanceMinister@novascotia.ca, MIN_CCTH@novascotia.ca, PREMIER@novascotia.ca

Dear MLA ____________ (find your MLA here), The Honourable John Lohr, Minister of Finance, The Honourable Dave Ritcey, Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism & Heritage, and The Honourable Tim Houston, Premier of Nova Scotia,

My name is ____________(your name), I live in ____________(your constituency) and I am deeply concerned about the 2026-27 provincial budget’s impact on arts and culture in Nova Scotia.

Optional: Add a personal note about yourself (as an artist, a parent, a community member, a business owner, etc)  to help illustrate the impact these cuts will have.

The proposed provincial budget slashes $14 million from arts and culture — 72 grant programs fully or partially cut, 12 of 28 museums closing, Artists in Schools eliminated. Nearly 14,000 Nova Scotians work in the culture sector — more than farming, fishing, and forestry combined — contributing $1.18 billion to our GDP annually. This budget includes devasting cuts to arts and culture, and also to youth programs, disability services, education, equity-focused funding, Mi’kmaq programs, African Nova Scotian initiatives, and more.

Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) supports visual artists throughout every stage of their careers through mentorship, professional development, sharing work opportunities, exhibitions, advocacy and more. A 20% reduction across the board, especially in funding to non-profit arts organizations, is a major blow to their operations. Besides the 20 – 30% cut to operational funding, taking away the funding stream “Artists in the Schools” means the destruction of the Professional Artists in the Schools (PAINTS) program – a program that has thrived for 20 years.

I urge you to abandon these cuts to arts, culture, and heritage. The solution to the province’s fiscal health is in realizing the sector’s potential and trusting in the economics of long term investment. I am asking you to oppose these cuts and advocate for their reversal.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

____________(your name and postal code)

VANS Advocacy in Action