The Oshawa/Durham Symphony's Magnificent Mahler program Mar 3, was magnificent, but why wasn't it in Durham? While all around the GTA there are public art museums and performing arts centres, the eight municipalities of Durham Region have no dedicated performing arts facility for nearly 500,000 residents. The 200,000 residents of Ajax-Pickering have no professional visual arts facility. The Symphony, like other Durham artists and arts groups, are driven out of the region to find facilities elsewhere. Over 15 million dollars leaves Durham annually as individuals and groups seek arts facilities elsewhere.
Why? The political will is lacking. Durham municipalities spend millions to build libraries, seniors' centres, recreation/sports complexes and community centres, yet, these same Durham municipal politicians fail to see the arts as an investment in the social and economic capital of their region.
It's time for BLOG POWER. You deserve to have a professional arts venue in Durham. Raise your voices. Make the arts an equal.
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