Lessons to be learned? International approaches to policy and funding for youth arts

Other countries have made significant progress towards a multi-level, cross-sectoral, coordinated policy framework for youth that both maximizes youth arts programming as a policy instrument and promotes cultural engagement as an important component of positive youth development, social inclusion and citizenship practices (2) .

In 2003, the Australia Council for the Arts released Young People and the Arts, the first national arts policy directly targeting young people involved in the arts as well as artists who work with youth or produce work for young audiences. The policy addresses the challenge of combining the goals of artistic quality with the reality of skill development for young artists through defining youth arts as, “work that involves creatively skilled and unskilled young people and children who participate in projects (usually on an unpaid basis) as creators, presenters and managers. In youth arts the creative development phase, or process of working collectively is considered just as important as the outcome” (Australia Council 2003: 18). There is a focus on engaging youth in new artistic experiences, on networking between communities, practitioners and funders, and on support for youth arts that encourages community cultural development and cultural representation (Australia Council 2003: 18).

Various initiatives in the United Kingdom also provide valuable examples of networking and policy advocacy for the youth arts sector. The English National Youth Arts Network, or ENYAN, was launched in 2006 as a member based network designed to connect workers in the youth and arts sectors across the UK. ENYAN’S objectives include advocacy for local youth arts in England, with a particular focus on creating opportunities for at risk youth to engage in creative and cultural practices. ENYAN’s services include a website; UPSTART, an online youth arts magazine; a national professional development program; a national forum for advocacy and lobbying; as well as networking opportunities at local, regional and national levels (ENYAN 2007).

Conclusion

Youth arts is a vibrant, if low profile, component of the Canadian arts and cultural sector.
Local youth arts programming in Canada would flourish with efforts to initiate a multi-level, cross sectoral, coordinated policy framework that includes: core funding for organizations; a single window application process; a national youth arts information, professional development and advocacy network; and youth representation in both policy formation and funding bodies. Policymakers from the arts and cultural sector are well positioned to be leaders in developing a policy framework where cultural engagement has both instrumental and intrinsic value, with cultural ministries and agencies as strategic partners in situating cultural objectives as an important component of broader social and economic goals.

The cultural sector in Canada is already demonstrating leadership through the development of the streamlined, youth-centered funding program ArtReach Toronto, which brings together multiple stakeholders from public and private sectors to provide multi-year funding commitments to local youth arts practitioners. In support of the argument that demand for local youth arts practices exceeds the available supply, this and similar funding models, such as Ontario’s Youth Challenge Fund or GetOut!, part of Vancouver’s Youth Legacy Program, receive an overwhelming number of applications from local youth organizations that use the arts as a central component of their programming activities. However, repeated unmet demands for assistance with capacity building also indicate the distance that the policy community has yet to go in demonstrating a solid commitment to public support for these programs.