Only in Cornwall can the weird get this weird. What we have is a city that historically has not supported the arts. Right now they are paying more to keep a building empty than they gave to keep its former public art gallery open. The city should not be inContinue Reading

Cornwall Ontario – Cornwall is a big enough city to have culture.   Yes we have a lower income level, but that usually breeds art.  It usually attracts artists who are always looking for less expensive places to practice their art too. The problem is that there is no true appetiteContinue Reading

CORNWALL ONTARIO – In an I’m sure unintentional  bizarre joke the Seaway News ran a piece trumpeting a scrolling image on a TV in the basement of the Civic complex as a triumph for area artists. There are a few real artists in the region, but most have stayed awayContinue Reading

Cornwall Ontario – CFN editor Jamie Gilcig is in talks with a Toronto publisher to option Dirty Town Under a Crooked Bridge. The book, about the experiences of a small town newspaper editor set in Cornwall Ontario who faces corruption, bullying, and racism;  has been a work in progress forContinue Reading

Montreal QUEBEC – From July 13 to August 15 inclusive, Repercussions Theatre presents Much Ado About Nothing for its annual family-friendly Shakespeare-in-the-Park (SITP) tour. Directed by Repercussion’s Artistic Director, Amanda Kellock, the production blends seasoned and emerging actors and designers to create a magical evening of theatre under the stars. ContinuingContinue Reading

Cornwall Ontario as a community has historically poorly supported the arts.  With an influx of seniors from communities that do support the arts it makes sense for some of those sports dollars to shift. Sadly, that isn’t the case.  The city’s 36 year old public art gallery, TAG Cornwall, isContinue Reading

A lot of good people have been hurt this year trying to save the City of Cornwall’s public art gallery.   From years of historic corruption, poor governance, and a lack of support in a community that is very very weak artistically the final insults to decency were delivered thisContinue Reading

The problem with media is that sometimes, really bad journalists with really poor integrity can take innocent bits of an answer and build a perspective that creates an entirely different meaning. Today the Seaway News issued yet another hatchet job against TAG Cornwall, the city’s 34 year old public artContinue Reading

As odd as politics can be at City Hall, Elaine MacDonald has hit a new low water mark. As reported in other media she stated the following as the budget process kicks off.  “everything is going up, and people should accept the fact that taxes will be going up.   IfContinue Reading

Yes, I know, I’ve got emails from many of you complaining that I haven’t been writing as much here on CFN these past months. The truth is since January of this year I’ve been spending 40-60 hours per week trying to save our 33 year old institution that is ourContinue Reading

I’m not big on veneers.    Politicians live by them.   I’d rather be liked, or disliked, for whom I am than who I want people to see me as. There’s been a certain irony to watch the hate and stupidity roll here in Cornwall of late. We have theContinue Reading

YAC (Your Arts Council) announced today that it was moving away from having an Executive Director and cutting ties with Bruce Davis. Davis had been with YAC since it’s political inception with Community Futures under Francois Desormeaux. YAC had stated at the budget hearings that it needed cash from theContinue Reading

CORNWALL Ontario – The Art Gallery of Cornwall has overcome many obstacles in 2015.    Board changes, a punitive City Council cutting its funding to ZERO, but the 33 year old public art gallery has shown that art and artists are a resilient bunch. Tired of the petty infighting withinContinue Reading

CFN – What a busy week.   Congratulations first off to YAC.  City Council decided to give the group nearly $1,000 cash per member for this year.      That gives hope for the arts community as TAG has nearly 200 members.  Could a big cheque be on the way toContinue Reading

CORNWALL Ontario – There may be something that artists in Cornwall Ontario can learn from Firefighters.    The charade that has been this year’s budget committee has given lip service to cutting taxes. With half of council having signed a pledge to do so it seems the only things cutContinue Reading

CFN – Claude McIntosh & Andre Rivette led the charge against Art funding at the Budget Committee meeting Monday.    Groups had ten minutes only to sing for their supper with some follow up questions with Bernadette Clement chairing. For disclosure purposes I am on the board of our ArtContinue Reading