Arts Roundtable – March 7
Paul Bogdan, Dietrich Neu, Kyle Leitch
1. What do you think of the decision to tear down Connaught School
PB: The real tragedy is that we haven’t decided to tear all of Regina down yet.
DN: This sounds terrible, but my first reaction was to make fun of my friends who went there. Hear me out – I went to Davin, just down the street from Connaught. We didn’t like them, and they didn’t like us. Looks like we win, motha fuckas.
KL: I think that it’s kind of a sad statement about how the city regards heritage sites.
2. What comes to mind when you think of Regina’s heritage?
PB: Neglect and crumbling infrastructure. Also a rad but often overlooked arts scene.
DN: Nothing.
KL: A rich history of bulldozing and spending unnecessarily.
3. Do you think the findings that Saskatchewanians spend more per capita on live art events than anywhere else in Canada reflective of the overarching attitude towards the arts in this province?
PB: I think the numbers are a bit misleading. I feel like the people who care about the arts in this province are a minority (although still a significant number of people), but I still think the majority doesn’t really give a shit.
DN: No. Although the average is $51 per person, I think that the majority of the total money spent on arts events is done by a minority of the people in Regina. The people who enjoy the arts tend to go to these events all the time, but I seem to know more people who never go.
KL: Absolutely. I imagine live arts cost more here, but that’s beside the point. Now, if only Brad Wall would realize that, we’d be set.
4. How dire do you think the upcoming provincial budget will be in regards to PSE?
PB: Hopefully dire enough that I get to light something on fire. Preferably people.
DN: I think the fate of post-secondary education has been sealed for a long time now. Millions of dollars are getting cut. The University of Regina will probably be hit pretty hard, but the University of Saskatchewan is going to get crushed. This is going to be a shitty budget year all around.
KL: Like any rational human, I think we’re all fucked, and we should immediately start panicking.
Drawing towards the end of the year, have you attended any campus arts events? What was the best thing this year?
PB: Yes. The Fifth Parallel always has some cool installations and exhibits, but I think Rah Rah’s sets during Welcome Week take the cake on this one.
DN: I’m only qualified to answer this question if living in the Carillon office counts as attending a campus arts event.
KL: Does the Imaginus poster sale count? If not, then no.
Photo by Paul Bogdan
