Art Horse Culture Racing

The Culture section of last weekend's Edmonton Journal featured two articles by Elise Stolte on new Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach's appointed Minister of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture: Hector Goudreau. This ex-backbencher ascends to administer the portfolio that rounds out a list of eighteen provincial concerns deserving categorical governance; notice how Culture sits forlornly at the very bottom of that last barrel. Besides being last in the order of precedence for Albertan Tories, the growth, funding and promotion of the arts in Alberta has been entrusted to a rural MLA who claims no "all-time favourite artist."

Mr. Goudreau, University of Alberta agriculture student and "district agriculturalist," can't be an attractive choice for Culture Minister, at least not to serious studio artists. From Ms. Stolte's interview, he says: ""On the one side is our cultural groups. The other side is the expression of their skills, hobbies, their likes. And when I say likes, that's all Albertans. We all have individual hobbies and some of those hobbies may be sports, some of those hobbies may be doing additional work, some of those hobbies include volunteering for the Bissell Centre.".... Asked how the arts fit into [the development of a culture policy], Goudreau replied: "Well, part of it is certainly the expression of individual cultures, whether it be in song or in dance or painting or sculpturing. Certainly we recognize the beadwork the aboriginal community does. We recognize the dance of the Ukrainians and the sash of the French-Canadians and the culinary foods that they have."" One might hope that Deputy Minister Fay Orr and the opposition MLAs will put him on track, but their online credentials don't delineate a redeeming passion for the arts.

What I understand to be a deficiency in Mr. Goudreau's sense of culture can hardly be held to account for the entire rest of the province's entire lack of interest in the topic. His boss has given him such a vague and irrelevant mandate that it'll be no wonder if management of the horses (a source of income that TPR&Culture has long been heavily reliant upon) takes precedence. After all, why can't horse racing be art too - it's an "Albertan like," right up there with "doing additional work."

In light of Mr. Goudreau's shallow approach to art appreciation, it is difficult to treat his appointment with anything but snide contempt. I wish I could dredge up a little graciousness.

Image: Marino Marini - L'idea del Cavaliere, 1955