Community News

This class action lawsuit, brought forward by Waddell Phillips PC, was brought on behalf of all persons who attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) School from 1984 to 2015 who were photographed by Bruce Monk in a private setting, and the dependents of those students.

• The AFA is sharing information about this lawsuit in the case that the resolution of this suit affects any members of Alberta's dance community.
• All information contained within this news post was accurate as of January 5, 2022. Please find the most recent details about this suit on Waddell Phillips PC website (click on the 'updates' tab).

Content warning: sexual exploitation and non-consensual photo sharing

This class action alleges that Bruce Monk, while a teacher and photographer at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, took naked, semi-naked, and sexualized photographs of Royal Winnipeg Ballet students, some of which he published, sold, and disseminated on-line. It is alleged that Monk did this without the consent of the class members.

The parties have reached a settlement of this action, subject to the approval of the court. 

The settlement approval hearing will be taking place on February 11, 2022. Those who would like to watch the proceedings online, please contact Waddell Phillips PC directly. 

Sexual assault support services

Non-consensual photo sharing is not ok. For specific online information and support around non-consensual photo sharing, please visit needhelpnow.ca

Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence can provide assistance in finding sexual assault support services (9 am to 9 pm daily):

• Call 1-866-403-8000 | 215+ languages
• Text 1-866-403-8000 | English
• Chat online | English
• More info: website

Find more family and social supports on Alberta.ca.

This research was conducted in six waves over the course of 2020 and 2021. This is a community resource that is FREE to access and results from the sixth wave of research are now available.

Findings for Alberta organizations from Wave 6 results include:

• Comfort has developed into a very predictable pattern that follows case numbers and now vaccine rates.
• Albertans will return at their own pace; participation hinges on personal comfort but also personal risk tolerance.
• There is a consensus that there will be less of a return to “normal” but rather a new way of doing things moving forward.
• Because Albertans have spent the past year and half discovering new things to do, the selection of what they can choose from now is quite vast.
• Spending habits are in flux, and at this point it is difficult to predict where Albertans will direct their money in the short term.

What are the implications for Alberta organizations?

• Even as restrictions have been removed, organizations still need to deal with comfort. As it stands, there is clear hesitancy in the audience and it will be important to communicate safety measures to make audiences comfortable when re-engaging.
• Organizations should keep in mind that public sentiment is a more useful barometer over government announcements. Gauging expectations for increased participation to occur will be based on a combination of comfort and risk tolerance.
• Organizations should expect more permanent (structural) changes to stick around – specifically related to organizational transparency, flexibility with refunds, new payment options, etc. These should be things that organizations consider keeping even if they are no longer required by the government.
• The main consideration for organizations remains flexibility – in terms of payment options, participation options, etc. This will allow for consideration on different levels as Albertans suss out how they want to direct their spending.

Download the reports:

• Alberta Report
• Calgary Report
• Edmonton Report

About the project

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is pleased to be a funding partner in this collaboration with Stone-Olafson and other community leaders to develop a long-term research investigation and evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts and culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities.

The initiative was funded by:

• ActiveCITY Collective
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts
• Angus Reid
• ATB
• Calgary Arts Development
• Calgary Foundation
• Edmonton Arts Council
• Edmonton Community Foundation
• Rozsa Foundation
• Stone-Olafson
• Travel Alberta

On November 17, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the 2021 winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks). Inuk writer, Dr. Norma Dunning, who is based in Edmonton, Alberta, has been awarded the English-language fiction prize for her short story collection Tainna: The Unseen Ones.

About the writer

On top of being a writer, Dr. Norma Dunning is also a scholar, researcher, professor and grandmother. Her previous short story collection, Annie Muktuk and Other Stories (University of Alberta Press, 2017), received the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Howard O’Hagan Award for short stories and the Bronze Foreword INDIES award for short stories. 

About the book

Six powerful short stories centred on modern-day Inuk characters are woven together in Tainna. Dr. Dunning drew on both lived experience and cultural memory, to write Tainna—meaning “the unseen ones” and pronounced Da‑e‑nn‑a.

Read more about Tainna.

About the GGBooks

The 14 best books of 2021 published in Canada, were selected by peer assessment committees that chose award winners from 70 finalists in seven categories, in both English and in French.

• Jenna Butler (Barrhead, Alberta) was listed as finalist for Revery: A Year of Bees under the English-language non-fiction category.

Founded in 1936, the Governor General's Literary Awards are among Canada's oldest and most prestigious prizes for literature. There are seven categories, awarded in both French and English, with $25,000 going to each winning book.

More information

Read more on CBC News.

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The Arts Professions Recognition Act will endorse the importance of contracts when engaging artists for services and will ensure artists are paid fairly. The legislation will also encourage greater respect for freedom of expression, the arts and artists as professionals and their associations.

“The act recognizes that art inspires, defines who we are, and passes our culture from one generation to the next. Alberta’s culture is unique to Canada, and our province’s creative and cultural industries are an important part of our life as a community. Art is valuable work and artists deserve fair payment in order to secure their economic future. Through legislation, our government is clearly stating art is an important economic driver that creates jobs and helps with our economic, social and emotional recovery.”
Ron Orr, Minister of Culture

“The arts sector has been and continues to be one of the most impacted by COVID, so this legislation is very timely. We need to put artists back to work and ensure they receive fair compensation, recognizing that their contribution benefits all Albertans. The arts stimulate the economy and attract investment, improve mental health outcomes, enrich education, and strengthen social cohesion; for these reasons, they certainly deserve this new support.”
Mary Rozsa de Coquet, board chair, Alberta Foundation for the Arts

“Artists are skilled and hard-working members of the workforce, and deserve to be paid their worth. CARFAC Alberta welcomes provincial legislation that can support fair compensation and greater economic security for Alberta's professional artists.”
Chris Carson, executive director, CARFAC Alberta

The proposed legislation will:

• Formally acknowledge artists’ contributions and promote their work and their rights to help make their artistic enterprises profitable.
• Emphasize Alberta’s continued commitment to freedom of artistic expression.
• Help to protect artists’ economic and contractual rights.
• Model the way for private and non-profit employers and contractors in Alberta’s economy, upholding the professional nature of artists’ work.

The Arts Professions Recognition Act is part of the government’s commitment to grow creative and cultural industries in the province by 25 per cent over the next 10 years and is an important part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan.

Quick facts

• In 2019, the visual and applied arts and live performance industries contributed approximately $1.3 billion in GDP and sustained nearly 20,000 jobs in Alberta.
• According to the 2016 census, there were 44,880 Albertans employed in arts, entertainment and recreation.
• The total median individual income of artists in Alberta ($28,500) was 51 per cent lower than that of all Alberta workers ($52,400).  
• Artists with university credentials at or above the bachelor’s level earn an average of $30,300, which is 55 per cent less than the average earnings of workers in the overall labour force with the same education ($66,500).
• According to analysis of the 2016 census by Hill Strategies, there are 13,300 professional artists living in Alberta (the fourth highest population after Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia), accounting for eight per cent of all artists in the country.

We're pleased to share a special shout-out to Alberta artists who brought home 2022 Juno awards. Congratulations to all of the incredible artists on their wins:

• Maria Dunn: Traditional Roots Album of the Year 
  • She received two AFA Music Individual Project Funding grants for her Joyful Banner Blazing album: art production grant to assist with the recording; and marketing grant for publicity. Catch her live in Leduc and Sherwood Park in 2022/2023.
• Andrew Wan: Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble)
  • Andrew is an accomplished musician born in Edmonton. He was also a 2008 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award recipient.
• Brett Kissel: Country Album of the Year   
  • ​Brett celebrates win in his What is Life? album. Catch Brett on tour in Alberta this summer (Calgary and his hometown, St. Paul).
• Caity Gyorgy: Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
  • Originally from Calgary, Catiy won for her EP Now Pronoucing: Caity Gyorgy.
• Fawn Wood: Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year 
  • Fawn is a Cree and Salish musician from Saddle Lake who won for her album, Kakike.
• Garth Prince: Children's Album of the Year 
  • ​Edmonton-based African artist won for his Falling in Africa album.

For a complete list of the winners and nominees, check out junoawards.ca. All the best to them on their future endeavours! We're proud of their talents and appreciate their magnificient work for all of us to continually enjoy!