About SEARA

The Sector Equity for Anti-Racism in the Arts (SEARA) was created by BC Arts Service Organizations and other sector leaders to call for mutual aid and accountability in the arts and supported by the Pacific Association of Artist-Run Centres.
To simultaneously provide COVID-19 support and point to the inadequacies of current arts-funding models, SEARA looks to galvanize sectoral efforts and deliver $500K-$1M to BC-based BIPOC Artists currently facing financial hardship.

Individual Artists are less likely than other cultural workers in Canada to have received COVID-19 emergency support.¹Individuals who identify as independent Artists (43% or 2,253 respondents) are less likely than other cultural workers to have applied for, or intend to apply for the CERB. (Forum Research. Canada Council for the Arts, 2020, National Survey on Federal Emergency Aid Measures and the Arts Sector in Canada, canadacouncil.ca/research/april-2020-covid19-client-survey.) Besides being some of the lowest paid workers in the country,²Artists’ median income is 44% lower than all Canadian workers. (Hill, Kelly. Hill Strategies, 2019, A Statistical Profile of Artists in Canada in 2016, hillstrategies.com/resource/statistical-profile-of-artists-in-canada-in-2016/) Artists also do not have the same stability or access to granting services as established, non-profit arts organizations—and are therefore left more financially vulnerable by the pandemic.

Artists who are Black-Canadian, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), have even less access to support structures, as they are presented less often, ³Between 2013-2015, only 11% of Artists with solo exhibitions at major Canadian art institutions were non-white. (Cooley, Alison, et al. “Canada’s Galleries Fall Short: The Not-So Great White North.” Canadian Art, 21 Apr. 2015, canadianart.ca/features/canadas-galleries-fall-short-the-not-so-great-white-north/) ⁴Cheung, Belle Chi-Tung. “‘Just Add Colour’ : Unintended Whiteness in Vancouver Theatre and Arts and Culture Policies in Canada.” T. University of British Columbia, 2018. Web. 24 July 2020. <https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0371028&gt;. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) 2008+. paid less on average for their artistic work,⁵Based on 2016 census data, Indigenous artists were paid 68¢ to the dollar of non-Indigenous artists in 2015; Racialized artists were paid just slightly more, at 72¢ to the dollar of non-Racialized artists. (Hill, Kelly. Hills Strategies, 2020, Demographic Diversity of Artists in Canada in 2016, hillstrategies.com/resource/demographic-diversity-of-artists-in-canada-in-2016/#.) and are hired less frequently by arts institutions⁶According to a 2017 Canadian Art survey, just less than 4% of surveyed arts professionals were Indigenous and just more than 4% were visible minorities. (Maranda, Michael. “Hard Numbers: A Study on Diversity in Canada’s Galleries.” Canadian Art, 5 Apr. 2017, canadianart.ca/features/art-leadership-diversity/.), when compared with white Artists. Additionally, major Canadian arts institutions are overwhelmingly white in their governance.⁷O’Neill, Sean. “A Crisis of Whiteness in Canada’s Art Museums.” Canadian Art, 23 June 2020, canadianart.ca/features/a-crisis-of-whiteness/. These systemic issues coupled with COVID-19 have led to an increased, immediate financial precariousness for BIPOC Artists in Canada.

The galvanizing activist work of Black Lives Matter, and the ongoing fight to uphold Indigenous rights and land recognition, have prompted arts organizations across North America to publicly address systemic racism. In order for this work to move beyond performed activism, institutions must develop lasting connections across communities and invest in actionable change. SEARA calls on your organization to join the Alliance and donate to SEARA’s Power Share fundraiser!

1. Individuals who identify as independent Artists (43% or 2,253 respondents) are less likely than other cultural workers to have applied for, or intend to apply for the CERB. (Forum Research. Canada Council for the Arts, 2020, National Survey on Federal Emergency Aid Measures and the Arts Sector in Canada, canadacouncil.ca/research/april-2020-covid19-client-survey.)
2. Artists’ median income is 44% lower than all Canadian workers. (Hill, Kelly. Hill Strategies, 2019, A Statistical Profile of Artists in Canada in 2016, hillstrategies.com/resource/statistical-profile-of-artists-in-canada-in-2016/)
3. Between 2013-2015, only 11% of Artists with solo exhibitions at major Canadian art institutions were non-white. (Cooley, Alison, et al. “Canada’s Galleries Fall Short: The Not-So Great White North.” Canadian Art, 21 Apr. 2015, canadianart.ca/features/canadas-galleries-fall-short-the-not-so-great-white-north/)
4. Cheung, Belle Chi-Tung. “‘Just Add Colour’ : Unintended Whiteness in Vancouver Theatre and Arts and Culture Policies in Canada.” T. University of British Columbia, 2018. Web. 24 July 2020. <https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0371028&gt;. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) 2008+.
5. Based on 2016 census data, Indigenous artists were paid 68¢ to the dollar of non-Indigenous artists in 2015; Racialized artists were paid just slightly more, at 72¢ to the dollar of non-Racialized artists. (Hill, Kelly. Hills Strategies, 2020, Demographic Diversity of Artists in Canada in 2016, hillstrategies.com/resource/demographic-diversity-of-artists-in-canada-in-2016/#.)
6. According to a 2017 Canadian Art survey, just less than 4% of surveyed arts professionals were Indigenous and just more than 4% were visible minorities. (Maranda, Michael. “Hard Numbers: A Study on Diversity in Canada’s Galleries.” Canadian Art, 5 Apr. 2017, canadianart.ca/features/art-leadership-diversity/.).
7. O’Neill, Sean. “A Crisis of Whiteness in Canada’s Art Museums.” Canadian Art, 23 June 2020, canadianart.ca/features/a-crisis-of-whiteness/.