W hat would life be like without art? Imagine churches as plain beige boxes void of sculptures, paintings and glorious gothic arches. Imagine no more gardens filled with marigolds, violets, and spouting fountains.  Imagine parades without music _ and, of course, there would be no dancing if there was no music…

Do we take art for granted? This article looks at the importance of art in the context of Portuguese community development. It discusses concerns raised by our artists and how we could enhance the health of our community through art appreciation. Opinions from artists of various disciplines are revealed and readers' comments are encouraged (write to tascencao@aol.com).

Several days ago, a few unabashed comments from a handful of artists on the importance of art in the Portuguese community erupted on Lusoartists.com, an international web forum dedicated to artists of Luso heritage. It all started when the list's founder, Terry Costa, opened discussion with the subject line of "Artists Need Respect." Costa stated that although a Canadian professional artist only earns an average annual income of $11,000, so much is demanded of them from their communities. Artists are asked to donate artworks and performances and end up eating their expenses in the name of fundraisers and other community events. He suggests that if the community finds money for dances, hall rentals, park rentals and football fields, then it should find enough to at least pay the basic expenses of the artists serving the community.

After Terry's posting, I almost heard a big sigh of relief breathe across much of the Luso artistic globe. This story hit home to many members and briefly opened up the airway for others to speak their minds. One young singer/performer explained that a big part of the problem originates from the artists themselves and not the community. Amateur artists constantly undercut the fixed rates of professional artists, thereby leaving little or no market for the professional artists. Emanuel Serra, a director, composer, and vocalist in Halifax, suggested a mutual solution to this problem. He believes that if community organisations act as mentors to the young artists by creating self-sustaining programs, such as in the case of a local choir, this would carve special room for the young aspiring artists while safeguarding higher profile events for the more established artists. The community would win by attracting its youth and enhancing community life through art.

Later, I interviewed a few people outside of Lusoartists to get a broader scope on the issue.  Adelina Pereira, an art lover and community event organiser, offers insight into the art forms we tend to value and how these values affect new generations of artists. For example, she says we profile writers who practice in the Portuguese language, obviously implying lack of interest for young writers expressing themselves in English. She explains "clubs have not been able to adapt their activities in order to attract second and third generation Luso-Canadians, who have consequently become progressively more divorced from our community." To understand why our new generations are continuing to disengage from the community, I spoke with a visual artist who left a few years ago. She told me she "made attempts in the past and found that there was very little interest." But also explains that she finds this same lack of interest for visual art in the general Canadian public.
As a visual artist myself, what I find discouraging is that there's no sense that visual artists should get paid and we're often last minute additions where easels and tables provide quick solutions for displaying our art. Joe Lima, a Montreal based painter believes much of the responsibility for improving the profile of artists should be taken on by the artists themselves.   He says, "It's important for artists to inform the cultural leaders of our community of upcoming exhibitions and develop a relationship that fuels their involvement in cultural events." He also believes that "if money should go into sponsoring exhibitions or cultural events, that it not only sponsor traditional aspects of the culture, but also contemporary views."

It was interesting to find out, just as I was completing this article, that one of our establishments is supporting contemporary visual art. Casa Açoreana is sponsoring Prefix Photo magazine's launch on November 27 at Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto. This is a non-Portuguese, contemporary visual art event. Let's hear it for `Casa', who has not only gone beyond the traditional support for visual art, but also brave enough to step outside to do it. Now we just need more of this kind of support for our own artists from everyone in the community.

The questions remain: How can we improve the life for our artists and our community in a mutually beneficial way? What are the short term and long term solutions we can apply? For the short-term, could a simple answer be that we at least cover artists' expenses when we make money off our events? For the long-term, perhaps we can improve support for the next generations by fostering mentorship programs, attending their events and promoting their work.

Can we recall how we've felt reborn at the sight of an Our Lady sculpture amidst thousands of velvety roses in a procession? Or how we've been magically engulfed as we flip through one of Saramago's novels? Without our artists and their successors constantly reshaping and enriching our identity, life would be stagnant and empty. In summary, art, whether it be traditional or contemporary, is crucial to the development of any community. We should find ways to enrich our lives through art appreciation, while by the same token, finding ourselves supporting our artists.

Teresa Ascenção is a Toronto based visual artist, born to Azorean parents in São Paulo, Brazil. For more information visit: TERESA ASCENÇÃO