In the Winter, I had the opportunity to do some work for the Quinte Arts Council where I published an article about a local band, Long Range Hustle. It allowed me to use the tools I’ve learned from my program as well as get some practice in the field taking my own pictures and developing my own style. Long Range Hustle has become very successful since then, earning thousands of plays on Spotify.
Last week, my band Arm’s Length travelled to School House Studios in Hamilton where we began recording our upcoming EP. This is a demo of our song Watercolour. Returning next week to finish the tracks!
When Janet Jarrell took on the title of general manager of the Quinte Arts Council late last year, she had one fundamental goal: To allow artists and their work to thrive in the community of Quinte West and surrounding regions.
Funding, specifically for the arts in Quinte, has been hard to come by in the past from municipalities, leading to an inevitable limited arts scene within the community.
Not so coincidentally, on March 10th, 2019, newly appointed mayor Mitch Panciuk along with his city council announced that Belleville would be doubling funds for local art organizations from $25,000 up to $50,000. For one single artistic organization, funding got doubled to $5,000.
Jarrell voices the importance on municipal funding for local artists, and how Belleville city council’s decision will be instrumental in making Quinte’s art scene blossom. She says, “The biggest key in this advocacy with the municipal government is getting more funding to the artists in the outlining areas. If the artists have the support financially, they will do the work.”
She plans to move the Quinte Arts Council forward with this increase in funding, as the council’s seasonal newspaper, The Umbrella, will now be available as a magazine for their upcoming summer issue. Quinte Arts Council will also be looking to expand their range of what they can do for artists around town with organizing community art workshops.
For a city aching to bring in more youth into the community, having a dynamic art scene is seen as crucial. To some, the city’s current art scene is nothing short of lackluster.
Jeremy Whyte, an aspiring musician and local concert-attendee says “As long as I’ve been here, Belleville has never had a crazy (arts) scene. I feel like it’s harder for me to pursue music around here because there aren’t really a ton of footsteps to follow.”
When asked about how he thinks the city could make art more relevant, he followed with “Make more artists want to be here.”
As funding has increased substantially for local artists, their work can be supported so creativity can become the main focus in a region that does not have a prominent artistic reputation. With creative and financial blocks aside, the Belleville area now has better tools to truly make art a priority and to pour much needed life into the arts community.
March 6th, 2019
Last Tuesday, my band Arm’s Length toured Schoolhouse Studios in Hamilton, Ontario to get a feel of the studio environment. We are recording our first EP there from April 11th to the 14th, so getting this initial feel for the studio was key for us. Schoolhouse studios is notorious for recording indie and alternative bands, and Arm’s Length is leaning towards an alternative sound which makes it a perfect fit. Nick Ginn, the studio founder, was very friendly and was extremely excited to work on this EP with us. The video above features a small clip from our song “Loving Memory” along with a quick montage of our trip.
Our EP will be coming out in the early summer of this year. Below is an early demo of our song “Loathe”, recorded in our friend’s basement.
http://armslengthemo.bandcamp.com/track/loathe-early-demo
Very excited to be designing my own website for schoolwork and my own personal use!
Blog of Allen Steinberg 