New Brunswick artists to be given public money for Acadian celebrations http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/acadia200803 Posted 2003-08-20 CBC News Online, with files from Phlis McGregor, The Arts Report HALIFAX - Artists in New Brunswick are being encouraged to apply for funding to develop works that commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first French settlement in North America. The anniversary arrives next year. In 1604, Samuel de Champlain started a settlement on St. Croix Island, near what is now Calais, Me. and St. Stephen, N.B. This represented the first attempt by France to colonize the territory called Acadia. Celebrations are planned in Canada, France and the United States. In preparation for the 400th anniversary, the New Brunswick Arts Board has received $100,000 from the provincial government. The money will be used to fund artistic projects that relate to the commemorative theme. Robert Barriault is the program officer of the New Brunswick Arts Board. "A lot of energy is being focused on the artistic or cultural community in New Brunswick, so funding is available from both the province of New Brunswick through organizations like our own, the New Brunswick Arts Board, or Heritage Canada to fund projects that will take place in 2004." Rather than awarding the cash as a separate initiative, funding will be distributed through the New Brunswick Arts Board's regular grant programs. "We're asking that artists who are applying for funding within the Arts Board programs write us and tell us about a program that meets the objective of the 1604-2004 program. So they should be geared to those celebrations," Barriault says. Artists must be New Brunswick residents and meet established criteria for existing funding programs. The New Brunswick Arts Board has five funding deadlines per year. The next deadline is September 1. For more arts news, listen to The Arts Report weekdays at 7:12 a.m., 8:12 a.m. and 5:55 p.m. on CBC Radio Two.