The heart of arts and culture beats most strongly in our towns and cities.

They are the homes to the museums, opera houses, performing arts centres, galleries, theatres, high school auditoriums, parks, town squares and the many other venues where we celebrate, enjoy and admire artistic creations.

The arts in Canada—and I use 'arts' in the broadest possible sense—have always been a complex combination of public appeal, private sector support, government contributions and self-sustaining work by those involved.

But it has become strikingly apparent that one of the many unintended consequences of the COVID pandemic is that audiences are shifting, the arts are in extreme jeopardy, and local governments are increasingly going to be confronted with extraordinarily difficult choices about their local cultural and arts scene. Several established arts organizations and popular events are shutting down because of financial difficulties.

Canada has traditionally underfunded the arts. A bit of money gets scattered for operations, occasional large grants are made to assist in the construction of a new facility that catches the ear of a minister, and lip-service is paid to how important support for the arts is in our country.

Provincial and territorial governments have an equally complex relationship with the arts. Organizations and venues in the capital seem to get special treatment. There is normally some modest pot of funds that is grudgingly committed, often distributed by an arms-length government agency.

There is usually little long-term funding—often it is an annual granting process, meaning those running an arts org spend much of their time filling out government forms and lobbying for dollars.

Much of the rest of their time is spent on private fundraising. Increasing percentages of budgets are often dependent on corporate largesse or rich patrons.

At the same time, the pandemic drove audiences away from many live performances. People discovered new forms of entertainment. So far, the evidence is that they have been slow to return to the venues and theatres in our communities. That is worrying. And if cities are to see these important parts of their own local culture survive and celebrate many of the things that make their city unique, appealing, and vibrant, they may have to decide about increasing local funding.

With the many pressures on civic budgets already, that will be a hard discussion. Just how much do we value the arts and culture in our lives, and in our communities?

The most recent federal budget offered little solace to arts organizations. They have always been a low priority for provinces.

The greatest impact is always felt on the streets of local communities.

If arts organizations cannot be more self-sustaining, and that is increasingly unlikely with the impacts of the pandemic on people's lives and corporate donations being stretched, the two primary funding streams are likely to be individual donations or local government support.

Perhaps we are returning to the Renaissance era of princes funding private artists. More likely, if local arts and culture are to thrive, local governments will have to play a greater role. But will they?