Culture Coverage in NB - As elusive as the Eastern Cougar?

Holy Cow.

Today I read the following (Irving) publications: Bugle-Observer, HERE (Fredericton), Telegraph Journal. Out of 60+ pages, less than 5 articles contained significant coverage of NB artists and their work. One notable exception was a short feature of Kyle Cunjak, who (pardon the semi-pun) is a very talented jack of all trades. To be fair, the "Salon" section of the Telegraph contained decent local arts journalism, but it's only once a week.

Still, I think we could do much better, considering that one of those articles was merely a reprint of the press release sent out by this lovely little gallery . Check it out, it's worth seeing. But I refuse to accept the premise that weekly coverage is enough, or that "there's nothing going on." I think there are a lot wonderful artists quietly working away in rural studios, doing great work but receiving very little recognition.

New Brunswickers are not known for trumpeting our best and brightest, despite the fact that we've produced our fair share of nationally and internationally significant artists and thinkers: Northrup Frye, David Adams Richards, Peter & Beth Powning, Freeman Patterson, Millar Brittain, Measha Brueggergosman, Douglas Lochhead, John Peters Humphrey, Wendy Nielson, Lord Beaverbrook, Alden Nowlan, George Stanley.

Without these New Brunswickers, we might have lost WWII, had a totally different Canadian flag, have no UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have a totally different perspective on literary criticism, poetry, painting, craft and sculpture etc. etc. And those are only the anglophones-please excuse my ignorance of significant First Nations and Acadian people.

How are we supposed to know who comprises the next generation of artists and thinkers if they don't get any exposure? Sheesh.

Thus ends my rant for the evening. Hope you made it to the end-look up some of those names if you don't know them. And if this is getting to be a bit much for you, check out this little NB comic strip. We might not be mighty, but we know how to laugh at ourselves. I vote we elect this guy as our next Premier.