Think twice before writing and biting

Re: "Open season on struggling artists" [Oct. 9]: Philip Preville was given ample references and information by myself and other sources in the education and government sectors to back up and clarify my explanations about complaints on working conditions expressed by three former Open City employees.

However, Mr. Preville chose to not only omit these sources from his article, but wrote an exaggerated and distorted one-sided version that portrayed Open City as an employer resorting to threats, manipulations and coercion of its employees--"struggling artists." Almost as if to insinuate, as in his title, "Open season on struggling artists?", that Open City is an unlicensed corporate "head hunter" perched behind a blind in an abandoned building like a camouflaged sniper "picking off" struggling artists at will.

On paper and in practice Open City is a unique artist-run non-profit community arts group. We're different because as an organization, we dare to go where no other arts groups will. We work daily with the most disenfranchised people in the community: the homeless, abused, battered and imprisoned, as well as children in public schools. We also recognize artists as part of the disenfranchised of our society, and therefore we focus our work on creating new training programs that will integrate them into the new job markets we create daily. Too good to be true?

Yes, it's true that once in a while we might ask you, the artist, a favour, but never oblige you to wait a few days or a week before cashing your pay cheque because our government grant payments are really late in arriving. Sometimes we get caught up in our own bureaucracy. But this reality should not be misconstrued by the Mirror as a constant ritual corporate practice and policy.

One former employee was quoted in the article referring to his experience as a "terrible disaster," while another accused us of threats and manipulations. Interestingly, both these artists chose on their own to renew their contracts with us, and it should be underlined that we successfully integrated them into a job at the very same school where we initially placed them. The third employee, who contacted the labour relations board, chose to do so weeks after she abandoned her position for medical reasons and subsequently disappeared, only to be heard again from a "third party," when she claimed that she was owed a pay cheque for a period of time she never even worked. As a final comment on the events presented in such a shallow perspective by Mr. Preville, Open City does and must maintain certain professional and administrative standards and we expect artists to demonstrate an attitude of responsibility to the community they are serving (ie. public schools). These standards to not accept no-show days, lateness and unexcused absences, as was the case for all three of these artists.

Mr. Preville ends his article by quoting one former artist employee stating that "I think artists should think twice before working there."

We agree. Think twice about why we as artists are amongst the highest unemployed group? Think twice again why our work is not valued nor integrated into the community?

Think about yourself as an artist before you take another minimum wage job in some resto-bar.

At the present time Open City employs 40 artists and animators, and when they move on to new jobs we'll hire others.

­ Glenn Hilke, Artistic Director, Open City Productions

Spilling ink over Blood

I find Juliet Waters' critique of Power in the Blood by John Bentley Mays ["Bloody history," Oct. 2] as mature as her vulgar, abject style of vapid criticism: sadly lacking in meaning. But her content is revelatory and somehow fairness abounds in her criticism of the novel.

Waters' invitation to the reader to fabricate a choice on his own between original expression of novel ideas in real form and the blatancy of repetitive conflict without resolution, which is a theme of Mays', leaves a difficult choice. But difficulty in choice is often an illumination on a challenge to produce originality in creative art in the spirit of transformation. Waters' strictness is sad, yet her compassion abounds in joy as faithful literary critique can only reveal the resplendent world of J. B. Mays.

­ Luboslav A. Huyunak

Correction

In the Sept. 25 issue of the Mirror, a story about statistics on drug use among Montreal street youth ["Eye of the needle"] was accompanied by a photograph of a number of young people in the streets of Montreal. The photo did not show any individuals taking drugs. The Mirror wishes to stress that no inference should be drawn between the individuals portrayed and drug use of any kind. The Mirror apologizes for any misunderstanding the photo may have caused.