This article examines the role attributed to artists in Francophone minority communities in Canada. It focuses on two periods. The first corresponds to the 1970s when artists spoke out and readily accepted the role of cultural animators that community leaders and governments wanted them to play. The second period corresponds to the 1990s when the term “cultural facilitator” was popularized. This term appeared at a time when, as their discourse indicates, Francophone minority artists refused to see their art co-opted by a cause.