Cuts impact not “fully felt yet”, Turney says

The impact of the cuts to the arts sector has not been fully felt yet and everything is still in a state of flux, Eleanor Turney, a freelance journalist and editor of the ArtsProfessional magazine told Artsandcuts.

She fundamentally disagrees with the Conservative ideology that claims that these cuts are “necessary”, and is in favour of raising taxes for the wealthy and taxing big corporations fully rather than cutting services. “There are all kinds of stats floating around on Twitter etc which look at how much money is owed to the Treasury by tax-dodgers compared with how much money needs to be saved through these cuts,” she said.

There are economic arguments against arts cuts, she argues, such as the fact that it gives back far more than it receives in subsidies. However, she blames the culture secretary for not “fighting our corner”, in addition to the difficulty to justify spending on the arts when budgets for health and education are being squeezed.

Art Cuts have varied across different locations in the UK, which contributes to the delay of the assessment of the impact to the sector.  In England, Arts Council England is in the process of sorting out how it will deal with its cuts, as it assesses 1300 applications to become National Portfolio Organisations.

“We know that only about half of these are likely to be successful, so the impact on those that don’t receive funding will be large. Add to this the Local Authority arts cuts, and things start to look pretty tricky for a lot of arts organisations. As I say, the full impact will not be felt for some months, but I think it is safe to say that many organisations will close down or have to radically re-imagine their work. So, the impact at the moment is that lots of people are getting lots of sleepless nights, waiting to find out their fate,” she said.

However, in Scotland, for example, the government has made the decisions to defer its cuts until next year, so not much has changed yet. Also, Creative Scotland is very new, so it remains to be seen how it will sort out its funding for the arts over the coming years, she said. As for Northern Ireland, it has not announced its final budget yet, but the arts look set to suffer badly and the impact will doubtless be huge if this is the case.

Furthermore, “the Arts Council of Wales suffered a cut, but has made a clear and compelling case for what it’s going to fund and what it’s not. Not everyone is happy about its decisions – namely those who lost money – but I personally think that it did the best it could with a difficult situation,” she said.

The impact on the UK’s status as a European cultural hub is also unclear at the moment as “these cuts will be felt for decades to come, and it will take months, if not years, for the extent of the damage to become apparent and for the arts to reshape itself into a resilient sector again,” she said.

She argues that it doesn’t look good to have a government that is slashing arts funding, but the picture across Europe as a whole seems to be fairly similar. “I think Germany has ring-fenced arts funding, while Belgium has cut harder and faster. We will have to see what’s left, and what arts is being made, before we can judge how it affects our reputation in the long term,” she said.

The spirit of resistance

As thousands of students descend on Parliament Square today to protest against tuition fee rises, many have also been staging sit-ins at universities and organising flash mobs across the city.

Last weekend, students at Goldsmiths College and UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art occupied campus buildings to demonstrate their anger at proposals they say will threaten the future of arts education in the UK. Colourful banners and flags were hung outside while lively debates continued indoors.

Perhaps the most visible activity to date was the picketing at the Tate Britain Gallery during the Turner Prize ceremony, where hundreds assembled to vent their frustration with the government’s attitude towards the arts funding.

On Tuesday, Arts & Cuts went to Royal College of Art’s Long Night to talk to students and teachers about their feelings and plans. Throughout the evening, people squeezed into the common room to participate in discussions and sign a petition addressed to Nick Clegg.

Conceptual artist Mark McGowan spoke first and offered his support. “This level of culture bashing is equivalent to book burning,” he said. An RCA lecturer agreed, “[This is] the most vicious ideological attack. It’s a system where you’re artistic only if you can afford it”.

Despite the sombre mood, people were hopeful that there would be strength in numbers. Organisers of the Slade Occupation shared advice (“students are the first wave, not the last”) and the duo behind Space Hijackers humorously recounted their adventures, including driving a tank into central London for the G20 summit.

Three students from Chelsea College of Art & Design explained how the movement was gaining momentum. They felt that art schools in the capital were quite fragmented, especially within the University of Arts London, but were noticing a growing sense of unity.

Noel Douglas, a professional graphic designer and programme leader at the University of Bedfordshire, gave a presentation on the history of grass-roots campaigns and encouraged students to be optimistic about the future. He told us why he believes art and design are fundamental to society:

At 11pm, students of the Royal College of Art voted in favour of occupation.

RCA – The Long Night

Students, lecturers and artists gathered at the Royal College of Art on Tuesday 7th Dec to vote on a sit-in:

NCA urge public to show their support for the arts

The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) is the UK’s only independent campaigning organisation representing all the arts. They do not receive any core subsidy from the public or political purse and are funded by members to carry out vital lobbying and advocacy work.
Arts & Cuts interviewed Louise de Winter, NCA Director, about the budget cuts and their effect on the arts industry.

Q: What has been the initial reaction and responses you’ve been getting from the public since the UK budget cuts announcement?
Ms De Winter: In terms of responses from the public, over 15,000 people have signed on the I Value the Arts website to show their support for the arts.

Q: How have the budget cuts affected people in terms of job losses?
DW: It’s too early to tell how this impacts on jobs. Not all funding decisions have been announced and local governments (who also fund the arts) are waiting to hear what their settlements will be. However, we do know that Somerset County Council has recently voted for a 100 per cent cut of its arts development budget (£159,000). This is bound to have an effect on those organisations involved.

Q: What is your organisation’s stand on the budget cuts issue?
DW: The National Campaign for the Arts worked vigorously with the sector to make the case for public investment in the arts. We always understood (as indeed did the arts sector as a whole) that the sector could not be immune from the cuts and lobbied hard to make sure that the cuts were not too fast or too deep. The Chancellor announcing a 15 per cent cut to ‘frontline arts organisations’ appeared to have heard those arguments by limiting the extent of cuts to organisations. However, the cut to Arts Council England of 30 per cent will still have a massive impact on ‘frontline arts’ and organisations, as many programmes, projects and organisations were also funded through ‘strategic funding’. For example, the Manchester International Festival is not a regularly funded organisation, but received funding directly from Arts Council’s strategic funds. Similarly, the 50 per cent admin cut that the Arts Council will have to make to its own costs, is also bound to impact on the arts sector as its capacity to respond to artists’ needs and inquiries will be more curtailed.
Add all of that up with the 28 per cent cuts to local government (which will probably also massively rebound on arts and culture budgets, as evidenced by what happened in Somerset) and one can see that the outlook for the arts is very bleak.

Q: Do you feel the government could have handled the cuts differently?
DW: I think the DCMS could have thought more clearly first about what type of organization and funding body it wanted the Arts Council to be, before making such massive cuts to its budget. Given that the Government expects the Arts Council to probably pick up some of the functions from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the UK Film Council (both NDPBs announced for abolition) it doesn’t appear to have thought through how it might do that with reduced staff and reduced funding.

Q: How have you been able to help so far?
DW: The NCA has responded to events by informing politicians and the press and media about the impact on arts organisations and on local communities. Through campaigns such as I Value the Arts we have been able to alert signatories to potential changes in arts provision taking place on their patch and asking them to attend council meetings or write to their local councillors to outline how they feel about the arts in their area and to articulate their support for the arts. The NCA has also written to local councillors, local MPs and to the Ministers also to bring our concerns to their attention, but ultimately this is an issue where it is important for local citizens and local voters to get engaged.

Q: Are there any events, gatherings or meetings you are organising that you would like to encourage arts lovers to go to?
DW: We will be holding an event on 13 December (more details to be available soon) about the arts and the Big Society, involving Nat Wei, one of the architects of the Big Society, who will outline how he sees this working in relation to artists and arts organisations.
Generally, we would encourage arts lovers to consume as much of the arts locally to them as possible – the old adage of ‘if you don’t use it you’ll lose it’ rings very true now. Be as supportive as possible of local arts events and organisations and where possible, also offer to help and volunteer.

Q: Is your organisation struggling for funding as well?
DW: Yes. The NCA does not receive any Government or public funding to carry out its remit. We are the independent voice of the arts in the UK. Our funding comes from our membership and what we can fundraise. Even though our work is needed now more than ever, we still struggle for funding.

For more information about the NCA please visit www.artscampaign.org.uk

The financial value of art

Last week two Andy Warhol pieces sold for a total price of $98.7 million (£61.7 million). While the figures may be staggering, this is actually part of a larger trend in the art market.

According to a recent survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the financial value of art and antiques has risen significantly over the past 12 months. Due to ongoing economic uncertainties, art is proving to be a popular alternative investment. In fact, the growth in demand has not been caused exclusively by the fabulously wealthy or global corporations; more and more people are exploring galleries, fairs and exhibitions in the hope of finding work by up-and-coming artists.

Sarah Ryan, founder of New Blood Art, has noticed these changes but doubts that funding cuts will negatively affect her clients: