The public are being urged to support a ‘fair deal’ for the arts during the consultation on Stormont spending plans as vital funding could be lost.
Every Pound Counts: Roisin McDonough, Arts Council Chief Executive
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is campaigning to remind the public that as well as vital services like health and education, they should voice their opinion on cuts to funding for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL).
The department covers funding for a wide range of services in society, including sport, arts, libraries and museums.
Today’s news that plans to build five sports centres have been cancelled due to lack of funding is a bad sign for the department’s future.
The department faces a big loss as it only receives 1% of the government budget. 9% is to be cut from the department’s spending, which will mean a loss of £14.5 million over the four-year period.
30% of these cuts will go directly to the arts sector, according to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which will take away £4.2 million from public spending in the sector.
In the spending plan for DCAL they list the following measures for how they will make savings:
• Administration savings of £85k and a budget uplift 2011-12 of £76k will be used to increase grant funding by £161k.
• Reduction in the council’s ability to core fund the same number of arts organisations.
• Support for individual artists would be reduced by withdrawal from the current main international programmes and residencies offered.
• The council would also reduce its development fund which enables it to react in-year to innovative ideas and projects.
Less funding for artists
Funding is extremely important to the arts sector, especially in helping new artists establish themselves.
Katrina Sheena Smyth is a 25-year-old visual artist from Belfast.
Katrina Sheena Smyth at her exhibition in PS² gallery, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Since she graduated in 2009 she has received two funding awards from the Northern Ireland Arts Council, for materials and equipment and to fund her travels to take part in an exhibition in Berlin.
She has been successful in her short career since graduating and recognises the importance of public funding in helping with her success.
“It is important at this early stage of an artist’s career to produce new work and for the work to develop so that they can apply for gallery exhibitions and keep motivated in looking for opportunities – funding can help financially in doing this,” she says.
“It shows the government and art organisations are supporting the artist and that they acknowledge their creative talents. And this in turn will show other galleries and universities that they are acknowledged by local authorities in the arts sector, which can help their career further.”
“I think if there was less support from the government then there would be less people who would work in the arts sector. I could see the arts developing in a more business manner as a way of producing art only to sell commercially which would see the fine arts suffer.”
Andy Brown, (31) is a local artist and illustrator and although he has not received funding for his work he acknowledges the need for public support.
Local artist Andy Brown displays some of his portraits
“Art comes from all classes and some of the most creative could not pursue such a career without public funding,” he says.
“Over the last few years there has been a growing number of new art events and galleries opening that are showing new and experimental art which is a good thing for any country’s art scene and without funding many of the events would not be possible.”
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland are campaigning against the cuts and for the arts to get a ‘fair deal’ in the draft budget during the consultation period.
The council is urging the public to make their views known to the Northern Ireland Executive during its public consultation on the budget, which has been extended to Wednesday 16 February, and have issued a campaign letter to use as well as a petition and Facebook group.
Make your voice heard
Arts Council chief executive Roisin McDonough has said the arts sector is being asked to ‘shoulder a disproportionate share of public sector cuts’.
“Spending on the arts is tiny in relation to other departments, so any savings made by cutting the arts budget will make next to no difference to Northern Ireland’s financial deficit. Yet these cuts will cause significant and potentially irreversible harm to the arts, putting jobs and front line services at risk,” she said.
“We would urge everyone who has ever valued the arts – from seeing a great festival production to experiencing the benefits of a re-imaging project in their community – to make their views known to the Executive. Vocal support from the arts community and the wider public will also help to strengthen Minister McCausland’s hand as he defends his arts budget.”
Culture minister Nelson McCausland commented on the draft budget before Christmas and said that an increase in Lottery funding as well as department spending would help provide resources for sports and arts in Northern Ireland.
An Arts Council spokesman has said that this policy was not practical and would not be endorsed by the Lottery fund.
“Whilst Lottery income looks set to rise over the period from 2011/12 onwards, using Lottery funds or ‘the People’s funds’ to compensate for reductions to Exchequer funds breaches Lottery directions. It cannot be used as a substitute for mainstream funding as it cannot cover core running costs for organizations.
“Besides, the demands on Lottery funding remain acute as they have done over the current licence period,” they said.
Commenting on the proposed cuts in the draft budget, a Department of Finance spokesperson said that an average reduction for all departments of 0.7% is expected for 2011-2012 and this is the proposed figure for DCAL.
“This compares to a 3.3% reduction for DE, a 6.0% reduction for DOE and a 3.3% reduction for DRD,” they said.
“Obviously some departments do better, and the position varies over the four years – but the outcome for DCAL is not ‘disproportionate’.
“The draft budget continues to prioritise the economy in what can only be described as unprecedented pressures. It sets out the need for strategic consideration of overarching Executive priorities in the context of this very challenging environment.”
In 2012-2013 there is a planned reduction of 0.1% in DCAL’s budget allocation, in 2013-2014 3%, and there will be a 9% reduction in 2014-2015.
The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is holding consultation meetings with departments as part of the public consultation. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure will hold their meeting on Wednesday 19 January at the NICVA offices.
To find out more about the ‘Fair Deal for the Arts’ campaign click here.
Louise in NI 