Unpleasant signs of arts world infighting

[Keith Jeffrey]

Its becoming apparent that the arts world is beginning to turn in on itself and present a split/disunited view of not how the arts should be funded but who gets what. Artists are railing at administrators, see Mark Ravenhill's Guardian blog

Today Nick Starr is advocating cutting subsidy to Art & Business

Whilst we can all point to better ways of doing things, this sort of nonsense really isn't helpful. The issue is that arts funding supports an essential part of British life, cutting it to the level being proposed will be disastrous, cant we focus around that rather than old score settling?

[Chantal Guevara]

Actual link: www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/29062/exclusive-arts-business...

I do not see this as infighting so much as recognition of A&B's confidence in philanthropy.

[Mike Gibb, Operabase]

One thing that might help is to build a list of more suitable targets for cuts elsewhere, to put the figures that are to be cut from the arts into context. Here are some recent figures, both large and small:

£4 million: the NHS expenditure on "useless and unethical" homeopathy
MPs deliver their damning verdict: Homeopathy is useless and unethical
Today [22 Feb] the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered its verdict on homeopathy and it was devastating. The committee has called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and official licensing of homeopathy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/feb/22/mps-verdict-home...
'Choice' fetish spawns mind-meltingly stupid homeopathy policy
The UK government's rejection of a damning Commons report on homeopathy leaves Martin Robbins baffled and depressed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jul/27/choice-fetish-homeopa...

£700 million: the budget over-run of the MOD last year
This week's shocking National Audit Office report into the financial management of defence procurement suggests the gap between what was purchased and what can be paid for may reach £36bn over the next 10 years. In 2009 the MoD was £700m over budget. This year it will be £500m.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/22/defence-spendin...

£6,000 million: the value of kit the MOD has mislaid
The National Audit Office today refused to sign off the Ministry of Defence's annual accounts, for the fourth year in a row.
National Audit Office says 'systemic' problems mean defence ministry is unable to account for £6bn of equipment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/27/mod-accounts-nationa...

£20,000 million: the cost of replacing Trident
Fox .. complained recently that his department was being asked to pay the £20bn costs of replacing Trident. Fox believes that the costs of replacing Trident should come directly from the Treasury because Britain's continuous-at-sea defence is a matter of national security... The Treasury regards Fox's remarks as a classic example of ministerial lobbying ahead of a spending round... One source said: "The costs of Trident have always come out of the MoD budget. We know what Liam is up to. But does he expect that the department of culture will pay for Trident?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/29/george-osborne-trident-def...

Any more?

[Roger Tomlinson]

This just confirms my view that the talk about the impact of cutting spending to the arts is focussing on the impact on the wrong people. We need to stop talking about artists and arts organisations and about the impact on the public: our audiences and participants. I am sure all the economic arguments about the value of the UKs arts and culture are important, but the ultimate defence has to come at local level where cuts have greatest impact and could come from local authorities as well as Arts Councils. I understand the National Campaign for the Arts is planning a national petition/database to support local initiatives.
Roger

[Mike Gibb, Operabase]

A&B might consider it difficult to ask their members for full and complete details of philanthopists funding them, if A&B itself is hunting for funds...

[Hilary Gresty]

Agree- Focus on positioning the arts in relation to Govt high profile idea that they don't want to see fail - philanthropy and big society/civic leadership etc, children is another likely area ( Cameron, Clegg, Hunt, Vaizey are all parents of young children) and there is something to be said for profiling our international standing and reputation ( we are good at culture but xxx at football) and cultural tourism -

[Patrick Hussey]

An update here:

The Indy laments in fighting in arts today.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/david-lister/david-...

The Arts & Business defence of arts workers and call for togetherness in the Guardian yesterday:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/30/arts-organisati...

[Roger Tomlinson]

Patrick Hussey said:

An update here:

The Indy laments in fighting in arts today.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/david-lister/david-...

The Arts & Business defence of arts workers and call for togetherness in the Guardian yesterday:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/30/arts-organisati...

In his Indy piece David Lister refers to the danger of the arts coming across as "holier than thou". In the competition for what to cut, artists and arts organisations come across as saying don't cut us (save our jobs) so cut other public spending. From Jeremy Hunt's decisions so far, this argument is going nowhere, and probably deserves to fail. Our defence needs to come from the public who benefit from the arts, buy tickets, visit, participate, and whether they are amateur or professional. Colin Tweedy uses his Guardian response to defend the marketing, development and admin. staff behind the scenes who do all the work to bring the public into appreciative contact with the arts. Was Mark Ravenhill's attack on them yet more of the "bums on seats" thinking which devalues the role of the public as audiences? I think we want their "hearts and minds" and right now they are our best defence, starting at local level, as each cut is proposed.
Roger

[Nick Sherrard]

I think Roger is so right on this idea of the importance of audiences.

For a start we have Friends groups and existing Supporters. As someone who is a Friend/ Member of quite a few orgs I have yet to be contacted by any of them with info or suggested actions to help protect them from funding cuts. I think this needs to change, and am looking at ways of doign it with the orgs I work with.

Does anyone know of examples of doing this - what has worked/ what not?

[Alison Edbury]

Good to hear a voice of sanity and rationalism ringing out clearly - thanks Keith! Our collective goal, surely, is to engender a greater sense of sanity and rationalism within Government. I believe that we still have room to manoeuvre the arts into a safer place. To protect us from lethal cuts we need to get our publics / audiences / visitors, whatever you may call them, behind us. So, let's have a ceasefire on infighting and get our audiences campaigning on our behalf. Audiences UK and NCA will post news on support towards this opportunity -watch this space.

[Mike Gibb, Operabase]

I completely agree with both of the two points made above -- of ending the self-harming and myopic cut-them-over-there comments, and of engaging the audiences to fight on behalf of the sector. These are very good answers to the question "what can we do?". Unfortunately, the question that needs to be asked is "what can be done in time to influence the spending review?"

Oddly, our best hope of the Government taking stock and reining back the cuts might well be the (fully justified) plummeting consumer confidence. Apparently, the way that the Government is handling the budget deficit is causing people to believe that there will be serious economic hardship ahead, thus causing them to rein in their spending. (No surprise there, then!). The Government is being presented with a stark message -- that they will get before the spending review is finalised -- that their slash-and-burn policies are driving the country into a second recession.

Perhaps, the message that goes to the audiences should make clear the unprecedented brutality of the cuts, and the uncertain knock-on effects on the economy as whole.

[Adrian Lochhead]

The infighting is always likely to rise to the surface in hard times, simply because it is always there, though in the 'fat' times it is less apparent.

Rather than point my finger at others for their competitive and selfish egotistical bents I'll freely confess here to my own...eg I have been guilty of resenting the Royal Opera House and RSC and RNT when I, as a (then!) younger practitioner was trying to raise money through painting and decorating in order to make new work on smaller budgets than they were chucking in to the skip through designer's whimsy or director's change of mind; I remember seething with contempt at arts orgs who would not share any part of their publicly funded facility (van, rehearsal space, screwdriver) while they proclaimed that they were working in the interests of all; I recall too many people actively protecting their silos as if it were their privately earned fiefdoms; complacent ones actually saying things like well why don't you just go back to ACE love and ask for more money?...i could go on but I won't because i don't want to dip back into those dark recesses long ago let go!
Today I run a small regional RFO and do my best to share what we have.

My point here is that the arts are and always have been a competitive and (beneath the skin) divided 'community'; actors, writers, artists would rather they had the job or commission than you; CEOs of flagships still proclaim their grassroots work even while sitting in the same room as those doing real hardcore grassroots work with hard to reach communities; only today i was sent an invite to a seminar addressing the funding crisis (from an audience related org) but on closer reading my org would have to pay £1250 membership (unaffordable, unjustifiable to my Trustees) before i could attend the "gathering together of those leading the most important arts organisations" in my region - those words 'most important' are elitist and exclusive and reflective of the ongoing division.

I say all this by way of wanting us to be honest. I am deeply deeply committed to fighting all of the cuts, ensuring that all of our work survives (I no longer resent the big orgs). However, we have to recognise that the divisions exist and that in order to enlist the have nots the haves must travel some way, as it is the haves that have the most to lose (actually it is the people who have most to lose).

In these thin times the division is inevitably going to become even more stark. This is so reminiscent of the 'Glory in the Garden' days when suddenly the haves/funded remembers that it is part of a national creative 'movement' and wonders why the long neglected doesn't rush to its defence.

I totally agree that "The issue is that arts funding supports an essential part of British life, cutting it to the level being proposed will be disastrous" but the infighting is not born of nonsense - it is reflective of what is always there - a sadly divided and competitive sector: how can we address and correct that fundamental issue? If we don't are we any better than these new ideologues governing us?

[Conrad Atkinson]

Whilst Cameron urges more use of tourism he proposes cutting the arts which are central to a great deal of tourism first thing to do when visiting any city is visit the local art gallery to find out what that city is about (in spite of the faceless corporate NEXT Macs M and S corporate identikit high streets);(as argentinian artists say "A country without a culture is a country without a face)" not only that but all other things being equal businesses move to areas with high cultural profiles; in the debate in the US about creative cities there is a substantial number of papers and books which argue that silicon valley would never have developed in the way it did without the freedoms involve in the arts and creative ethos developed in San Francisco in the late forties and fifties. I live in SF most of the time but was deeply engaged with arts funding bodies in the UK throughout the seventies eighties and early nineties. as for the divisiveness mentioned I wasn't here when the row a few years ago about Arts Council cuts developed but my understanding is that the Drama community didn't invite the other arts forms to the Old Vic meeting.....as arguably the most visible and powerful art form in the UK that community has a duty to act as a leader not as reported to me by friends in music and the visual arts in the uk...acting as a selfish thoughtless lobby.