“April is the cruellest month...
I had not thought death had undone so many.”
The Wasteland - T.S.Eliot
Almost 200 arts companies in the UK got a very nasty early Christmas present from the Arts Council with a letter announcing cuts to their arts funding. Indeed, from April 2008, many will lose their funding altogether, robbing the UK of experienced arts companies and established venues in one cruel blow.
In an astounding display of arrogance, the Arts Council won't actually confirm whose funding will been cut, so the public, whose taxes go towards this funding, are in the dark as to which companies are facing closure. Let's not disguise this fact, withdrawal of funding, or 'disinvestment' in Arts Council speak, will force the majority of the companies affected to close. The only, unofficial list available is at the Arts Professional forum, (http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/APNetwork/viewforum.cfm?thrid=15&subjid=5&for_id=1).
The companies affected by the cuts have had only one month, which included Christmas and New Year holidays, to plead their case to the Arts Council. So that was a nice, restful Christmas break for 196 organisation's worth of managers, directors, and cast, no doubt.
Even more amazing is that these wounding cuts come at a time of increased funding. The Arts Council fought for and actually received more money to hand out, a £1bn pot of cash to fund organisations that match their criteria, such as diverse audience appeal and excellence. However, many of those affected claim they DO meet the criteria. It is one almighty mess out there at the moment.
Looking at the Arts Professional list, it could seem that opera has got off lightly. The ROH, for example, has an increase in line with inflation, along with 41 other organisations who have received increased funding. In addition, 90 new organisations have received funding who did not have any before.
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Yet it is the losers who will really impact on the future of the arts in the UK. If the National Student Drama Festival can lose its funding, then what other great training grounds for the next generation of performers may disappear too?
If the Arts Council can slash the grant of an established and respected venue such as the Northcott Theatre in Exeter just after it had reopened from a £2.1m refit, what venue is safe? Or, indeed, what private investor would want to be part of any theatre renovation at all, lest the Arts Council decide it is not worthy of their attention?
And if two respected chamber orchestras, the City of London Sinfonia and the London Mozart Players, are to lose their funding too, what orchestra can truly plan ahead into 2010 and onwards with confidence?
Out of the 990 organisations funded by the Arts Council, 194 have had their funding cut, and they only been replaced with 90 new organisations. That's 100 less arts organisations providing entertainment and pleasure to the people of the UK, you and me. That's hundreds of unemployed arts professionals who will probably give up and take a 'normal' job, leaving gaping skills holes in the structure of the arts in the UK.
And, of course, that's 100 fewer organisations to create the fabled Cultural Olympiad in 2012. For which, of course, there is no funding available anyway.
Thanks, Peter Hewitt, chief executive of the Arts Council, and welcome to your newly-created Arts Wasteland.
Kirsty Young
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