This email was sent to all the main political parties standing in the March 2nd 2017 Assembly elections.

Dear xxx

As the March 2nd elections are nearly upon us, can you provide me with your current Arts & Culture policy for Northern Ireland?

In 2016 Visual Artists Ireland released our fourth survey of The Social, Economic, and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The survey shows that although 98% of visual artists work in their main area of practice, only 32% have the ability to make this a full time job. 76% of visual artists live under the poverty line with clear disparities based on gender and age.

In order to reverse this trend and improve the wages and living conditions of artists in Northern Ireland we hope that you will agree to support the following objectives:

• The return of a dedicated Department for Culture: to support and promote culture; to form a bridge across all government departments so that culture becomes central to Assembly decision making; with a seat at the cabinet table; and supporting the continued financial support of the arts sector.
• A commitment to design and deliver the Programme for Government in consultation and with the support of the arts sector.
• A commitment to recognise the importance of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, as an Arms Length Body, to form and deliver an Arts Strategy for Northern Ireland.
• Recognise the importance of the individual artist in a strong sector through a guaranteed minimum level of income for creative workers.
• Increased capital, project, and core funding to be made available through ACNI.
• Link the budgetary spend to the UK / Ireland average per head.
• Tax exemption on creative works.
• Increased spending on public art programmes.
• Recognise that creativity and the arts play a key role in education and learning by moving from a STEM to STEAM based curriculum.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Kind regards,

Rob

—

Rob Hilken
Northern Ireland Manager
Visual Artists Ireland

Replies:

Workers’ Party

Rob

Thanks you for getting in touch and apologies for the delay.

The Workers Party, and I personally as an occasional performer, understand and support the contribution which art and culture can and do make to society.

We are also acutely aware of the relentless commodification of our society, the resultant debasing of many of our values and the persistent repetition of the erroneous argument that the arts are an add on in life and should therefore pay for and look after themselves.

I don’t believe that is not over stating the case

The Workers Party as identified and been critical of the cuts to arts and culture projects across Northern Ireland and of the immediate and longer term impacts that will have.

We are supportive of the initiative you have taken in setting out a series of objectives and broadly welcome these as an important marker in the public debate about the role of arts and culture, the contribution they can make, the involvement they should have and the centrality they should enjoy.

I would be very interested in arranging a meeting – post election – to discuss these objectives and the current arts and culture issues.

Many thanks for getting in touch and I look forward to hearing from you.

Gemma Weir

Workers Party
North Belfast

SDLP

Hello Rob

Thank you for contacting me. We are launching our updated manifesto for this election next week. I would get into trouble for any early release of previews 🙂 but I am more than happy to share our Culture and Arts policies with you then.

Warmest regards
Nichola

Adam Millar (Independent)

Hi there Rob,

Mate can I first of all thank you for taking the time to email me on the subject of Arts & Culture.

As a writer myself, I am deeply passionate about art and cultural forms of it, to include creative writing, poetry and urban arts.

I don’t believe that cutting funding to this luxury would help advance our communities and I will always be a propenent for ensuring that visual arts are a fully expressive part of our nature as they do more to improve our culture and reach hands across the divides that exist.

I also believe that performing arts are a vital piece of our expression, as someone who has worked in directing local productions centred around sectarianism and how to deal with it, and begin the process of moving away from it, I believe this to be an extraordinary outlet that allows our young people to be more open, more interactive and feel more at ease when in a mixed group of not only Protestants and Catholics but children of minority groups that are first generation Northern Ireland.

I want to see the funding there for everyone to express themselves by use of the arts, it is an important part for our culture in the 21st century, we have some of the most unique exports in the world of culture and arts, from Liam Neeson, Gary Lightbody, to name but a few, so in that regard I feel this will continue to be an important area of endeavour that requires our best effort to keep its spark ignited for all time.

Kind regards

Adam Millar.
Independent.

Arts policies of the main political parties in Northern Ireland

This document was collated from information on party websites as well as information found at https://www.laganpress.co/blog/2016/assembly-2016-a-guide-to-arts-policies-of-political-parties-in-northern-ireland and the 2017 update at https://laganonline.co/assembly-2017-a-guide-to-arts-policies-of-political-parties-in-northern-ireland/

You can find out more about candidates standing in the March 2nd 2017 elections at the following pages:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_Assembly_election,_2017
• https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland-assembly-election-2017-12581753
• https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland-assembly-election/northern-ireland-assembly-election-2017-228-candidates-to-contest-stormont-poll-35436007.html

#ArtsMatterNI

Visual Artists Ireland supports #ArtsMatterNI. Their website contains useful information on questions you could be asking your candidates, please refer to the campaign toolkit at: https://www.artsmatterni.co.uk/download/docs/ArtsMatterNI-Campaign-Toolkit-17.05.15.pdf

Democratic Unionist Party

Policy Enquiries: info@mydup.com

https://www.mydup.com/

The DUP seems to have dropped all mention of the arts in their policies for this election. Under the ‘Taking pride in Northern Ireland’ of their website, there is no mention of the arts industry, or in their Assembly Manifesto 2016. A previous page, www.mydup.com/policies/culture, now appears to be a dead link.

Sinn Fein

Party HQ: admin@sinnfein.ie
Sinn Féin Assembly Business & Political Admin: sfassembly@hotmail.com

https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2009/Policies_ArtsCulture.pdf (This document was last updated in 2001 and is no longer linked to from their main webiste)

The party does not seem to have released a separate Assembly Manifesto; however the following is taken from their General Election Manifesto, 2016, p36. Whether the same policies carry over to Northern Ireland is not stated.

Job creation in the arts and tourism sectors

We will increase funding to the Arts Council by 45% over the lifetime of the next government and ensure all grants and awards are made fairly and transparently. We will ensure through this funding, and through investment in community development programmes, that the arts play a key role in creating employment and recreation in communities, particularly in rural Ireland.

We will support better pay for musicians, writers, visual artists, actors and those involved in set productions through engagement with the Irish Writers’ Union, the Musicians’ Union of Ireland, Equity, the Playwrights’ and Screenwriters’ Guild and all other relevant bodies.

We will support artists, as the essential component of the arts world, in their lobbying for a better return from publishing and distribution companies, to make the arts a viable employment option.

We will maintain film relief as a way of supporting the Irish film industry.

We will maintain the 9% VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sector.

Ulster Unionist Party

Party HQ: uup@uup.org

https://www.uup.org/

Arts Policy Document: https://uup.org/assets/images/arts%20paper.pdf

The UUP have issued a separate paper on the arts, which is too lengthy to list in its entirely here, but can be downloaded from their website on the link above.

Ten-point summary:

• Include the arts in the next Programme for Government, outlining the Executive’s acknowledgement of the importance of the arts and demonstrating a commitment to them.
• Establish a working group between the Departments of Communities, Education, Health and the Economy to develop and agree cross-cutting priorities for the arts for the next 10 years.
• Work with our eleven local government administrations to ensure cohesion in planning targets and outcomes.
• Provide a longer term allocation of funding – with agreed aims and outcomes giving the sector a clearer picture of what they have to work with. This can bring a greater level of stability back to the sector and allow for lasting benefits from projects.
• Empower our teachers to recognise and nurture the creative potential of our children.
• Develop a 10-year strategy for excellence, challenging the arts sector, the creative industries, our universities, FE colleges and business to co-design a strategy to future-proof our place as competitors on the world stage.
• Work with our universities and FE colleges to explore opportunities for partnerships that can both help increase the capacity of our smaller arts organisations, and in turn give practical experience to students.
• Promote apprenticeships using the ‘Unlocking Creativity’ programme as a model to release individual creativity and ensure young people are prepared for careers in creative industries.
• In the arena of competitive funding, favourable support will be presumed for projects which demonstrably enhance the overall cultural health of an area.
• Work with NI Screen to develop a 10-year film strategy to increase production output.

Social Democratic & Labour Party

Party HQ: info@sdlp.ie

https://www.sdlp.ie/

(from ‘Make Change Happen’ Manisesto 2017.)

Culture
The SDLP is committed to supporting community arts and the development of our artistic talents as economic drivers. To ensure that this important aspect of our society is kept on the agenda, the SDLP will form a Cultural Advisory Group to the Minister and introduce the long awaited Culture and Arts Strategy. The SDLP is fully supportive of Derry City and Strabane Council and Belfast City Council’s joint bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023.

(from ‘Build A Better Future’ Manifesto 2016, p44-45. This manifesto is no longer linked on their website)

The SDLP recognises the hugely important role of the Culture, Arts and Leisure sector in Northern Ireland. Year on year, culture and arts are hit with budget cuts and in the last mandate, the Culture Minister failed to pass any legislation to help the sector.

Ireland has a rich creative, linguistic and artistic heritage and many Northern Irish poets, authors, musicians and artists are world renowned. The SDLP is committed to continued support for community arts and for the development of our artistic talents into economic drivers.

The Department of Communities will have responsibility for Culture and Arts in Northern Ireland.

To ensure that this important aspect of our society is kept on the agenda, the SDLP will:

• Form a Cultural Advisory Group to the Minister.
• Create and introduce a new Culture and Arts Strategy.

Creative Industries

As proud supporters of the arts the SDLP wishes to build on the economic success of our creative industries. The talent of our artists has led many large international companies to base projects in Northern Ireland.

We must build on this potential. As every £1 invested by the Arts generates a return of over £3.60 to the local economy we must better nurture business entrepreneurship within our arts community so to develop a sustainable indigenous creative industry in Northern Ireland, which is boosted by and not dependent on, international investment.

Libraries
Northern Ireland’s public libraries play an important role in our local communities by enhancing learning and ensuring access to information to everyone; improving literacy skills; acting as a social space; creating employment and helping to develop partnerships with statutory and community organisations.

The SDLP will continue to work with libraries to ensure that services are not destroyed in local communities, especially in rural areas.

Sports and Health
Tackling social isolation is a key priority for the SDLP and we recognise the potential of the arts to bring people of all ages together.

The SDLP recognises the unique role that sport in general plays within communities in the context of health promotion, tackling social exclusion, crime and under-achievement. The SDLP will continue to work with sports clubs and venues to tackle obesity levels through sport. We will continue to support sustained investment in grassroots sports including football, GAA and rugby.

Museums
The SDLP believes that the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland and the NI Museum Council should work in a much closer capacity. We believe that their co-operation would mean that they have more power to compete on a global scale.

Broadcasting
The SDLP calls for Northern Ireland to have further powers over broadcasting devolved to the Assembly to ensure that our unique cultural, social and creative landscape is given the best possible platform and exposure.

To do this, the SDLP proposes the establishment of an Independent Advisory Panel to explore the potential for devolution as well as addressing and dealing with broadcasting policy issues.

Philanthropy Alliance for the Arts
The SDLP wants to create a collective Alliance in Philanthropy in Northern Ireland. We recognise the generosity of people in Northern Ireland, and we want to create a strategic giving culture through a joined up approach with local donors.

To do this we propose developing a co-ordinated strategy to enhance philanthropy in Northern Ireland including peer and professional support networks for philanthropists and advisory services.

Alliance Party

Party HQ: alliance@allianceparty.org

https://allianceparty.org

(from Alliance Manifesto 2017, p64-65)

The government has a role in promoting culture and the arts. This allows us to develop creativity amongst our society. There is also a wide body of evidence that investment in arts and leisure has significant benefits for individual wellbeing and for our economy.

Alliance supports investment in arts and leisure at all levels. In order to make sure this investment is sustainable under current funding pressures, we will:

• Commit to raising arts spending to at least the average spend on arts in these islands per capita, and review how to ensure that this spending effective.
• Establish an Arts Funding Review to examine if this funding can directed in a more sustainable manner. Specifically, we would ask it to examine the historic underfunding of the arts compared to other nations in these islands. We would also ask the review to examine more sustainable funding arrangements such as; three-year budgeting, endowments and improving business models within arts and cultural organisations in key areas such as financial management, fundraising, marketing and audience development.
• Adopt a specific strategy to improve access to the arts by sections of the community who have lower-than-average uptake rates.
• Develop a formal protocol to ensure that sectarianism, racism or any other form of prejudice does not occur at artistic and cultural events funded by public money.
• Establish an integrated strategy for cultural tourism. This strategy must provide a full appreciation of the unique cultural heritage we have to offer, and how these can be developed, managed and projected to a wider audience.
• Ensure that Northern Ireland’s art and culture is promoted globally. Countries such as the Republic of Ireland and Scotland have successfully used increased global visibility of their arts and cultural output as part of a wider package to raise their international profile.

Culture, Arts & Leisure Policy: https://www.allianceparty.org/page/culture-arts-and-leisure

Culture, Arts and Leisure

The Alliance Party appreciates the importance of culture, arts, sport and leisure to a healthy and vibrant civil society. There are also considerable economic and social benefits to society as a whole.

Alliance is also particularly aware of the ability of culture, the arts and language to make a positive contribution to a shared future. Alliance supports the appreciation and expression of our rich and varied cultural identities. We believe that cultural participation and self-expression should be developed in the context of respect and understanding of our own and each other’s heritage.

Shared space need not be neutral space; it is not about pursuing some sense of sanitised territory that denies the ability of people to celebrate their culture. Alliance will create a vibrant culture in Northern Ireland by:

• Providing adequate and long-term funding for the arts, including better use of lottery funding.
• Promote Northern Ireland’s culture abroad to help develop our tourism industry.
• Introduce a comprehensive language strategy which will support both languages in Northern Ireland, as well as other commonly used languages and sign language too.
• Create a coherent museums policy to support Northern Ireland’s museums.
• Investing in sports and sports infrastructure to promote a more active society and to use sport to build a shared future. This includes supporting a shared stadium for GAA, football and rugby.

PUP

https://pupni.com/#contact

No mention of the arts were found on their listing of policies at https://pupni.com/

The Green Party

Party HQ: info@greenpartyni.org

https://www.greenpartyni.org/

Manifesto PDF: https://www.greenpartyni.org/2016_17-manifestos/

(from The Green Party Manifesto for the Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2017, p14)

Just like in 2016, theatres and other arts organisations are still struggling under the funding cuts, which still undermine jobs and arts programming. There need to be better connections between investment in the arts and the contribution that it makes to the economy through job creation and leisure. Communities thrive on their historic cultural links. These should not be eroded by a focus on profiteering and vanity projects.

The Green Party will:

• Develop ‘art contract clauses’ similar to ‘community benefit clauses’ for multi-million pound film and screen projects in Northern Ireland, to ensure that money finds its way to the grassroots arts scene
• Support core investment in the arts at both local and Executive-level in order to further realise the value and potential of the arts in Northern Ireland
• Bring forward an Irish Language Act

People Before Profit

peoplebeforeprofitnational@gmail.com

https://www.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/

(under ‘Policy on young people’ from PBP Manifesto Assembly Elections 2017, p25)

Why aren’t we nurturing the abundant artistic talents of young people in every estate in every town and city? There should be resident artists in every community centre and youth facility. As in the case of sports, it would cost less in the long term than seeing culture and art as irrelevant to the youth of working class areas. Given the chance, our young people through arts will challenge the consensus of the local establishment and produce beauty to enhance all our futures. Cuts to the arts sector has had a negative effect on vulnerable young people whose access to arts services has been slashed.

Arts Policy: https://www.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/People-Before-Profit-Arts-Policy.pdf

Policy for the Arts Summary

• Increase state funding of the Arts to the European average of 0.6%
• A new deal programme for artists to deliver new jobs in the public sector.
• A new fund to promote access to arts participation for children and adults in disadvantaged areas.

People Before Profit’s Policy for the Arts

People Before Profit believes in absolute artistic freedom and we encourage the critique of art.

Artistic practice benefits the whole of society and should be available to the whole of society regardless of income, location or social background.

There should not be a division between excellence and access in the Arts.

All children should have a greater access to culture\art as a right, both in the education sector and outside of it.

People Before Profit recognises that Art is especially influential for children and can act as a catalyst for critical thinking. Self-expression and exploration can have a very positive effect on children and teenagers and should be encouraged in education and outside of it.

People Before Profit recognises that the arts and creative practices can be beneficial for people with mental health problems, and believes that our proposals would help in the effort to reduce mental health issues in addition to our Health Care policy.

Policy Proposals

• People Before Profit supports, at a minimum, the National Campaign for the Arts demand to Increase state funding of the Arts to the European average of 0.6% of GDP1 .
• People Before Profit supports the demands made by the National Campaign For the Arts in their Budget 2016 Submission such as expanding the role of the arts in schools and on the need for local authorities to provide an Arts plan.
• A ‘New Deal’ jobs programme for artists delivering many jobs in the public sector. Such a programme would provide decent pay and job security for artists, while also providing high quality arts in sectors such as care homes, prisons, schools and hospitals. It would be spread out across the arts, including visual arts, writing, music, dance and theatre. It may include performances and exhibitions in public spaces as well as arts participation programmes in prisons, schools, care homes and hospitals. This ‘New Deal’ programme will encourage artists to contribute their skills and creativity to society whilst earning a living wage. It will be of enormous benefit to patients, the elderly, children, inmates and staff and will contribute to a higher quality of life for everyone in these sectors.
• A new fund especially targeted to promoting access to arts participation in disadvantaged areas for adults and children. Part of this fund should be used to increase access to arts participation for adults and children with disabilities.
• Open up existing facilities such as schools and colleges for after-school artistic activities for children and teenagers. Open up NAMA buildings for use by local arts organisations.
• Remove the requirement of ‘availability for work’ for artists on Jobseeker’s Allowance to allow artists to do unpaid work without pressure from the Department of Social Protection.

NI Conservatives

Party HQ: office@niconservatives.com

https://www.niconservatives.com/

Social development, culture, arts and leisure

The Northern Ireland Conservatives understand that sport and culture play a vital role in a happy society. We want to see a multitude of cultures in this part of the United Kingdom encouraged and enjoyed in an atmosphere of tolerance, generosity and respect.

The Party intends to:

• Increase PE in primary schools.
• Devise a sporting anthem for Northern Ireland, to complement the National Anthem.

Under a period of austerity funds must be prioritised for health and education, but we would not support a strategy which abandons the modern artists in Northern Ireland.

UK Independence Party

Party HQ: mail@ukip.org
NI: SECRETARY@UKIPNI.COM

https://ukipni.com/wp13/
https://www.ukip.org/index

(from UKIP Election Manifesto 2015, p9 and p51)

Cutting the Cost of Westminster

Abolishing government departments when their essential powers and functions can be merged into other departments. Such departments will include the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for International Development, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The Great British Seaside

We will boost the Coastal Communities Fund and expand its remit to encourage regenerative arts projects into our coastal towns.

Traditional Unionist Voice

Party Leader: info@jimallister.org

https://tuv.org.uk/

(from TUV Manifesto 2016, p25)

Libraries

TUV recognises the important contribution which libraries make to communities. We want to see well-resourced library provision. It is important that everyone – particularly children and the elderly – have access to the print and electronic resources which libraries offer. It is important that local libraries are protected from closure.

Cross Community Labour Alternative

Party HQ: info@labouralternative.org

https://labouralternative.org/

There are no mentions of Arts and Culture in their manifesto.

https://labouralternative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/manifesto.pdf

Workers Party Northern Ireland

workerspartyenquiries@gmail.com

https://workerspartyelection.wordpress.com/

Manifesto: https://workerspartyelection.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/workers-party-assembly-manifesto-2016.pdf

The manifesto notes a reduction in funding for the arts and makes the following statement in response:

The Workers Party calls for the urgent creation of an Economic Forum to address these issues and centrally plan a development strategy.

Source

The arts are back in the news. Every change in government and lead up to a new budget brings with it a renewed expression of the sector’s importance and need for support. It would appear that memories are short, as it seems necessary to repeat the same arguments each time and often to find new ways to express them, as the media become more and more hungry for what is new. In reality, our statements are reiterating the same thing.

At present there is an outpouring of support for a raft of new measures concerning meetings, petitions, calls for action and Dáil motions. These latest newsworthy items seek to summarise the big question! Why must the arts constantly battle for existence?

We understand that other sectors of Irish society are under similar attack, but as VAI plays a strong leadership role in the cultural community, we work towards goals which are focused on the many areas that impact individual artists and the arts community as a whole. In my early days as director of VAI, it was a small community of supporters. Over the past few years it has been gratifying to see an increase in activism on behalf of the sector. With a rocky start to our relationship with the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA), we are now delighted to have opened new communications and actively supply our research on behalf of visual artists. The Social, Economic, and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland and the Payment Guidelines have been particularly helpful in this and have contributed much to support the arguments put forward by VAI, NCFA and other campaign initiatives.

The agenda set forward by NCFA presents clear messages about investment in our culture. This direction has been honed over the years, and we can see much more clarity of vision, which I take as evidence that some progress has been made. In our conversations we have agreed that there are primary issues relevant across the art forms. Presenting on the Payment Guidelines at Theatre Forum and Theatre Northern Ireland’s recent ‘All-Ireland Performing Arts Conference’ in Galway it was interesting to get insight into the parallels between these forms and the visual arts, and we hope it is the beginning of further collaboration work in the area of artists’ rights.

So, as we all gather to encourage, cajole and badger the powers that be on our way of thinking about the arts and artists, we also want to reflect on what we are looking to achieve over the next few years.

Fairness

Equitable Payment for Artists

We have written much on the Payment Guidelines for artists in recent years. Equitable payments are a clearly stated objective in the current Arts Council strategy, and one which they require organisations funded by them to comply with. There has been a significant amount of change. There are organisations that are resistant, but there are others who are on a journey to achieve this. As some have suffered draconian cuts in recent years, their journeys may be longer. So, for a period, we will see a mix of shorter programmes, longer runs, etc. but remain focused on ensuring that this policy will be adopted by funders other than the Arts Council and the local authorities who have already an ethos of paying artists.

There is still much to be done, mainly in communicating the practical application of the guidelines, how to work towards their implementation, and indeed their importance. As stated at APAC16, this is not just something for somebody else to do. This is an action for every person to work towards to ensure that it is central to all work within the visual arts.

The Status of the Artist in Ireland

Ireland must put in place primary legislation that recognises that status of the artist in Irish society. The 1980 UNESCO Recommendation on the Rights of Artists has been a constant source of reference for our work. Both the Recommendation and the Final Declaration have been signed by Ireland. We continue to remind the various governments of their obligations. At the moment the only place in which individual artists are officially recognised is tax legislation. By remedying this, we will see a greater respect for artists in all areas of government. This simple and definitive act will be the seedbed for fair treatment.

Resale Right

In Ireland we are still in a precarious position regarding the Resale Right. Auction houses comply, but other institutions involved with secondary sales make life very difficult unless artists are aware that their works have been sold. There is also an ongoing lobby to do away with this fundamental right.

It has never been more important for us to ensure that government puts forward primary legislation that clearly defines the role of a compulsory collecting society such as IVARO and the obligation for proper timely reporting and payments.

Social Welfare & An Independent Cultural Exchequer

We have also looked in detail at raising further money for the support of a specific social welfare system for artists and other cultural workers, as well as generating an independent cultural exchequer for the arts.

Social welfare has long been problematic and prone to the vagaries of individual officers in dole offices around the country. This is exacerbated by the large majority of artists who are registered as self-employed and therefore not eligible for all state benefits. The clear solution for us is based on logical reasoning. If you give money out then you must have money coming in to cover it. We propose that a fund is set up similar to the Artists’ Social Insurance Fund in Germany. In keeping with their self-employed status, some artists already pay a percentage towards their social protection cover.

1. It is our suggestion that the balance of this payment, i.e. the “employers’ share” is made up of all who ‘exploit’ the arts. This can be in the form of a cultural levy, or perhaps an easier win… in the form or a Tourism Bed Night tax similar to that in existence in many countries around the world. In 2015 Hotels accounted for 17,375,000 bed nights. Guest Houses and B&Bs came to 6,729,000 bed nights (Central Statistics Office). Taking these two figures and proposing a standard 2 Euro per night charge would provide €48,208,000. In France the bed tax is set at €2 per bed night; Italy €1 to €5 depending on the region; Germany either 5% or €1 to €3 per bed night depending on the region. [1]
2. Cultural donation from companies setting up in Ireland.
   As we are often told that the culture of a country is one of the key indicators used when seeking to place work or business geographically, we feel that it is a simple thing to take a tiny percentage (00.15% – 00.25%) as a cultural levy that supports this culture.

Both of these forms of ‘tithe’ are sustainable over the long term and have the potential, in combination with the exploitation tax, to significantly change the cultural sector and society’s perception of their role in supporting the arts.

In terms of the individual artist, this income allows for the creation of an equitable system for statutory health, long term or old age care and pensions, which are currently not automatically a right for artists who may not have sufficient payments in place due to the precarious nature of their work, as well as providing extra money to the state support of the arts.

Access

Artists’ Workspaces

It is not new information that there is a deficit of suitable spaces across Ireland. This has been felt particularly after several spaces closed due to a wide variety of issues such as lease/licence agreements, governance, legacy planning and financial problems. It is an area that we have been concerned about for quite some time and we have been looking at the circumstances required to provide suitable buildings as well as different business and governance models to sustain them.

We are advocating on behalf of workspaces, both old and new, for an increase in the funding allocated to them. We are looking at a variety of models which will all lead to a long term solution rather than knee jerk reactions. Our research has shown that artists believe there is a need for both fully- autonomous, self owned spaces as well as those that are subsidised by public bodies. To test some ideas we have been working closely with members of the Dublin City Arts Office to look at potential and scalable solutions. This includes a project which looks to deliver medium sized, self sustaining and fully autonomous spaces that can be spread across the country and which will not rely on annual funding applications. It has also allowed us to provide support to Dominic Stevens who is developing a live/work model based on the co-operative housing projects that he has previously worked on.

Our most recent research is of particular use, as over 400 visual artists and 42 studio programmes contributed to the survey. Through our international representative body partners we have had discussions on the situation in a wide range of countries and the various support structures required. However, they have all confirmed the lack of recent research, with two exceptions in the United Kingdom. This means that we have been delayed in publishing this research, but hope to remedy this prior to Get Together 2016, which takes place on Friday 26 August in IMMA.

Funding & Resources

In the area of funding and resources, we have clearly stated that government and local government funds for the arts have not been fully exploited. There is evidence that shows monies earmarked for the arts are not being spent. This indicates that there is a clear need for a broad ranging survey across government and local authorities to look at what allocations they have made for programmes such as Per Cent for Art and project funding, and for a central agency to take control of ensuring that these monies are made available to culture.

As arts organisations form a symbiotic relationship with artists, we feel the need to raise a key issue relating to meaningful supports. Synergies have been a key recommendation made by us since the forum in IMMA concerning the amalgamation of the three primary visual arts national institutions. This needs to be introduced across the sector, with the set-up of micro funding that will allow organisations to come together to identify key areas where core funding can be shared. An example of this is in the provision of: financial services and auditing, marketing, building and property maintenance, and legal services. The micro loans would be provided on the basis that the systems set up become self-sustaining through the various organisations providing a percentage towards their upkeep. The benefit is simple: a reduction in the overall costs of organisations, security in knowing that organisations are operating within good governance practices and increasing the promotion of culture in Ireland.

Artists’ Mobility & Promoting Ireland Abroad

When speaking about current structures and funding models, we have suggested a restructuring of the responsibilities of Culture Ireland. We have suggested that it is more effective to return the responsibility for the support of the not-for-profit sector being promoted or applying for funding for going abroad to the Arts Council. Culture Ireland has clearly stated in the past that it gives preference to countries that are of current interest under government policy. The current system makes it difficult for artists to engage with countries that are not of specific interest.

We have suggested that, as Culture Ireland also supports the commercial sector, there may be a different role that they can play by working with state organisations who support businesses promoting themselves outside of Ireland.

1. Supporting all trade missions or initiatives to include a cultural aspect in their delivery. This has proven successful when reading about the benefits that were reaped by the awareness of Riverdance when opening the Chinese market.
2. Allowing the commercial gallery sector access to the standard system of support for Ireland’s trade abroad. This allows them to operate on a commercial bases with the investment placed in them honed to ensure that they have the key skills and supports to exploit opportunities abroad.

Culture, Citizenship & Education

When we open our minds to a full understanding of what it means to support access to culture and all its component areas, we may reel and balk at the overwhelming nature of the project: the full integration of cultural awareness into the lives of the inhabitants of Ireland from cradle to grave. Like all good building projects there are the foundations: the teaching of cultural studies and their placement at all levels of education. We can see how in formal education cultural studies fall off as the points based system already lowers them to an optional, nice to have, extra. We encourage educators to use culture as the glue that brings together creative thought, innovation and practical application. In doing so, we plant the seed for a better citizen who has awareness of the role of culture in society and the need for the development of the creative mind.

Innovation is not just a requirement for industry. Innovation is the key attribute required when looking at how to provide Ireland’s citizens with hope for their future. In the long term, this form of awareness broadens understanding which in turn increases support for the arts through developed knowledge and empathy.

Policy

Culture 2025

The All Party Committee consideration of the Culture 2025 submissions is particularly welcome. As part of an open call for submissions we were among a wide range of cultural organisations who responded. In our very detailed submission we asked for a number of key items that we believe look strategically to the future through a number of initiatives that are both achievable and will be of benefit to the wider sector.

Revenue

We have also looked at the area of income averaging. The precarious nature of artists’ income remains a difficult issue. In terms of Revenue payments, and in keeping with systems already in place for farming and fishing industries, we ask that income averaging is introduced. This will allow artists to take into consideration the lean years as well as the years where they may have a higher income.

Ongoing Government Consultation

We believe dialogue and engagement needs to be ongoing and should use the unique resources of all mandated arts representative bodies. At present, consultations take place on a restricted basis. Combining this with state appointments, we feel that government can learn from local authorities’ use of the Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) model. These SPCs identify the key representative organisations and ask for their input into the appointment of representatives to the committees. This form of inclusion allows for an active, ongoing engagement with the sector and ensures that policies are focused at the core.

Career, Gender & Longevity

The last edition of the VAN covered our most recent report. It is worth mentioning that this informs our annual programme, and along with the many topics covered in this article will inform the events that we have planned for Get Together 2016. We are in full planning mode and details will be announced very soon. Panellists from home and abroad will be asked what specific actions need to take place now for us to make things actively better.

So, to end, advocacy plays a key role in our work. We have seen change and have celebrated many wins along the way. But, the cultural sector and government tend to suffer from short term memory loss. There are times when it appears that the sector is yet again reinventing the wheel. New initiatives bring new blood and new thinking, but we feel that there must be a way for those invested in change to find out what decisions have been made in the past and what existing experience is available. Longevity is not always important, but failing to get a full picture can cause both misunderstanding and significant waste of energy. As always, VAI’s doors are fully open and we hope with this new energy and support that we will see even more responses to our regular calls for action.

[1] To compare, as stated by a recent Irish Times article, “The Arts Council’s recent report on this area has detailed figures for 2012. It shows that private funding amounted to €6.6 million in all, with less than half of this coming from sponsorship. Even for large cultural organisations, which are best placed to draw in funders, sponsorship made up 2.9 per cent of their annual income.”

Source