Stars alarmed by impact of arts cuts in the region
Jul 29 2010 by David Whetstone, The Journal
THE North East’s growing reputation as a cultural powerhouse could be harmed by deep or hasty funding cuts, argue leading figures in the arts.
Sculptor Antony Gormley and writers Lee Hall, Peter Flannery and David Almond have joined the bosses of major cultural venues in voicing their concern.
They say initiatives like The Angel of the North, and the many new and refurbished arts facilities, have demonstrated how culture can create pride and confidence and spur regeneration.
They state that for every £1 the region’s principal cultural venues receive in subsidy, they generate at least £4, supporting 2,000 jobs.
In June, the Government ordered an immediate cut of £19m in this year’s Arts Council grant. In turn, the Arts Council passed on a relatively small 0.5% cut to all its art-producing clients.
But with the comprehensive spending review due in the autumn, when all Government spending plans will come under close scrutiny, there is a fear of much greater pain to come.
As a statement of intent, the coalition this week ordered the abolition of the UK Film Council (as reported in The Journal yesterday) and the Museums, Libraries & Archives quango, while proposing the merger of other cultural bodies.
Newcastle-born Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, said: “Nearly every commercial cultural project providing jobs for thousands of people was in some way initially funded by government subsidy.” The Pitmen Painters is about to open on Broadway while Billy Elliot has become a worldwide phenomenon. “Theatre in Britain is an economic powerhouse,” said Lee, adding that VAT earned in the West End far exceeded the subsidy.
Both his hit shows were nursed into being at Live Theatre, whose chief executive, Jim Beirne, said: “Significant cuts to the modest budgets of Arts Council England will have an exponential effect on the capacity of cultural institutions to deliver the international success that the arts in the UK represent.”
