A FIGHT to retain funding for one of the region’s leading culture spots has been launched by MPs.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) has been laid down by politicians determined to secure funding for The Amber Collective’s Side Gallery, in Newcastle.
The photo gallery has been left struggling for survival after the Arts Council cut its funding to just £58,000 for the year.
The gallery holds a special place in the hearts of many North East mining communities it forged links with during the 1960s and 1970s, as it skillfully documenting the industry’s decline.
Now Easington MP Grahame Morris, has urged the Arts Council “to review its decision to cut funding for the Side Gallery in Newcastle”.
It states: “We call on Arts Council England to recognise the unique work of the Side Gallery as the only gallery in the country dedicated to humanist documentary photography.
“To congratulate the strong egalitarian governance of the gallery as part of the Amber collective that has built one of the North East’s most significant cultural legacies in the last 50 years.
“We express concern that the decision to cut funding may be based on the Arts Council’s prejudice against the Side Gallery’s egalitarian collective governance.
“And we believe the decision to cut funding for the truly unique Side gallery will do great damage to art and culture in the North East.”
Since the cuts were imposed in March, the Side Gallery has formed a petition which has now attracted more than 2,000 signatures.
Graeme Rigby, one of the Side Gallery’s collective members, said: “One of the decisions for stopping our funding was that there was a strong governance in the gallery. We don’t have board members here, we are collective members so we have an egalitarian approach to looking after the gallery.
“I don’t think the Arts Council understand that – you can’t produce the work that we have done without having a strong governance.”
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell said: “This Government need to remember that protecting our cultural heritage is vital, once it is gone it is gone forever and will be lost to the next generation.”
An Arts Council spokeswoman said: “We understand an EDM has been tabled on the subject of our decision on funding for the Side Gallery. Unfortunately we were not able to fund all the organisations that applied to the National Portfolio programme.
“We are in discussions with the Side Gallery on opportunities to support their work in the future. National Portfolio funding is only one of the ways we fund the arts. Others include our National Lottery-funded grants.”
