Alive and kicking

It’s tempting to assume that, because so many arts organisations are cash-strapped, dependent on shrinking public funding and reeling under the Government’s austerity measures, the whole sector is going to hell in a handcart. But whilst the demise of former Arts Council-funded organisations has been deemed worthy of widespread press comment this week, this is only part of a much bigger story – a story that should, perhaps, revolve instead around the amazing resilience of so many arts organisations that are surviving and even thriving in the face of a crushingly hostile economic environment. Like the majority of small businesses and micro enterprises across the UK, many arts organisations are struggling to keep their heads above water, but nonetheless, like Cath Wilkins (p11), are finding reasons to be cheerful. The ‘cuts’ have not dampened their enthusiasm for nurturing artistic talent (pp7-9 and online), brokering international partnerships (p12), or making the most of Olympic opportunities (p10). Neither have they damaged the sector’s influence over wider political agendas. Indeed, if anything the opposite appears to be the case. This week we hear that robust lobbying by the sector has won hearts and minds in the battle to embed culture into the planning agenda (p3); and last month it was the Office for National Statistics that bowed to pressure to recognise arts participation as a contributor to wellbeing (AP250). Buoyed up by such successes, there’s no time like the present to put our weight behind the charity sector’s ‘Give it back George’ campaign to overturn proposed budget measures to cap tax relief on donations (p2), and to join Adam Kenwright (p4) in calling for tax breaks for commercial investment in theatre. The arts sector is still a force to be reckoned with – it’s important that the doom-mongers don’t persuade policy-makers otherwise.