A rallying call

 Since the election was called back in April, our sector has been in limbo; not knowing if there will be any money, or if there is, who will have it, how we can get at it, how much we can have and for what. The pace of change since May has been staggering. Announcements have been made on an daily basis that have an explicit or tangential impact on the arts sector, from cuts to our direct funding sources to those hitting the sectors we work with. Arts leaders and decision-makers have had to work at an equal pace, yet always one step behind: such is the nature of this administration’s definition of ‘consultation’.

 Forced into a defensive, reactive position, the arts sector has had to think on its feet, mobilise its resources and is now truly realising the value of good evaluation – we are having to justify our very existence with monetary statistics, the language our current policy-makers understand (although that’s no failsafe). We no longer have the ear of the government and they don’t return our calls.
But with the CSR now published, we are at least beginning to comprehend what we are dealing with and we can take stock. There is reduced funding all round and this trajectory is set to continue. More than ever before, the arts are to make their budgets work hard to produce more. We are being pressed to consider a philanthropic revenue model, even though the private sector is suffering its own financial downturn. We are being asked to work collaboratively and think laterally.
If there is ever a sector that can do the latter, it is the arts. This is fertile ground for creative thinking and collaboration and our ‘needs must’ circumstances will undoubtedly pave the way for partnerships that have been waiting to happen and alliances we would never have thought possible.
That may be our raison d’être but that is not enough. There is a real concern that we won’t just be running on reduced means but on thin air. Tough decisions are being made as to the future of arts organisations and the jobs of the people that staff our sector, and our infrastructure is being decimated. All the good will in the world will not sustain a vibrant arts sector with geographic and demographic parity. At some point, things have to be paid for, people need to be remunerated. It is untenable of the coalition to think that the arts can be run impoverished and on a business model that is not based on the economic reality of the private sector.
But is it only as a sector that we can answer the many questions being posed to us and by us. And the more of us that come together in this, the louder our voice will be and the greater our chances of being heard. There is opportunity to be had but only one moment to grasp it, and this is now.