Risky business

We live in a world full of risks. Some welcome, some not so. Creativity has risk at its heart. Trying to do something new and innovative, that may work and be well received, or may not, is a risky business. I’m as sceptical as the next person when it comes to what is classed as art but I do at least admire artists for having the balls to create something different and put it out there for all to see.

That is why it is saddening to see the arts, particularly community arts, being run into the ground in the current economic climate. The cuts are understandable from a risk perspective. Never mind which funded service is the most important – most of us have been through the home carer vs arts officers debate – from a risk point of view, the arts are a sensible cut. Going into someone’s home and making sure they are fed and bathed has a certainty of outcome. Sending an arts intervention for a group of older people at risk of dementia has a far less certain outcome. Innovative but risky.

But this begs the question, why cut risky services when risk has been, and continues to be encouraged throughout the financial sector? It was the risk-taking and speculation of big business, banks and the City of London that caused the current situation. The murmurings of a tightening up of restrictions and monitoring are pitiful by any standards. And Cameron’s recent advocacy for the City’s freedom to do what the hell it wants, during the EU veto debacle, only serves to reveal the coalition’s priorities.

When a community artist continually takes risks and fails to the detriment of others they will struggle to find more work. A community artist who fails to engage their participants, or has scant regard for health and safety or protection of children and vulnerable adults, will be dismissed from the project. You may say this is not the case for high profile exhibiting artists, but those who we love to hate at least stir up strong feelings and debate. That is the key to their success and it affects no-one’s pockets, standard of living or well being. You either engage or you don’t.

Art will thrive during the recession. Many artists may not, but at least they have creativity on their side when it comes to maintaining an income. Surviving local services, such as the one I work for, will continue to do their best to provide support to artists and communities. But art will prevail. It always rears up against worthy opponents – it is a tool of rebellion, happy to take the risk and back the underdog, or for the moment the powerless majority. The arts can stimulate collective protest and has a more than fitting role in fighting ongoing economic injustice.

It is just a shame that those communities who are left feeling the worst of it are now less likely to benefit from finding their voice and widening their prospects through the arts. No longer worthy of engagement or preventative work, it looks like the Big Society will leave them to fall and then pick the pieces up afterwards.