Viewers of the BBC’s adaptation of Dickens’s ‘Little Dorrit’ will have heard the elder Mrs Gowan’s hasty assertion that her artist son does not paint for money – oh no – he’s an amateur. The days when professionalism was shunned by Society have long gone, but perhaps the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Amateurs abound, doing it for love and for nothing – hoofer on Saturdays, roofer on Mondays; Hamlet by night and omelettes by day. It is almost a cliché to reassert that many amateurs perform at very high levels, forming a large proportion of the arts programme of any given community, and certainly providing the majority of adult participation opportunities. Many people who might quite easily have made their living in the arts have deliberately chosen to practise their skills for their own pleasure. The number of professional artists and arts managers who owe their professional induction to amateur experiences must be enormous, while arts venues often depend on amateur groups for a big slice of their income. NODA (the National Operatic and Dramatic Association) does not even use the word ‘amateur’ in its name – and indeed, the term ‘voluntary’ is often preferred. It is interesting that NODA’s most recent initiative to support voluntary groups (p3) is funded by the organisation itself – no other funding was available for improving marketing and administration for amateurs. ‘Amateur’ might mean ‘unpaid’, but that doesn’t mean there’s no need for cash. The amateur economy has to find equipment, space, publicity, soloists’ fees, insurance... the list goes on. Amateurs now get more of a mention in policy, and the DCMS/Arts Council England report ‘Our Creative Talent’ makes a positive statement. But there is a deeper question here: whether the state is willing to provide arts facilities and opportunities in the same way that it feels obliged to supply sports and other recreational resources. The National Campaign for the Arts has uncovered a disturbingly high number of local authorities who don’t seem to feel that culture is a priority (p10), while Boris’s new proposal for London will reduce funding for community events (p1). The notion of the amateur as a gentleman who doesn’t have to earn his living, and who can afford to indulge his artistic tastes, is very wide of the mark.
Catherine Rose, Editor