Rising above it

Almost every article we publish seems to refer to what used to be known as ‘the credit crunch’ but is now taking on more sinister names such as ‘the world financial crisis’. It’s not unusual in the arts to find one or two enemies at the gate – unsympathetic government policy resulting in funding cuts, for example. Now we have a battalion laying siege: reduced funding from endowments, less money available from trusts and foundations, exchange rates laying waste to international plans, sponsors reducing their support even if they have the money available, because ‘it doesn’t look good’ in times of recession. The survey (p3) by Arts Quarter (AQ), showing that arts organisations are prepared to innovate and diversify to ensure their own survival, creates a rather more heartening impression. Certainly, we go into this recession far better informed about the impact of the arts and better able to argue for continuing support than at any other time. It is still almost shocking to see the Royal Opera House (ROH) putting forward a major, far-reaching and expensive scheme for a new opera base in Manchester (p1), when some of us are wondering where the cash for the next wage bill will be coming from. However, AQ shows that income from education and training activities is holding up, and it is clear that Tony Hall, the ROH’s energetic Chief Executive, intends to make this a major plank of his new structure. He’s already ahead of most of us on that, with the ROH’s link to the National Skills Academy. It may infuriate purists, but the instrumental use of the arts, developed so assiduously in the past 20 years, could be what carries us through to an eventual upturn. When will that come? Current predictions point to 2011, though since the arts sector found itself slightly cushioned at the start of the recession by existing sponsorship and funding deals, it might be correspondingly slower to emerge on the other side. Hall’s Manchester plans will take five or six years to come to fruition, and may be able to ride a future wave of prosperity. The ability to take that long view is not necessarily the prerogative of the larger, longer-established organisations. Maybe we should all take a leaf from that book, and raise our eyes to a further horizon from time to time.