PlatForm - Sink or swim - by Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead, Co-editors

The vulnerability of people who work in the arts to pressures from the external environment is drawn into sharp focus in this week 's ArtsProfessional, which carries news of the demise of Arc (p1)and TS2K (p3), more about the enquiry into the failure of CVA (p3), the cancellation of this year 's x.trax festival (p4), the early departure of Tessa Jackson (p3)and Karsten Witt (p2) and the abolition of Metier (p3).
Private sector enterprises certainly share some of the problems which beset the funded arts sector -the vagaries of fickle markets, and board room quarrels, for example -but for anyone funded by the public purse, the list goes on. Take Metier for example, consigned to oblivion with all the other National Training Organisations at Government 's behest unless it can convince enough arts organisations to write in saying that it should be allowed to continue its work under another guise. No doubt it will soon find out how many friends it has. Then there 's x.trax, a major annual festival providing a valuable international showcase for UK productions, which believes it has been sidelined to make room for the Commonwealth Games. Just as there is no guarantee that failure in the arts will ring an organisation 's death knell (Arts Council of Wales, perhaps?), neither is there any guarantee that success is a recipe for survival. As for Arc, it clearly wasn 't built to withstand such troubled waters. This was no surprise to many local commentators, who always thought its existence owed more to political ambition than the need for a major arts facility. To blame a venue for failing to achieve sales targets, when its targets have been bathed in the light of glowing civic pride, is hardly fair play. Yet this makes it no easier for the staff, who are now in the queue with Arc 's other creditors, and no doubt scouring our jobs pages for opportunities elsewhere. Given the uncertainties that are totally beyond the control of those who choose to spend their careers as arts professionals, is it really surprising that there is a recruitment crisis in the sector?