Diluting access to art will ultimately affect the quality of the art we see in the future, writes Poppy Burton, as she analyses the current level of government funding.
Arts funding is a contentious issue and has been for decades, as the rise of the phrase “Mickey Mouse degrees” entirely proves. The advent of modern art did little to help the perception that it was a vacuous hobby for self-indulgent rich kids, and its social benefits are often outweighed by the objective weirdness of the artworks cynics will use as an example of its worthlessness. But the creative industries have always been more than a middle-class venture, although the stronghold of generational wealth dominates regardless. If anything, that in itself is an argument in favour of arts funding because cuts to it will only entrench the cultural class divide further.
The blow of the Covid crisis, swiftly followed by the cost of living crisis, has effectively doubled the financial blows being weathered by UK arts venues across the country, which has given rise to all manner of debates about funding allocations...Keep reading on Far Out magazine.
Arts funding is a contentious issue and has been for decades, as the rise of the phrase “Mickey Mouse degrees” entirely proves. The advent of modern art did little to help the perception that it was a vacuous hobby for self-indulgent rich kids, and its social benefits are often outweighed by the objective weirdness of the artworks cynics will use as an example of its worthlessness. But the creative industries have always been more than a middle-class venture, although the stronghold of generational wealth dominates regardless. If anything, that in itself is an argument in favour of arts funding because cuts to it will only entrench the cultural class divide further.
The blow of the Covid crisis, swiftly followed by the cost of living crisis, has effectively doubled the financial blows being weathered by UK arts venues across the country, which has given rise to all manner of debates about funding allocations...Keep reading on Far Out magazine.