Once more around the fishbowl … or maybe not

SOAPBOX – Ali FitzGibbon responds to yesterday’s post agreeing that the price of administering public resources can be disproportionate to the budget but arguing that participative budgeting would prone to localism, dominant interests and fails to capture the boundary-smashing, crazy adventure, the surprise and imaginative leaps that are the essence of the arts.

Full breakdown of Arts Council funding cuts announced today (tables galore)

This morning Arts Council NI released the details of their 2015/6 grants to organisations along with the 2014/5 grants for comparison. Overall there is a year on year drop of 6.2% in funding from ACNI. (For reference, the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure – which funds ACNI as an arm’s length body – lost 10% of its budget for the next financial year.) This post summaries the funding changes. I’ve added columns to the original ACNI information to show …

Read more…

£421.82 For The Arts or is it 13p?

13p per person per week for the arts. £6.76 per person per year for the arts. £421.82 per person per lifetime (18-80.4) for the arts On the face of it, 13p For The Arts is a worthy and well run campaign, and of course those within the industry should campaign against cuts being imposed, I do however feel that the figures presented are far too simplistic. Naturally, the arts industry is one of creative thinkers, so when presented with £1.38m …

Read more…

Roisin McDonough: The Arts: Small size, big value

The debate over cuts to arts funding have been in the headlines in recent days, writing for Slugger, the Arts Council’s Chief Executive, Roisin McDonough argues against cutting arts funding Supporting the campaign for ‘No more cuts to the arts’, actor James Nesbitt observed wryly that “without the arts we’re just left with politics, and we don’t want that”. His tongue may have been planted firmly in his cheek, but that may be the path we’re heading down if the …

Read more…

London Letter: Arts face tough year in 2011

It’s hard to make an economic case for the arts at a time when all departments face cuts and shortages. However, many believe that the survival and continued nurturing of the arts needs to be fought for, as thousands of people are employed in the sector in Northern Ireland and it is such a huge part of the social structure. In recent years, it has become more popular for people to attend the theatre (particularly affordable community theatre) and it …

Read more…

DCAL cuts “widespread and unpalatable”?

The BBC reports on the evidence provided to a Northern Ireland Assembly Committee today by two Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure senior civil servants.  From the BBC report Overall, the department’s current budget of £109m is projected to fall to less than £92m by 2014/15. Speaking at a Stormont committee meeting on Thursday, [DCAL director of finance Deborah Brown] said the figures represented a cumulative cut of £46m over the budget period. She said the department would [cut] its operating budget by 14% …

Read more…