The national campaign for the arts (1 Viewer)

[Carlow Punks!]

so the message i'm getting here is that if funding is cut in the next budget (and of course it will be, sadly), never minding the effect it would have on the 'floor staff' around the country, its going to have a negative effect on what people can produce???

in the balance..yes, of course it is. there may just be knock-on effect positives also of course

art, like the rest of life, needs input in order to provide output, the effects of input determining the nature of output. these can be negative or positive effects, or a mix of both.

i am of the opinion that anyone who thinks that money and access to resources has no real effect on art output (not talking about core creativity here, but the ablilty to output this into something and have it seen, and dispersed, andd perhaps for it to bring a level of 'return' money or otherwise, that encourages you to continue), has a very outmoded Romanticist view of the lone artist, that was totally invented in the early 19th Century and lasted only into the 50's. most artists will continue to create out of personla drive, but no one wants to 'starve in a garret' to be discovered after they die, when the money, power, and communication networks have caught up with their work . its nice to tap into those networks while your practicing and still living.
in ireland there is NO art market in the british/continental/US sense (i am only talking of gallery art here, not music/poetry/film.. whatever... this is what i know personally), the government via Arts Council and more commonly public art projects is THE major funder of arts here. Fact.

so the message i'm getting here is that if funding is cut in the next budget (and of course it will be, sadly), never minding the effect it would have on the 'floor staff' around the country, its going to have a negative effect on what people can produce??? has anyone been making ends to see how they can work on a lesser budget in the next few years?? i'd say its time to get on that case.

sorry, very patronising statement.

most people involved in the arts are fairly intelligent people, believe it or not. and after you consider all the some times flighty and conceptual ideas, are actually quiet practical people. you have to be to be a self-employed artist, or manage an art-space.
I said most, not all.
i would guess most people are strategising how to adapt to the current situation, if they have not adapted already. to presume otherwise is insulting. just because peo0ple are campaigning to keep the current plan A, does not mean they are already resigned to plan B.

Real World Example:
I've just this week given the curator, for an exhibtion i will be in a major dublin artspace in 2010, the go ahead to reduce my (and the other artists I presume!) fees and expenses covered, as the exhibtion has had its budget limited due to the institution expected massive reductions next year. For me 1. I expect all artists are feeling the pinch, not just the ones of this exihbtion but perhaps all in the 2010 programme. 2. it is most important to get my art out there, yes, its also nice if i can get a paid too...it is a minimum that at least expenses can get covered, so I am not always out of pocket. I have been funding myself for many a year, and also currently self organise projects and events for other artists that I curate and pay for.

now if i could get the arts council to pay for a cottage or an extension to a cottage, THAT would be a work or conceptual art! what a chancer!