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THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE

A Report on Support for the Individual Artist

in Ireland

by Anthony Everitt

February 2000

For the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

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Executive Summary and Recommendations

Executive Summary

The report was commissioned by the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to help them ascertain the most appropriate model and mechanisms for supporting the individual artist.

The context in which arts policy is made is changing. The emphasis on the arts as a discrete field of activity is giving way to a broader conception of culture, that places them in a social and economic setting. Governments are insisting on transparency and accountability and expect policy to be expressed through dynamic planning with quantifiable targets. Arts funding agencies are entering into partnerships with other institutions both in the public and private sectors. The concept of subsidy is giving way to one of investment and the purchase of services.

Unless such partnerships and accompanying systems of evaluation are carefully handled, this new approach could threaten the autonomy of art and place it at the service of extraneous and utilitarian purposes. There are no simple answers to this growing challenge, but this report seeks to find ways of ensuring that support for the individual artist retains its relevance in the new funding environment.

Following a historical review, an account is given of current mechanisms of support in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and in Northern Ireland. An important distinction between them is that tax exemption is available for original and creative works of art in the Republic. Arrangements for the support of Irish performing arts students are highly unsatisfactory. Arts funding by local government in the Republic is low and it appears that, with the exception perhaps of the visual arts, it brings relatively few direct benefits to artists.

The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon sees support for the individual artist as crucial to its mission. In dance, drama and music it places a primary emphasis on artistic development and devotes substantial resources to filling the gap in career training in the performing arts. In literature and the visual arts the leading priority is the making of art. Aosdána provides annuities for established creative artists in literature, music and the visual arts but does not support interpretative artists.

The Council mainly supports the arts as traditionally defined and few awards are made to traditional or folk artists, community artists and those working in popular culture. It has a particular concern for the international promotion of Irish artists and travel grants are widely available (including the admirable ARTFLIGHT scheme).

In Northern Ireland there is less support proportionally for the individual artist; most of the available funding is devoted to visual artists. Awards programmes are less client-led than in the Republic of Ireland and the criteria for subsidy stress community benefit. Although there is an emphasis on the "high" arts, eligibility for support is somewhat more widely drawn.

The Research into Support for the Individual Artist survey demonstrates that awards and bursaries are successful (more so in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland) in achieving two key objectives – the making of art and professional development. They are highly valued by recipients, not only for financial reasons but because of the endorsement they confer.

Support for the individual artist is consistent with the Councils’ new or developing cultural objectives and should be maintained. Awards should not be directly linked to outreach, educational or community-based activity. However, criteria should be developed to ensure equality of access (for example, for artists with disabilities and women). Also, in the Republic awards should be opened to community artists, traditional/folk artists and those working with popular cultural forms. More attention should be paid to the encouragement of innovation.

Although artistic and career development is an appropriate objective the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon should not find itself obliged to contribute to third-level education costs. The Irish government should establish a means of supporting performing arts students in non-designated institutions, so relieving the Council of the burden.

Unfortunately, according to the survey, subsidy has made little impact on the economic status of artists. This is a fundamental issue, because many artists live on the edge of poverty. Average annual earnings in the Republic of Ireland are IR£12,000.

Awards to individual artists cannot, by themselves, rectify this situation. In the long run, the institutional infrastructure needs strengthening; more immediately, arts organisations should be given additional incentives to commission and present artists’ work. Increased effort should be invested in international promotion. The arts sector should take advantage of the new climate of public agency partnerships to encourage economic regeneration and, in this way, create an environment more favourable to artists’ employment.

Artists criticise the funding system for lack of transparency. There is some truth in this, especially at the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, whose Arts Plan recognises the problem. The Council becomes subject to the terms of the Freedom of Information Act in October 2000. Reform is necessary.

Evaluation processes and mechanisms need to be developed. Objectives need to be more explicit and measurable, but care must be taken to complement quantitative indicators with a methodology that allows for qualitative judgement and self-assessment. There should be periodic overall reviews of awards and bursaries.

Some of the recommendations that follow entail increased expenditure. If the fundamental challenge to improve the economic situation of artists in Ireland is to be met, substantial investment will be required, not in direct subvention to artists so much as in the institutional infrastructure of the arts, international promotion and economic development partnerships. Increased resources by themselves will not be enough unless guided by a clear and comprehensive policy. When reviewing their support for the individual artist, the Arts Councils should recognise that their primary purpose is the establishment of a thriving and, in large part, self-sufficient artistic community, within which other priorities such as formation and the making of art are essential but subsidiary components.

Recommendations

Recommendations are tagged as referring to the Republic of Ireland (RoI), Northern Ireland (NI) or both (BOTH).

It is recommended that:

Economic Status of the Artist (see 5.2)

  1. when pursuing their mission to support individual artists to achieve their full artistic potential, the Arts Councils should identify as a core objective a measurable improvement in their economic status (BOTH)
  1. the Arts Councils should agree long-term strategies which include specific costed targets for the improvement and enlargement of the performing arts infrastructure (BOTH)
  1. in order to foster the creation of a thriving artistic economy, arts organisations should be encouraged to increase their commitment to new work; during the terms of the Councils’ current or forthcoming arts plans, consideration should be given to accompanying some awards with additional grants available to arts organisations willing to commission/present award-holders’ work (BOTH)
  1. research should be conducted with a view to the enhancement of the international promotion of Irish arts (RoI)
  1. the Arts Councils should co-operate with other relevant agencies to improve employment opportunities for artists (BOTH)
  1. consideration should be given to the introduction of multi-annual grants and bursaries (BOTH)
  1. the Arts Councils and other providers should help artists to acquire business, financial and marketing skills as well as offering them an induction into the expectations of possible partners/employers in non-arts sectors; this would entail both the provision of appropriate financial support, the identification of relevant training opportunities and, if they do not exist, the encouragement of appropriate agencies to provide them (BOTH)
  1. the Arts Councils should consider seeking to persuade their governments to adopt the following reforms:
  1. there should be greater financial and management support for artists’ associations so that they can develop a role as advocates of their art form (RoI)
  1. a case should be put to government to extend tax exemption to choreographers (RoI)
  1. assistance should be provided for post-graduate students of the performing arts; and training grants in stage technicianship, stage management and lighting design (RoI)
  1. the achievements of Aosdána should be more effectively promoted and publicised. In addition, consideration should be given to the extension of eligibility for membership to choreographers and the full range of creative artists. Aosdána should also consider giving recognition to interpretative artists (RoI)
  1. the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon should help to ensure the continuing development of the government’s Per Cent for Art Scheme by establishing a public art training and awareness-raising scheme for visual artists and those managing government-funded construction schemes. It is also essential that, alongside the other recommendations of the Public Art Research Project, the Arts Council appoint a public art officer (RoI).

Access to Awards (see 5.3)

  1. awards and bursaries for individual artists should be maintained as a discrete area of subsidy, aimed at the making of art, the formation of artists and the improvement of their economic and social status (BOTH); the Arts Council of Northern Ireland should consider adopting these aims and setting aside the criterion of direct community benefit (NI)
  1. the objectives of awards and bursaries should be more clearly spelled out than at present so that their success or failure can be explicitly ascertained (BOTH)
  1. in the light of the fact that women receive a smaller number of awards and disabled people face specific additional obstacles, great care should be taken to ensure that the principle of equality of opportunity is applied to all aspects of the administration of applications (BOTH)
  1. consideration should be given to offering more awards for community artists and those who work in the field of the traditional arts and popular culture, in addition to existing support schemes (RoI)
  1. Awards to community arts and artists working in the community should be dealt with inside art form departments (RoI)

Innovation (see 5.4)

  1. in the light of developing cross-art form work and the opportunities provided by the new information technologies, awards should be made available which target the encouragement of innovation and, more especially its electronic dimension (BOTH)

Evaluation (see 5.5)

  1. a methodology and set of procedures should be established to monitor the impact of awards and bursaries for individual artists; this methodology should recognise a range of criteria for assessing excellence (including creator/producer quality, expert assessor/critic quality, enrichment of the community, quality in variety and quality as "fitness for purpose") (BOTH)
  1. the procedures for assessment should include relevant quantitative measurements (BOTH)
  1. qualitative judgements should involve self-assessment by award holders and peer advisers through the use of written reports and periodic meetings (BOTH)
  1. there should be a periodic (perhaps five-yearly) overall review, not only of awards, but also of the economic status of the artist against quantitative financial and other targets (BOTH)

Education (see 5.6)

  1. the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon should advocate to government the strategic need for it to improve the quality of third-level performing arts education and training in the Republic (RoI)
  1. the Council should also seek to persuade government to assume responsibility for funding free tuition fees and means-tested maintenance grants for students at performing arts courses run by appropriate private or commercial educational establishments (RoI)
  1. once the previous two recommendations are implemented, the Council should withdraw from contributing to students’ fees as at present (RoI)

Increasing Transparency (See 5.7)

  1. the Arts Councils should consider practical ways of making the assessment of awards and bursaries to individual artists more transparent (BOTH)
  1. the Arts Council should consider, where they are not already doing so,
  1. the Arts Councils should consider recruiting more international peer advice, or in the case of Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom (BOTH)
  1. the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon should consider simplifying its awards programmes by consolidating them under general, non-art form headings; this would facilitate improved marketing and publicity. However, applications should continue to be processed, as at present, by art form departments (RoI)

the Arts Councils should examine ways of further co-ordinating their programmes of support for the individual artist, but the process of integration should be developed over the long term. (BOTH)