Being a young creative – or even just someone interested in the arts – might be pretty hard over the next five years of Tory government
George Osborne and the Treasury have warned the Department of Culture, Media and Sport that huge arts cuts are on the horizon, possibly up to 40 per cent. This could hugely affect social mobility in the art – already an elitist world – and see our galleries and theatres empty out.
A report titled "A country that lives within its means" outlined the plans to withdraw funding. The Arts Council was already hit with a 30 per cent cut in 2010 and a further five per cent cut in 2013. In an age of austerity the Tories are hitting art hard.
Cuts affect art massively, not just our big galleries, but the smaller and equally as important institutions where young creatives find their passion and inspiration as they grow up. Small libraries are closing, as are local theatres while music services have been dwindling too. This all reflects an attitude that our government has towards the art world, something that puts billions into our economy each year and upholds the cultural fabric of our society.
Arts funding is of huge importance to the culture we interact with every day. From 2012-15 the Arts Council, which operates on funding from the Lottery and the Government, invested money in 696 arts organisations, including museums, libraries, schools and arts communities. It also gave grants to individuals and organisations who had creative ideas they couldn’t afford to fund themselves.
A 40 per cent cut would severely infringe on how many people the Arts Council is able to help. Renowned across the world as a creative force, in coming years Britain may find itself unable to inspire and lead artistically in the same way.
