AIR

12 Visual art representatives, including members of AIR, and membership bodies sent this letter to the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport earlier this week.

"Visual art is a British success story. It contributes to tourism, the knowledge economy, our international standing (particularly in the emerging economies from Sharjah to Singapore) and fuels the creative industries. 

Galleries, collections, artists studios, public art and artists projects of many kinds have transformed the fabric of local communities over the past fifteen years. Research has defined their economic, social and cultural impact, particularly in regeneration; whilst additional research shows that contact with art and artists raises standards of teaching and learning in schools. We also believe that engagement with visual art contributes to our sense of place and improves individual well being and aspirations.

Visitor numbers to galleries rose throughout the recession: the Banksy exhibition in Bristol last year was the eighth most visited contemporary art exhibition in the world. The Liverpool Biennial in 2008 had an economic impact of £2.66 million a week over a ten week period. The 2009 Frieze Art Fair welcomed over 60,000 visitors in five days. 

The visual arts sector’s annual contribution to the national economy is £1.9 billion, whilst craft and cultural heritage, with which it is closely integrated, comes to another £4.1 billion. The sector has multiple and inventive business models, the success of which depend on relatively small, yet vital sums of public investment. 

We very much welcome your recognition of the arts as one of the UK’s “crown jewels” and we are willing to play our part in the country's economic recovery with realistic cuts. However we cannot stress enough the severity of the damage that will be inflicted if cuts on the scale proposed are carried out at the beginning of the four year cycle, prior to either increased income from the Lottery coming on stream, or there being time to begin to cultivate a stronger culture of philanthropy. The latter is, as you will be aware, particularly difficult outside London. Across the sector there will be wide spread unemployment, closures, decline in public and economic benefit from past investment and consequent loss of established cultural and social capital within communities, including opportunities for volunteering and skills development.

The flagship galleries, such as Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery and Baltic and large museum services, for example Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds are part of a finely tuned ecology. This includes smaller galleries and businesses (75% of which employ under 5 people), not-for-profit and social enterprises, artist-led initiatives and not least individual artists, craft makers, producers, curators and educators. Many will be facing not only a reduction in cultural investment but also in other areas of public expenditure. Organisations with local authority partnerships are particularly vulnerable. 

Many visual art professionals (including up to 75% of artists) are self-employed with portfolio careers in, for example, education, regeneration, the health service or within the voluntary sector. A 25% cut in two separate areas of public expenditure may quickly amount to a 50% reduction in paid work for a self-employed artist. Recent data indicates that the value of employment opportunities for professional artists has already declined by 27% in the past year.

Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Chris Offili, Antony Gormley and Grayson Perry all relied on the support and investment of the public sector at the beginning of their careers. Without this seed bed and supportive hinterland they would not be today’s world leaders. 

As a group we have a joint constituency of at least 60,000 individual professionals, galleries, public collections, studio groups, visual art businesses, organisations and producing agencies; we therefore urge you to consider carefully the timing and scale of the proposed reductions in public investment."

Stephen Beddoe, Director ArtQuest
David Cotterrell, Artist - AIR, Artists' Interaction & Representation
Rosy Greenlees, Director, The Crafts Council
Hilary Gresty, Director, Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA)
Paul Hobson, Director, The Contemporary Art Society
Lois Keidan, Director, Live Art Development Agency
Sheila McGregor, Chief Executive, Axis
Val Millington, Director, National Federation of Artist Studio Providers
Gillian Nicol, a-n The Artists Information Company
Jane Sillis, Director, engage, The National Association for Gallery Education
Gilane Tawadros, Chief Executive, Design and Artists Copyright Society
Mark Waugh, Director A Foundation, International Curators Forum

First published: a-n.co.uk July 2010