Summary
- Increase the arts budget for 2018 by €100 million.
- Increase state funding of the arts to the European average of 0.6%
- Fund access to arts participation in disadvantaged areas for adults and children.
- Fund access to arts participation for adults and children with disabilities.
- Ensure children have greater access to culture and art as a right.
- Open schools and colleges for after-school artistic activities for children and teenagers.
- Open Public Spaces – including NAMA buildings – for use by local arts organisations.
- Support performances and exhibitions in public spaces.
- Arts participation programmes in prisons, schools, care homes and hospitals.
- Remove the requirement of ‘availability for work’ for artists on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
- Allow artists to do unpaid work without pressure from the Department of Social Protection.
- A new deal programme for artists in the public sector. This would create well paid jobs and increase access to the arts throughout society.
Introduction
People Before Profit believes in artistic freedom and encourages the creativity, expression and critical activity associated with arts and culture. Artistic practice benefits the whole of society and should be available to all, regardless of income, location or social background.
Ireland’s artistic and cultural heritage is one of our greatest asserts. The country has an enviable legacy of artistic achievement, but all too often, this has been monopolised by those with money and connections.
The arts here are overly commodified and exclusionary. Instead of encouraging people to explore their creative side, the Irish elites have fostered a division between a supposedly high art tradition and popular culture. People Before Profit rejects this division. We believe that everyone has the potential to gain from the arts once they are open and accessible to all.
Art is especially influential for children and can act as a catalyst for critical thinking. Self-expression and exploration can have a very positive effect on children and teenagers and should be encouraged in education and outside of it. Access to the arts can also be therapeutic. People with autism and mental health problems can benefit from the self-expression of the arts. To put art and culture at the centre of society, People Before Profit would focus on the following areas.
Funding
- Government spending on the arts for 2018 will be €158.2 million. People Before Profit would increase this by a further €100 million.
- People Before Profit supports the National Campaign for the Arts demand to increase state funding of the arts to the European average of 0.6% of GDP. We would aim to do this over the next five years.
- Establish a fund to promote access to arts participation in disadvantaged areas for adults and children.
- Establish a fund to increase access to arts participation for adults and children with disabilities.
Greater Access
- Ensure that children have greater access to culture/art as a right both in the education sector and outside it.
- Open existing facilities such as schools and colleges for after-school artistic activities for children and teenagers.
- Open Public Spaces – including NAMA buildings – for use by local arts organisations.
- Performances and exhibitions in public spaces as well as arts participation programmes in prisons, schools, care homes and hospitals.
Support for Artists
- Remove the requirement of ‘availability for work’ for artists on Jobseeker’s Allowance to allow artists to do unpaid work without pressure from the Department of Social Protection.
- A ‘New Deal’ jobs programme for artists in the public sector. Such a programme would provide decent pay and job security for artists, while also providing high quality arts in sectors such as care homes, prisons, schools and hospitals. It would be spread out across the arts, including visual arts, writing, music, dance and theatre.
This ‘New Deal’ programme will encourage artists to contribute their skills and creativity to society whilst earning a living wage. It will be of enormous benefit to patients, the elderly, children, inmates and staff and will contribute to a higher quality of life for everyone in these sectors.
