For the love of it? There was no question mark in the title of the recent Artquest conference – I’ve added one because it’s a question that needs to be asked.
Subtitled, ‘exploring the myths, assumptions and expectation of being an artist today – a chance for artists to consider their own criteria of value and success’, the conference was deliberately positioned one remove from reflections of a broader context, such as public or economic value.
We all know how difficult it is for many to find secure employment that pays the bills and provides a reasonable quality of life. Artists are no different from many others in value-based, vocationally driven occupations, as they struggle to find some sense of balance – retaining their integrity and earn a living at the same time.
a-n and AIR work relentlessly to voice the need for artists to be adequately recompensed for what they do, and to provide evidence of how societal change affects conditions for artists’ practice. Speakers at the conference touched on the bigger picture. Lynda Morris, Chair of Curation and Art History at Norwich University College of the Arts, presented a review of the open exhibition EAST International, which over two decades repositioned the centre from London towards Europe and questioned the metropolitan purchasing habits of private and public collectors alike – whilst proposing an expanded role for art school galleries in providing long-term support for artists and the development of the market.
The artist Sonia Boyce reminded us of the potential for art to have an impact on the world and create the possibility for change, urging an “open door” and collective approach. Rona Lee spoke from the heart about the mismatch between the funding and assessment frameworks within higher education. Lee explored the actualities of research-led practice against a backdrop of time spent working alongside geoscientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
Each in their own way identified the displacement between artists’ motivations and work and the restrictive silos of policy and economics. However, the fundamental question of how art and artists are valued within society and the political debate remained tacit.
The arts and the Treasury
As the spending review approaches, there has been the usual flurry of publications and debate with a view to positioning the arts favourably in the eyes of the Treasury. Culture Secretary Maria Miller made herself unpopular by urging economic impact as the only measure of concern. Nesta’s Manifesto for the Creative Economy met her on her own terms, with evidence that the creative sector employs 2.5 million people, makes up 10 per cent of the overall economy and that its employment growth runs at about four times the average. It therefore merits investment.
The recent report, The contribution of the arts and culture to the national economy, commissioned by Arts Council England from Centre for Economics and Business Research, is what it says on the tin – an indepth ‘analysis of the macroeconomic contribution of the arts and culture and of some of their indirect contributions through spillover effects felt in the wider economy.’ The findings are substantive. Arts and culture, for example, make up 0.4 per cent of GDP for less than 0.1 per cent of government spending invested; arts and culture generate an estimate of at least £856 million through tourism.
The report also gives greater credibility to the oft-repeated case for the role of the arts and cultural sector in supporting the commercial creative industries and their spillover effect on increasing national productivity through creativity, transferrable skills, etc.
Given this increasingly robust economic case, and with it the ever-more sophisticated methodologies for measuring the cultural value generated by seed corn public investment, the work of artists and their contribution to society – although born of the love of it – needs to be given the economic and social recognition it deserves. There is an imperative and an opportunity for that case to be made.
Conference report: artists speak about ‘value’ at For the love of it
