The concept for the Artists’ Union England (AUE) Hustings was a simple one: get together cultural representatives of several different political parties for a Question Time-style debate in front of an audience of artists and arts organisers, and address directly the issues that affect the constituency.
Getting those representatives together should have been easy. With just 12 weeks to go to the general election on May 7, they’re all keen to secure our votes. But for some, the short ‘limo’ drive from the House to Chelsea College of Arts, which was hosting the event, was problematic.
While Labour’s shadow minister for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Bryant MP, the Green’s spokesperson Martin Dobson, and independent candidate for Surrey Heath (and artist) Bob and Roberta Smith had all made it, Conservative MP Ed Vaizey and Liberal Democrat Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter were unavailable at the last minute.
So from the sub’s bench came Tory MP Damian Collins, a former member of the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media, Sport and the Olympics, and Liberal Democrat peer Michael Storey, who speaks in the Lords on education, families and young people.
This ‘old boy’s network’ of a panel – as one audience member referred to it – was kept in order by AUE’s Theresa Easton, who chaired the debate.
Local authorities and the regions
Axis director Sheila McGregor opened the debate with a question about local authority funding. She said cuts were hitting artists and arts organisations hard – particularly in the regions – and asked each of the panelists to outline their plans.
Collins’ responded by citing an example from in his Folkestone and Hythe constituency. He said a model which mixed income from local philanthropy and other sources had worked well for the Folkestone Triennial. “Where there is great culture there is great community. We have to champion the arts locally and nationally and be canny as to where we get as much money as possible from.”
Bryant said too much was being spent on London. “Of the annual £1.3bn DCMS budget, £442m is spent on the capital, along with a significant proportion of the Arts Council’s budget. If I’m in the arts job come May we will have a better distribution of the arts money.”
For the Greens and Liberal Democrats it’s all about raising more from taxation. “I wouldn’t penalise councils if they want to raise council tax to pay for the arts,” said Storey, referring to the example of Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture year in 2008 where the council put an extra £1m into the arts for five years. “People were happy and supported that.”
Dobson said politicians are always keen on keeping taxation low at the expense of other services. “We would increase taxation to provide funding for local authorities to provide the services people want. We would immediately put £15bn into local authorities to restore some of the services that have been devastated.”
Less than zero
On the subject of artists pay, raised by Easton as being a number one concern for both AUE members and a-n/AIR’s Paying Artists campaign, the panel was in agreement that artists should be paid fairly and proportionately for their work.
But while for several, raising the minimum wage seemed to be a solution, Collins pointed out that artists don’t get paid by the yard but by the value people attach to their work. “We can’t talk about artists being ‘normal’ workers, where by the minimum wage will apply,” he said.
His comment didn’t go down well. “You don’t know our industry and you don’t know the value of it,” shouted one audience member; “Most artists are earning less than zero,” said another. “Look at costs of studio rents, applying for opportunities, paying to be in exhibitions – artists are paying out when they should be being paid.”
Bob and Roberta Smith agreed, saying this was one of the barriers to poorer people becoming known in the arts. “Artists are being exploited by galleries and employers who want a lot of work before you get that commission or before you make that sale.”
“We fund ourselves through teaching and commissions, and also through things like working in galleries.” He said all of these areas are affected by the cuts.
Health and the arts
Budget cuts are also affecting the NHS. Bryant decided it was time to play the NHS card. “I would love to be able to say to you there is going to be vast amounts of money coming from a Labour government if we win in May. But I know there is a crises in the NHS and people are dieing because of that.
“If we don’t have a strong arts community, we don’t have a strong economy and we don’t have healthy people, but I won’t be able to spray money around,” he said.
In response, Smith pointed out that the arts budget is tiny in comparison to that of the NHS, but even so spending had been cut from around seven pence in every £100 before the last election to half that now. “People whose jobs are funded by the Arts Council are being cut disproportionately. You can spray a bit of money around and it won’t affect the economy,” he argued.
Speaking about the Paying Artist campaign, a-n’s Pippa Koszerek pointed out that on average artists in the UK earn less than £10,000 per annum. With the introduction of Universal Credit meaning many artists – whose incomes fluctuate on a month by month basis – will find it harder to access benefits, she asked: “How will the panel deal with the cost of living crises facing artists?”
Bryant said an incoming Labour government would have a six-month moratorium to discover the best approach to tackling the issue of benefits. “We have really big concerns about Universal Credit,” he said.
Dobson said the Greens have concerns too. His party would get rid of Universal Credit altogether in favour of a “less bureaucratic benefits system, and have a basic income for everybody.”
When further quizzed by Koszerek as to whether they were happy to give support to the Paying Artists campaign, all said they were – apart from Collins, who by this time had been ‘driven’ back to the Commons to be ‘whipped’ into shape for a debate about fracking.
Manifesto time?
The debate ended with a chance for each of the panellists to sum up and say what they would take back to their party colleagues.
Dobson said he’d learned a lot. The Green Party would be looking to draw on ideas from the arts community as it develops its policies. “We can have an anti-austerity government in this country,” he claimed.
Unlike the current incumbents, Bryant said he and Harriet Harman really wanted the roles of Minister and Secretary in the DCMS if Labour wins in May. “Right at the heart of a strong British economy will be the creative industries,” he assured us. “Shout at me if we do anything wrong with the arts budget” was his rabble-rousing plea to those present.
Unlike the other parties present, Bob and Roberta Smith has already published his manifesto and he was ready to share it with us.
“Art is an election issue,” we all repeated as he held up the first of his hand-painted manifesto art works. “Art is about free speech,” we continued eventually getting to that all important final pledge: “All schools should be art schools”.
While Smith may not win the Surrey Heath seat where he’s standing against former Education Secretary Michael Gove, his campaign is doing a great job of raising important issues about art education and the effects of austerity on artists. It’s a shame we don’t all have a Bob and Roberta standing in every constituency.
Artists’ Union England Hustings took place 11 February at Chelsea College of Arts, London. www.artistsunionengland.org.uk
More on a-n.co.uk:
Bob and Roberta Smith to run against Michael Gove in general election
And then there were two: second artist to stand in 2015 General Election
Paying Artists tag
