A petition launched by Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group on Westminster City Council, urges rejection of proposals to cut the boroughs entire £350,000 a year budget for Arts and Culture over the next two years.
The plans would lead to cuts of £150,000 in 2013/14 and a further £200,000 in 2014/15, and follows similar proposals by Newcastle City Council announced in November last year, and cuts to Museums Sheffield by Sheffield City Council announced in January.
Many of the projects affected in Westminster are those that offer education and learning resources to the local community, thereby benefitting artists in the area through paid work, as well as local people.
Commenting on the planned cuts, Councillor Dimoldenberg said:
“The current programme is designed to give the most vulnerable residents of Westminster – the young, those with disabilities and the elderly – an opportunity to improve their lives through the arts and through culture. The whole city will be poorer through the loss of these innovative projects.”
“This decision is even more difficult to understand when you consider that £350,000 is such a tiny proportion of the Council’s £900 million annual spending. If anything, we should be making more of the magnificent cultural facilities and arts organisations on our doorstep, rather than reducing access to them for children, young people and the elderly.”
Among visual arts organisations funded by Westminster City Council is Serpentine Gallery, with 18 per cent of its education budget to work with the borough’s children at risk.
Other projects affected are a programme for adults with learning disabilities run by PIP (Pursuing Independent Paths) in partnership with Action Space and The Showroom Gallery. The programme includes visual arts taster sessions and activities using film and other media to reflect on changes to the local neighbourhood.
See labourwestminster.wordpress.com for more information about the proposed cuts and to sign the petition
Get in touch about local authority cuts to the arts in your area – email [email protected] with your updates.
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