A £150,000 fund for artists from Belfast City Council has been described as “not even a bandaid” by a council officer.
The grant for the city’s beleaguered art scene from the local authority was described as only a starting point at the council’s special meeting of its City Growth and Regeneration Committee this week. At the meeting councillors approved allocations from a new £150,000 funding scheme agreed earlier this year for artist-led organisations to provide financial and development support for the sector.
A month before the Covid pandemic hit, artists gathered to warn Belfast Council they will be wiped out of the city centre, due to lease insecurity and cuts in funding, if they didn't receive help from city hall. The effects of the pandemic have only hastened the timeframe for that prediction.
