The arts in England are underfunded, and were dealt a blow by Covid from which many organisations have not yet recovered. But that has been only part of the story. The sheer weight of required form-filling, the endless bureaucracy, the impracticable length of time it takes to simply be funded by Arts Council England (ACE) have caused universal frustration among those working in the arts. There is much talk of exhaustion and burnout.
Many organisations have felt frustrated, too, by the strictures of ACE’s flagship strategy, Let’s Create, which, though admirable in principle, with its focus on participation in the arts, is perhaps tilted too far from recognising the expertise and individuality of artists and arts institutions. Especially in classical music and opera – where ACE has made crude interventions into the direction of the art form – the body has been widely condemned for overreach of its powers. As with many things in life, though, opinion depends on your perspective. Funding has been diverted to underserved areas, and grassroots organisations, outside the south-east. Unsurprisingly, those who have received support for the first time are better disposed to ACE than those who have had their funding reduced or cut off.
