A couple of days ago I posted a depressing report on an Arts Council briefing. At the end of the briefing they showed this video. The challenge is to watch this and say public subsidy of the arts isn’t worth 17p per week from our taxes.
17p is the VAT on a £1 bottle of pop (see my Juice for the Arts campaign). It costs you 20p to have a piss at New Street Station (actually now the station’s been revamped I don’t know what the pissing cost is).
17p cut by 15% becomes 14.5p so there’s the choice. Do you really want to rip up the country’s culture for the sake of 2.5p per person per week?
Thank you for posting this James, a truly inspiring film. I took a day trip down to the South Bank with Molly and a friend last Monday, we went to the Hayward Gallery and saw The Alternative guide to the Universe and although Molly said some of it was boring she was also stunned to silence by some what she saw. I know this film is driven by the arts contribution to the economy but it also reinforces my belief that access to art and creativity in whatever form makes us better people, and better people make a better world.
( and sadly it costs you 50p to have a piss on the South Bank) xx