BEN MACPHERSON writes:
For clarity and completeness, this is the full letter I sent on behalf of many affected constituents who wrote to me. The Scottish Government is very strongly committed to supporting the arts and culture and, in a constructive spirit, I hope this particular fund can be restored.
The Creative Scotland Fund for individuals has now closed.
On behalf of Out of the Blue and our studio artists we’ve written to First Minster John Swinney, MSP Ben Macpherson and Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.
You can read the full statement below:
To Ben Macpherson, Angus Robertson & John Swinney:
Out of the Blue is an arts and education social enterprise that provides studio space to over 200 artists in four buildings across Edinburgh. We have been working with artists and arts organisations for thirty years.
Throughout that time we have been witness, time and again, to the vital contribution they make to communities. Artists produce inspiring work and bring creative opportunities to many people, improving the quality of life in cities, towns and rural areas. Economically, artists, arts organisations and creative enterprises contribute more than £5 billion to the Scottish economy every year.
However, in working with artists we are constantly reminded of the precarious position in which so many are trying to create new work. Working from project to project, uncertain of how much income they will make from month to month, struggling to find and rent space in which to create.
Yet despite this, our artists remain committed to creating art, and to enriching lives. Artists have always created more value for Scotland than what it has cost Scotland to support them. The least we can do is to treat artists with the same dignity and respect that is afforded to other workers. In a country committed to fair work, this should go without saying.
Cutting grants to individual artists will have a major impact on their ability to make a living and decimate the plethora of creative projects they undertake individually and with others. Without access to Creative Scotland grants many artists will not be able to continue with their creative practice, which in turn will have a huge impact on the organisations, communities and individuals they work with.
With local Government spending on the arts also decreasing rapidly we are facing a tipping point. The devastation that this lack of funding will cause to the cultural sector in Scotland may take a generation to recover from. Pursuing a career as an artist will be for the few, not the many, and the lives of every person in Scotland will be poorer because of it.
We call on you to urgently release the outstanding funding to Creative Scotland and set out a clear timeframe by which you will deliver your commitment to increase funding for culture by £100 million. Each day you delay, more artists will abandon hope and with it their careers.
Regards
Rob Hoon – Out of the Blue CEO
Professor David Stevenson – Chair, Out of the Blue Board
And signed by the following Out of the Blue studio artists:
Ailis Mundin (Strange Town)
Alison McConachie
Ally Hill (The Bongo Club)
Andres Perez (Urban Works)
Aoife O’Callaghan
Beck Elphinstone
Bethany Thompson (Out of the Blueprint)
Blyth Mackenzie (Little Yellow Scribbles)
Bob Giulianotti (Out of the Blue and Strange Town Youth Theatre)
Calum Duncan (Calum Duncan Architects)
Cameron Murdoch (Cam Life Designs)
Caroline Grevers
Casey Campbell
Catherine Lazcano – Thornton (Catherine Giselle)
Clare Duffy (Civic Digits)
Cosimo Damiano Angiulli
Daisy Crooke (Take One Action Film Festival)
Daniel Murray (Daniel Murray Artist)
Dee Thangden
Duncan Jones (Knockwood Studios)
Elaine Wilson
Felicity Inkpen
Fiona Fraser (Fi Fraser Production Management)
Frances Priest
Francesca Grech
Graeme Walker
Helen Miles (Helen Miles Mosaics)
Holly Summerson
Ian Gonczarow
Jen Byrne
Jennifer Paterson (All or Nothing)
Johnny Gailey (Out of the Blueprint)
Jolon Yeoman (Knockwood Studios)
Judy Clark
Julija Pustovrh (Emporium Julium Ceramics)
Kate Livingstone
Kelly Zou
Kuluna Yoga
Leanne Bell Gonczarow
Leigh Robieson-Cleaver (Curious Seed)
Louise Lacaille
Mairi MacSween (Mairi MacSween Designs) Mark Whyles (Mark Whyles Management) Matthew Shepherd
Max Machen
Meg Buick
Megan Chapman
Nicole Lambeng (Out of the Blue) Pierre Forissier (Biomorphis)
Pippa Lobban
Rabiya Choudray
Remode Collective
Robin Paine
Sandy Lobban
Sheena Walker (The Clarsach Society) Snap Elastic
Solen Collet (Solen Collet Photography) Steve Small (Strange Town)
Susan Scarth
Tim Licata
Trista Yen
Wendy Ball