AIR

AIR watched with dismay as Arts Council England unveiled the new landscape for visual arts funding on 30 March 2011.

The new National Portfolio Organisations settlement has hit visual artists hard. 24.8% of the current RFOs cut were visual arts organisations, compared to only 8.3% in dance and 18.4% in theatre.

A "balanced portfolio" has largely been interpreted as "supporting lottery-funded galleries and institutions" at the expense of support for grassroots artist-led initiatives.

AIR calls for funded galleries to budget for fees at professional rates for artists to undertake commissions, exhibitions and other arts employment. AIR also urges arts institutions to play a greater role in supporting the critical mass of artists by actively offering professional development opportunities and critique to more artists in their regions.

This kind of collaboration is imperative in a time of austerity. Such support of the critical mass of artists will guarantee that quality visual arts will emerge in the future, for the benefit of all. For without artists, there would be no contemporary art.

Read AIR's Full Response »

Download » the list of existing visual arts RFOs not being taken on as NPOs.

View the full list of new Visual Arts NPOs »