Arts Council highlights cost of living crisis for NI arts sector

The data, collected from across the Arts Council’s portfolio of annually funded organisations, reveals that arts organisations could be facing a 147% increase in the costs of lighting and heating their venues and premises. While there is uncertainty surrounding how energy costs will impact on households and businesses in Northern Ireland, Art Collectives and Studio Groups look particularly vulnerable, with one organisation already spending as much as 35% of their entire budget on heating and lighting.

In addition to rising energy bills, arts organisations will have to cope with increased costs from suppliers and artists as they attempt to offset their own costs, and many smaller organisations will be vulnerable to rent increases. Factoring in other inflationary increases, including rent, salaries, programming costs, materials and insurance, the Arts Council’s estimate of the additional costs to the arts sector of £12 million could be conservative.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, said:

“We fully appreciate that the rising costs of living affect everyone and that the arts are no exception. But we do find ourselves in a uniquely disadvantaged position in Northern Ireland, as investment in the arts has historically been much lower here than across the rest of these islands. The sector hadn’t fully recovered its earning power to pre-pandemic levels, with box office proving particularly slow to recover, as a result of continuing limited consumer confidence. Although the Arts Council will continue to do everything in our power to mitigate the pain, including being as flexible as possible in our funding support, our artists and arts organisations are really in no condition to absorb further rising costs”.

Ms McDonough also reflected on the impact of additional pressures on people working in the arts:

“Many arts and cultural workers live a fairly hand-to-mouth existence as it is, and this continuous pressure of worrying about how to make ends meet has serious implications for people’s mental health, and indeed for the wider arts sector, as talented and highly-skilled people are forced to leave in search of work elsewhere.

We lost one third of our workforce during the pandemic, and this impacts on important outreach and education services and means fewer people having the opportunity to access and participate in the arts. Many artists and arts organisations will be feeling they are approaching a precipice. If we as a society value our arts and culture, then we need the full support of government at this difficult time.”

Government investment in the arts in Northern Ireland has fallen from £14.1 million in 2011-12 to £10.2 million in 2021-22. When inflation is taken into account, this represents a 40% cut in funding for arts organisations. Where Northern Ireland spends £5.32 per capita on its arts, Wales, for example, invests £10.18 and the Republic of Ireland £26.09. Prior to rising energy costs, the Arts Council had calculated that it would require an additional £16.6 million to fulfil its core functions supporting the arts sector.

The Arts Council presented its evidence on Tuesday 4th October 2022, alongside the Arts Collaboration Network*, to the All Party Group on the Arts at Stormont, and to the Arts Council’s sponsor body, the Department for Communities.

The Arts Council continues to raise awareness and work with the Department for Communities on the impacts of costs of living hikes for the sector, in order to support any future resource made available to the NI executive for additional funding.

* The informal group, known as the Arts Collaboration Network comprising a range of organisations from across the sector, has gathered evidence detailing how the current cost of living crisis and recession are harming arts organisations and artists alike. Their findings capture the negative impact of both reduced income and increased expenses and how organisations and individual artists are facing financial uncertainty and hardship as a result. Members of the group presented their findings to the All-Party Group on Arts at a meeting in Stormont on 4th October 2022. The impact paper has been shared with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Minister and officers in the Department of Communities and others.

To read the impact paper authored by the Arts Collaboration Network, click here.

To visit the All Party Group interim site, go to: https://theatreanddanceni.org/all-party-group-apg/