This house would subsidise the arts

Despite the fact that the particular circumstances of government funding for the arts will vary from country to country and should be researched carefully, the principles for this debate remain universal. In an age of global economic difficulty the fundamental question is whether or not public money in any form should subsidise arts projects which are not self-sufficient. In looking at this question, 'the arts' as a term should include museums and galleries as well as theatre, literature, music and film - all of these things are currently supported by government funding in the UK.¹ As well as looking at whether or not these projects should receive any money at all, there is also the question of what form of subsidy these projects should take - for example, is funding via a state lottery more acceptable than direct grants from the national treasury? Ultimately any decision will be based in no small part on how far each individual values the concept of cultural output over more pragmatically valuable areas - whether or not people feel that in the modern world it is justifiable to use the limited resources available to not only foster new artistic projects, but also to protect the cultural heritage of the past. There is a natural comparison within this question between the European and American systems. In Europe the majority of funding comes from government grants, where as in America there is a more competitive atmosphere in which projects must win favour with wealthy citizens and businesses who donate private funds. Even in the United States some money is given by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts which gave $139million in 2010.² The director of the Tate Modern, Sir Nicholas Serota, argues that "the key is the American culture of giving. People who have made money there are expected to give some of it back to society"³ It has however been suggested that it would be impossible to implement such a system in Europe,⁴ and if that is indeed the case, the emphasis must shift to how far that system could reinforce the established governmental policies in Europe.

¹ Arts Council England, accessed 7/7/11
² NEA At A Glance, National Endowment for the Arts, accessed 21/7/11
³ Andrew Clark, 2007, accessed 7/7/11
⁴ Will Gompertz, 2010, accessed 31/5/11