Funding artists to make art
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The Scottish Government has announced a few more details about its proposal to run a pilot of a Minimum Income for artists following a similar and successful scheme in Ireland which has since been made permanent.
This is good news. The arts are essential and are both undervalued and the creation process can be hard to value. Artists can rarely count on a regular salary as part of their creative work – more often relying on chasing funding grants, piece work from art that can be sold or, too often, from cross-subsidising their passion via another job that takes them away from it. A Minimum Income would help to fund artists to make art.
It must be noted though that there are several points of concern in the Government proposals that have not been addressed in this latest announcement. One is the terminology which is being used interchangeably. It is not clear whether the government considers this plan to be a Basic Income (a grant that is paid, regardless of an artist’s other income) or a Minimum Income (a top-up subsidy to a minimum threshold if an artist’s salary falls below that level). The latter would cause problems if the Government expects to claw back revenue from an artist who has the audacity to successfully sell a piece of art during their time in the programme.
The proposal for an Artists’ Minimum Income is also a substantial step down from previous Government policies. Under Nicola Sturgeon, there was a plan for a pilot of a general Universal Basic Income (i.e. participants would not have to prove they were in any particular line of work in order to qualify) which was cancelled largely due to obstruction from the UK Government, HMRC and the DWP (though Wales managed to pilot a care leaver’s basic income despite similar barriers).
The “replacement” for this failed pilot was to investigate a pilot scheme for a general Minimum Income but the report into the study was buried by John Swinney. It has taken a lot of effort from Basic Income advocates to bring the idea back even in this form.
A third concern is that not all art is equal in terms of the need for support. Many creatives work individually and with relatively few resources (it’s conceivable for a poet or author to self-publish their own book, for example) but others require larger teams of people such as performers and substantial capital resources like recording studios and performing venues which may or may not be available.
One of the major issues found when talking to artists is the need for long term stable funding which the Minimum/Basic Income may supply though with only 2,000 slots open in the pilot scheme and a similar amount being funded per year in Ireland’s permanent scheme, there is a risk that we slip into the same Hunger Games model of funding where an artist’s ability to create relies on them jumping through hoops to get or stay in the programme. Potential conditions being discussed such as barring funding of the same artist in two consecutive years will not help.
A true Universal Basic Income covering everyone would solve many of the problems mentioned and especially the one about stability of funding and worries about proving who counts as an “artist”, though it is unlikely that Scotland will be able to launch one short of gaining independence.
Despite the concerns raised, this pilot scheme should be welcomed as should any further details that emerge in the Programme for Government this week. One requirement that should be demanded though is that the pilot is designed so that it learns lessons beyond those learned in Ireland. “That, but here” is not sufficient. Scotland could, for example, make a concerted effort to examine the impact of directly funding artists who are not already largely self-sufficient, well connected and with the capacity to navigate the bureaucracy but to especially look at the the impact of funding artists in deprived areas or young people who aspire to create but do not yet have much in the way of a portfolio to “prove” they are an artist.
Artists need and deserve support, and so this Minimum Income pilot is to be celebrated. But they are not the only undervalued segment of society. We all have value regardless of our utility to a generous patron and so may this pilot be another step towards Scotland finally adopting a true Universal Basic Income that puts all of us first.