When an emergency support package for the arts was launched in the face of COVID-19 last July, UK prime minister Boris Johnson trumpeted their value to industry and the nation at large. “They make our country great,” he said. “They are the linchpin of our world-beating and fast-growing creative industries.”
So the government’s recent proposal to cut funding for arts higher education by 50%, covering music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies, and archaeology, appears somewhat contradictory.
The immediate damage to the sector from such swingeing cuts in terms of provision and access to arts education – especially for those on lower incomes who rely on public funding – is clear. But education secretary Gavin Williamson’s assertion that arts courses are not among the government’s “strategic priorities” belies the value of the arts to the UK, economically and culturally.