Objectives
- All Party promotion and protection of the value of the arts
- A statement of principles that supports the arts across all policy areas of the Northern Ireland Executive
- Specific outcome and improved indicators for the arts within the Programme for Government
- Core investment for the arts at local and Executive level to further realise the value and positive impact of the arts
- Arts value should inform all policy areas, departmental strategies and budgets and can be expressed in terms of human, social and economic value and impact
What we want and how politicians can help
Promote the value of the arts
Government Policy
- Support the arts across all policy areas of the Northern Ireland Executive
- Support specific outcome and improved indicators for the arts within the next Programme for Government
- To attract artists from across the UK and the EEA by offering tax exempt status to artists on earnings, harmonising the creative tax status with that of the Republic of Ireland
- Develop ‘art contract clauses’ similar to ‘community benefit clauses’ for multi-million pound film and screen projects in NI
- Link the budgetary spend to the UK / Ireland average per head
- Review how the evidence base for arts and culture is established, documented and archived within the departments
- Link the dedicated Exchequer budgetary spend to the UK/Ireland average per head
Arts Infrastructure
- Support core investment for the arts at local and Executive level to further realise the value and positive impact of the arts
- Appreciate that publicly funded arts organisations and public subsidy for the arts are central to keeping the arts accessible, available and affordable to everyone in Northern Ireland
- Appreciate that publicly funded arts organisations are key to nurturing artists, practices, innovation, events and creative landmarks of the future
- Recognise that the cuts to Arts budgets are already impacting on arts and cultural organisations across Northern Ireland, leading to job losses, closures and loss of services creating public benefit
- Instigate the recommendations of the Compact with Voluntary Sector to reduce red tape and bureaucracy by providing processes of accountability that are relevant and proportionate
Communities
- Recognise the transformative power of the arts in addressing the unique set of demographic and post-conflict challenges that prevail in Northern Ireland
- Recognise the facility the arts provide promoting connections and dialogue between people from all backgrounds, supporting cohesion and understanding through challenging, inventive and transformative artistic processes
Individuals
- Support the funding of community-based Arts participation in education, health, justice and the workplace to strengthen creativity and drive innovation – the key to economic recovery, the creative industries and global competitiveness
- Recognise that professional practitioners, producers, artists and other Arts workers are professionals entitled to a living wage
- Recognise the value that voluntary artists and arts groups bring to local life in Northern Ireland
Internationally
Commit to making Northern Ireland, emerging from conflict, an international beacon for excellence in the provision and practice of rich and diverse Arts for everyone
We are calling on individual politicians to…
- Attend four arts events a year
- Hold open meetings with arts community in constituency
- Display information about arts events in constituency office
- Highlight your attendance at arts events via social media, constituency newsletter and emails
- Commit to supporting an increase in arts funding
- Invite arts groups to present to Assembly committees that you are member of
- Commit to promoting the arts within your party and with other stakeholders, including funders
- Join the board of an arts organisation
- Visit an arts organisation for a day to understand the impact that the arts has on peoples’ lives
- Attend arts launches and openings