Sustaining artistic practices post George Brandis’s controversial Australia Council arts funding changes: cultural policy and visual artists’ careers in Australia

Abstract

This article analyses how public funding enables artistic practices from the perspectives of both national cultural policy decision makers, and our three interviewed subjects in the visual arts. Funding from the Australia Council for the Arts is examined in terms of the extent to which it is perceived to dis/enable ongoing artistic practice. This examination is timely given Australia’s former Minister for the Arts George Brandis’s 2015 shock annexation of Australia Council funding: $104.7 million was originally to be transferred from the Australia Council to the newly established National Programme for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA). This body represented a move away from the ‘arms-length’, independent peer-reviewed funding decisions with the arts minister having the ultimate authority with regard to the NPEA. The NPEA has now been renamed Catalyst – Australian Arts and Culture Fund (Catalyst) as a result of consultations and feedback relating to the NPEA.

Keywords:

• public funding
• excellence
• cultural policy
• artists’ careers
• Australia
• artistic practice

Acknowledgments

A number of individuals assisted and encouraged us in writing this article. We gratefully acknowledge the input Professor Joseph Pugliese, Professor Catharine Lumby and Dr Julie-Anne Long provided concerning the formative versions of this text. In addition, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions regarding this article.

Notes

1. The Australia Council for the Arts is hereafter referred to as the Australia Council.

2. Sydney-based visual and performance artist, Kelly Doley, practices individually and with performance group, Brown Council (see Doley 2012). Her 2010 new work grant (early career) of $10,000 was for the project entitled The Learning Centre, in which Doley exchanged art for knowledge. This funded instalment of this project was also supported in kind by Fremantle Arts Centre in Western Australia, where her investigation took place. The resulting artwork for this project was 49 Things Learnt About Humans (2012).

3. Agatha Gothe-Snape is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Sydney, whose practice incorporates visual arts, multimedia and/or performance mediums. Her 2010 Visual Arts New Work (early career) grant supported three works she exhibited at Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney, in 2010. These three works were Cruising at Primavera, a collaborative work involving a navigating MCA with a heightened sense of awareness; True Love False Consciousness, an animated artwork work evoking emotional responses by employing sound, colour and text; and a collection of Gouache-style paintings (Gothe-Snape 2010, Museum of Contemporary Art 2010, DasPlatforms 2011).

4. Nigel Helyer is an Australian-based artist whose sculptures and installations incorporate science and art, often with soundscapes (see Helyer 2012a). Helyer has also served as a peer-reviewer on the Inter-Arts board at the Australia Council. His 2011 Visual Arts New Work (Established) ($20,000) was for a public art project, VoxAura: The River Sings, installed in Turku, Finland. This project was also supported by the European Capital of Culture, Turku, Finland, who commissioned the work. VoxAura is an installation using two boats and soundscape that draws on environmental and social/historical data from the region (Turku European Capital of Culture 2011, Helyer 2012b).

5. Concerning the evaluation of Australia Council New Work grants for visual arts in 2010 and 2011, there are two criterions: First, an artist shows ‘a high degree of artistic merit in [their] work to date’; and second, the artist shows ‘the potential for innovation in the content and development of the new work’ (Australia Council 2010).

6. See Throsby and Zednik (2010, p. 39) for a more detailed breakdown of working time.

7. MPAs are Australia’s major performing arts companies in the areas of dance, theatre, opera, circus, chamber and orchestral music. Key organisations are small to medium sized organisations that are recognised for their leadership in artistic vibrancy and sector development. See Australia Council (2014, pp. 20, 21).

8. The exact breakdowns of grant funding decisions is not provided by the Australia Council.

9. Uncommitted funding refers to funding for small organisations and individuals not triennially or annually funded by the Australia Council, particularly at the time of the 2014 budget announcement (Tregear et al. 2014).

10. Figures given by the artists concerning the structure of their working week are estimations they have made of their own practices.

11. This assessment made concerning the commercial viability of any particular art project/work is developed from the interviewees’ own experiences as practicing artists in Australia.

12. This sentiment is informed by Helyer’s past position on the Inter-arts peer review board with the Australia Council.