More on the funding cuts

The consequences of major cuts to the Australia Council, and to arts funding more generally, are becoming all too apparent. After 18 years, Sydney's Rock Surfers Theatre have announced they are folding as of the end of this month. And there's not much festive cheer among youth arts organisations either. See Fraser Corfield's Funding Cuts: is this the end of youth arts? As predicted, it's the small to medium companies that are the worst affected. 

The arts community spent a lot of the year just gone lobbying politicians, writing letters and submissions, attending Senate inquiries, organising protests and petitions. It's depressing to learn how little impact we've had on policy and on the national conversation.

Sure some companies and organisation have a natural lifespan, and sometimes their demise clears the ground for new initiatives and voices to emerge. But that's not what's happening here, because there are no new funding lifelines on offer, the small and medium sector players don't have the clout or staff to chase the corporate dollar, and we can't crowdsource our entire industry!

What can we do?