For wondering if people GAF that the UK's arts industries are about to be lost?

[Babamamananarama]

I work in the arts so I've got a significant amount of skin in the game.

Venturing out of my bubble, I'm wondering if people who don't work in the arts know and/or care that there is real, significant risk that the UK's arts industries - arguably some of the best in the the world - is at risk of total collapse?

• major theatres are going under
• 450,000 jobs at stake
• hundreds of grassroots music venues across the country are about to close forever
• every level of the industry affected, from local community and participatory arts right, regional venues and companies through to the National Theatre and west end.

• the music industry has asked for £50m to save venues. For context, Wetherspoons got a £48m bailout.

If it goes, we won't get it back.

So: AIBU to wonder if most people are concerned about it? Or do people feel like the arts are a luxury/not for them/unimportant at this time?

No - many people were priced out of the theatre a long time ago. At well over £100 a visit for 3 of us nowhere near London I can see why. Affording the arts is a privilege and isn't even on the radar for people who have been furloughed and likely to lose their jobs in a few months.

It’s devastating. One of my DC is a professional ballet dancer in a large company. Her theatre is closed, the studios are closed, tours cancelled. It takes many years of intensive training to become a dancer, and who knows if her career will ever start up again. I’m loathe to suggest maybe she looks at an alternative career, but it may have to be faced.

Fleabag - started off as a one-woman play. Became one of the biggest TV shows. I wish it hadn't started at all. I'd rather listen to Janey Godley.
Yes I do worry about the arts OP

I feel for the arts, the music venues, everything.

It's all part of what makes life enjoyable. I really hope something is done to support them

If it can't survive without life support from government funding, I'm not sure it deserves to survive... I believe that if it has enough value to society, it will find a way to survive or will evolve and reemerge in a slightly altered form

Why not cancel everyone’s benefits whilst you are at it.

If people can’t survive without government help do they deserve to continue

What about the government furlough scheme on businesses. Do all these businesses just go to the wall or should they re-emerge into an altered form

What about all the people who will lose their jobs connected to these businesses.

What makes the arts any different to any other business or person when it comes to government funding.

We know many people in the industry and do go to theatres and venues quite regularly
It doesn’t have to be The West End or nothing.

We have had evenings out to plays in the upstairs room of pubs or to support friends of dc who are playing a venues in areas you wouldn’t consider as having a night out.

When these things are gone they won’t suddenly spring to life again after this virus has passed. They will be gone for good.

I really miss the going out to the theatre or to gigs and after trying some of the small restaurants in the area as a night out.

We do know several people in the arts industry and despite some who were just starting out and working other jobs as well. As everything was connected they have lost all their income.

I think we need to support the talent that we have in this country otherwise what we will have coming through from this era is just those that have the money to support their children and not the ones that necessarily are the most talented.

Those who think you don’t have anything to do with the arts need to realise every time they switch on their tv they are watching a form of the arts.
Even video games have people voicing the characters. These people are most likely actors and actresses who have spent many years training and honing their skills. They didn’t suddenly just turn up on the day of recording and pick random people off the street.

We need to support everyone in this pandemic. Theatres and music venues or even just the local pub which has a mini theatre out the back or up the stairs need help otherwise it won’t be like a random clothes shop going under but a whole industry going which will have an enormous impact on other industries in the area

I went to the theatre (west end) in January. There were no big names (not that that was what I was going for) and a cast of 4, no special effects and mid price tickets were £75-80 each. Add on a meal out and possibly travel and thats easily £250 gone for 2 people. I know friends who go to the theatre very regualrly but for us its a rare treat.

@ShinyMe, I think it was me!

The Royal Exchange has a fantastic reputation and showcases new work. It would be tragic to lose it.

'Most industries are struggling right now. Why should we care more about the arts than the travel industry for example?'

We shouldn't care about one more than another, they are all interconnected.
The arts brings £23bn into the UK economy. Aviation brings in £22bn. EasyJet alone got a government bailout of £600m. The arts so far has had nothing.

The arts is far far far more than the West End.

Local theatre
Local bands
Pub gigs
Comedy venues

Some people just seem to think it's the West End.

many people were priced out of the theatre a long time ago

We have never spent the amount of money on theatre venues as some have mentioned.

There are very cheap tickets if you know where to look and what day to go on and aren’t bothered that you might end up in the Gods.

3 of us went to see a very good musical. Stall price tickets were £150.
We went on a Monday night we paid £15 each (and that included a nice 2 course dinner at a local pizzeria) and when we got to the theatre we were upgraded to the £150 seats.
It is about doing your research and knowing whether a play is booked up on which nights and being flexible about what you see and where you go.

For those talking about ticket prices: I work in theatre and I wouldn't pay £75 for a ticket - I can't really afford it either. In my head that West End stuff is for tourists. I don't think I've ever paid more than about £35/40 and for me that's a once a year treat. But then I find loads that I want to see that I can pay £15/20 for, tons of excellent work in that price range. And that's inside and outside of London. The ARC in Stockton for example has some really excellent stuff on and keep their ticket prices super affordable. Derby Theatre is the same - to name two off the top of my head.

@NeutrinoWrangler

If it can't survive without life support from government funding, I'm not sure it deserves to survive... I believe that if it has enough value to society, it will find a way to survive or will evolve and reemerge in a slightly altered form.

Many businesses would have went under without government help.

And in respect of the arts, they cannot reopen yet and have got no way of earning money. The arts employ thousands of people - should we just shrug our shoulders and say oh well?

As much as the arts are well down on my own priority list, I feel for the i people worrying about their jobs.

For those talking about ticket prices: I work in theatre and I wouldn't pay £75 for a ticket - I can't really afford it either. In my head that West End stuff is for tourists. I don't think I've ever paid more than about £35/40 and for me that's a once a year treat. But then I find loads that I want to see that I can pay £15/20 for, tons of excellent work in that price range. And that's inside and outside of London. The ARC in Stockton for example has some really excellent stuff on and keep their ticket prices super affordable. Derby Theatre is the same - to name two off the top of my head.

The arts can't survive without government funding. It is the same as libraries museums and parks. The arts in, say, Germany or France is funded at a much better level than ours (which of course also keeps ticket prices low) as they see it as a crucial part of the social fabric.

The reality is that large sectors of 'the arts' are A) inaccessible to most people because of cost or distance, and/or B) very exploitative of their workers. So generating sympathy for the entire sector will be challenging, when people have so many other concerns.

I think it will be easier to get people to support local and grassroots things where they live, like a particular venue or community programme. These have been suffering for years anyway and need the support.

I admit that, not having been to the theatre in 40 years, I don't particularly care about the West End. I do care about my friend's arts programme for disadvantaged children in South London and have donated to it.

But equally I can see the arts are an expensive luxury. And compared to saving lives and essential services, not a priority

They have a big role to play in rebuilding the economy though. Glyndebourne Opera, for example, has a f/t staff of around100-150, but during the summer season, it's loads more than that.

But it makes a big contribution to the local economy, from DIY stores and builders merchants and the haberdashery, to hotels and B&Bs, the local business that does nothing but make up high-end hampers for opera-goers, the taxi companies, and all the families whose teens wait tables or work the bars if they're old enough. The singers, crew and musicians that come for the season all need somewhere to stay and loads of people rent a room out to generate a bit of extra income.

It's in a rural area and the loss of that (which is extremely unlikely, as it's not only prestigious but almost part of the summer season for rich nobs), would be significant.

@ChewChewIsMySpiritAnimal I don't think anyone is saying we should care more. But the travel industry has had some government financial support and many bits are being allowed to operate.

Government says the whole DCMS - Digital Culture, Media and Sport - sector is -was - growing at twice the rate of other industries. Worth £248.5 billion in 2016. It’s a huge contributor to the economy, even if individuals think they themselves never benefit from it/go to a theatre etc.

@Babamamananarama I love Derby theatre! It's not my most local (that's Sheffield) but I think it's my favourite. Lovely auditorium, fantastic range of productions and I've never paid more than £20 (often less) for a good seat.

@ChewChewIsMySpiritAnimal, because the arts generates vast amounts of money from tourism and give people enormous pleasure.

And because we're not a nation of Philistines - yet.

I know it’s old news but blimey at Wetherspoons bailout, that somehow passed me by. Actually was it a loan or given - will google.

The arts are good for the U.K. it’s a big draw for people to visit or live here. I’d rather it didn’t go under permanently.

I'm involved in the creative arts - and, oddly enough, I'm not too despondent about the long term prospects. There is a crisis at the moment - but people will still write, compose, paint, sculpt, take photographs, make films, perform - it's not over.

I'm sorry for people losing jobs and livelihoods - but if old venues close new ones will eventually arise, perhaps with a less exclusive, more egalitarian ethos. I don't mind if some accepted hierarchies crumble.

I've never been to the West End. I used to go the Royal Exchange when I was young and lived near there. We would queue up on the day in the morning and get the banquette seats for £9. Then we'd walk up Cross Street and hang around in Affleck's until the matinee. It was great. I earned £3.31 an hour at that big McDonalds on Oxford Road at the time so it was three hours of work for three hours of King Lear or whatever was on. Well worth it to me.

That was 20 years ago but the banquette is still only £10 now - just looked it up.

Perdita I really agree, there will always be creative people and they will find a way. Look at all the imaginative ways people have been performing during lockdown, many are reaching bigger audiences than ever.

A friend of mine runs an artists group trying to open up the sector and make it more egalitarian (not in the UK) and she is indeed excited about new opportunities emerging out of all this.

@jackdaw141

*The Arts scream for money, money, money like a greedy chick and is self-absorbed.

I love art, but the only pieces I treasure or I have bought have been by painters, ceramists and musicians who work on their own, have struggled, yet believe in themselves with no desire to join the elitism.*

You don’t just wake up one day a painter, a ceramicist, or a musician.

You train. You learn. You use shared artist studios with shared kilns and equipment.

You don’t wake up one day, able to run a business, create a portfolio of work, sell products, market yourself or submit a tax return.

You learn. You might attend makers markets at art galleries or museums or in public spaces created by people who want to further those goals. You may receive support in how to run your business, through grass roots organisations, through craft organisations, through education.

You don’t just start work as a ceramicist, a musician or a painter and develop a business that pays you enough to do it full time. You build it up. You work on the side. And quite often, those jobs are front of house in art galleries and museums.

You talk about elitism. But what you are suggesting, would actually only see work created by people who can afford to buy a kiln or a piano as a hobby or a career change without any support from the arts, education sector and grass roots organisations that support the progression of craft and art.

It is naive to think that because you buy one product from one maker and they’ve set up on their own in a nice barn in the country that they haven’t struggled and been supported by the industry to get there.