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03/05/19
Carrying out recent interviews for ARTlo a recurring topic has featured, namely Brexit.
From art gallery owners, individual artists to theatre company directors the current political climate is impacting on their situation. From ticket sales, gallery purchases to even the size of canvas being painted, Brexit is having an effect.
People are being cautious with their spending as the future political and economic situation is still unknown. With people curbing spending, the arts is a luxury that many are having to sacrifice for essential purchases. Looking to the future, people also may also be looking to utilise any surplus funds for savings rather than luxury spends.
On a positive Brexit note, it was interesting to note that at North Berwick’s recent Easter Art Exhibition the featured painting was by a local artist. Previous years had seen the bigger names in the art world to draw the crowds. Sales patterns of paintings at the show also reflected these cautious times as less expensive pieces were the ones sold.
We await the deal and outcome and hope a positive forecast may be secured for the arts.
30/04/19
As the SQA exams get underway for senior secondary students much has been made in the news that many Scottish pupils are being offered less choice of subjects and the opportunity to take fewer National 5 and Higher qualifications.
Opposition MSPs have called for urgent action in the wake of the results of a Holyrood survey that more than half of the pupils who took part were not able to take all of the subjects they wanted to at school.
Currently the Scottish Parliament education committee is carrying out an inquiry into whether the subject choices offered is narrowing.
Not only does this have the potential to impact on individuals’ opportunities of career or course choices but we should also be mindful that with possibly fewer subjects taken in S4 and S5, this could have the potential to impact on the future of our creative industries.
Taking a lesser number of subjects at exam level and with their eye on a desired final destination, the expressive arts may be viewed as a luxury to be pursued as a hobby rather than study.
This coupled with many local authorities making the decision to axe or charge for musical instrument tuition is creating a concerning situation which could impact substantially on our arts.