By Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
See original post here.
Arts Sector gathers to discuss Status of the Artist in Ireland & results from first year of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot
• Report analysing the first year of the Basic Income pilot will be published today
• Findings show Basic Income recipients invest €550 a month more on their creative practice and their life satisfaction has increased
• Recipients spend 8 hours a week more on their practice and work fewer hours outside the arts
• Arts organisations and artists will discuss issues facing artists and the sector with Minister Catherine Martin
• Panels will discuss basic income, climate and creativity, health & wellbeing and artists’ spaces
• Minister will invite the sector to input into plans for a new Cultural Policy
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, is today hosting a conference for artists and arts sector organisations. The Minister will participate on one of the four discussion panels taking place and will speak about the latest findings into the ground-breaking Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. Up to 2,000 artists are in receipt of the payment with up to a further 1,000 participating in the control group who don’t receive the payment but provide the same data as those who do.
Minister Catherine Martin said:
“I am pleased to bring many of Irelands arts resource and funding bodies and artists together today at this conference to examine the status of the artist in Ireland. The instinct for artistic and creative expression is fundamental for all of us. Support for the arts and professional arts practice has been a key priority for me as Minister. Today I want to hear the voice of artists on our next steps, building on the increases in supports in recent years. I am also publishing a first full year impact paper on the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme which continues to show positive outcomes for those in receipt of the payment”.
The Impact Assessment (1 Year) of the Basic Income Pilot Scheme published today is available HERE . It outlines changes to date that the BIA recipients have experienced within the first year of receiving the payment.
One year into the pilot, research suggests that the BIA payment is having a consistent, positive impact on almost all indicators; positively impacting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being, and lessening deprivation. BIA recipients are spending more time on their art practice per week, less time working in other sectors, are more likely to be able to sustain themselves through arts work alone and are suffering less from depression and anxiety.
Minister Martin continued:
“The Basic Income makes a strong statement at home and abroad about the value that Ireland as a nation places on artistic practice both in terms of our personal and collective wellbeing, and also the importance of the arts to our identity and cultural distinctiveness. I am pleased to see that a year on the BIA is allowing artists to focus on their creative practice by spending 8 hours a week more on their artistic work, reducing the hours worked outside the arts and investing €550 more a month into their practice than those in the control group”.
The conference will feature a number of panel discussions which will be centred around Income Supports for Artists, Creative Climate Action, Health and Wellbeing and Making Space for the Arts, a panel hosted by the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA). The day will also include breakout sessions where artists and other delegates will discuss topics of interest in order to feed into the development of a new culture policy.
