This article is from page 3 of the 2013-01-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
LOCAL arts groups and festival organisers in Clare face a challenging 2013, despite a slight increase in funding for the county under the Arts Council’s Festival and Events Scheme.
Clare’s funding under the first round of the Festival and Events Scheme (formally the Small Arts Festivals Scheme) rose from € 20,500 in 2012 to € 24,500 in 2013. Despite this increase, the amount of money being awarded to individual festivals under the scheme has decreased, with an extra festival being added to the funding list.
This has resulted in flagship events such as the Iniscealtra Arts Festival (down 22.2 per cent) and the Ennis Book Club Festival (down 5.8 per cent) losing valuable funding. If this trend is continued into the second round of funding it could have a negative impact on another dozen festivals throughout the county.
This funding also represents a decrease of almost 58 per cent from the € 57,100 awarded to Clare festivals under the first round of the Small Arts Festivals Scheme on 2007.
According to County Clare Arts Officer, Siobhan Mulcahy, the local arts community have shown great resilience in the face of recent quotes.
“I think the cuts have been more challenging than damaging. Obviously, they impact on the quantity of programming that takes place but, inevitably, the quality of the artistic product has been maintained throughout the county, thanks in many instances to the tireless work of volunteer festival organisers and the work of individual artists,” she said.
“The increase in the number of festivals funded reflects the diversity of quality arts practice in the county. Festivals, as well as most arts practitioners, are realistic in terms of the current financial state of the country and in what they can aspire to with the limited resources available to them.
“For many, the success of getting funding from the Arts Council is a reflection on the quality of the festival and this augurs well to lever funds from other resources at local and national level.”
There were also cuts to Clare artists under the Touring and Dissemination of Work Scheme. Two Clare groups, trad/folk group Guidewires and Nicola Henley of the Wise Ways Projects, received combined funding of € 37, 500 under this scheme last year. No Clare artists received under the first round of funding this year.
Funding news on Clare’s main Arts Council funded projects, such as Glór and the Willie Clancy Summer School, is expected in the coming weeks.