Hollywood star calls Welsh arts cuts 'stabbing'

Matthew Rhys won a Primetime Emmy in 2018 for The Americans

Hollywood star Matthew Rhys has said he is shocked at the severity of "stabbing" funding cuts to the arts scene in Wales.

The Welsh actor said the sector was "absolutely not" receiving the support it needed to thrive, called its prospects "very bleak", and feared routes were closing for young people into artistic careers.

Earlier this week Welsh ministers and Arts Council Wales announced an extra £3.6m of emergency funding to protect jobs, which they said was "widely welcomed" by the sector.

The Welsh government said the arts made "a vital contribution... enriching our communities and inspiring future generations" and it will publish a draft budget for its overall spending next week.

Speaking from set in New York where he is filming a Netflix series for next year, Rhys said the decision by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff to close its junior conservatoire this year left him "speechless".

It means hundreds of children missing out on music lessons.

Rhys, who grew up in Cardiff, is probably best known for his role in spy series The Americans, for which he won a Primetime Emmy, and he played the lead in the recent TV remake of Perry Mason.

He is an honorary fellow at the college, where he occasionally goes back to speak to students, and said it was a visit there as a 16-year-old which put him on the path to acting.

In 2023 Matthew Rhys helped save a pub in the Gwynedd village of Pennal, where his family have roots

"If there's one thing I think Wales has always done well it's the nurturing of art in the youngsters of Wales," he said.

"There's no downside to doing art of any kind in your youth. It only opens doors, broadens horizons and helps you, I believe, down the line.

"And so to strip the primary funding, I think, is woeful."

He said it was "galling" that the arts had historically been treated as second fiddle to more scientific industries.

"It's a kind of blind ignorance that the arts are always, I think, treated as a second class subject to a degree.

"What is worrying at the moment is how much the arts are being stabbed as we have seen with the Welsh National Opera (WNO) and National Theatre Wales.

"I don't believe institutions like these can survive, the way the government is currently treating them."

Tim Rhys-Evans of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama says he often speaks to students worried about their future

College principal Helena Gaunt said closing the junior conservatoire was a "very difficult decision" which it felt forced to make due to lack of funds.

She is calling for an increase in funding for the arts.

"We say a lot that this is a cultural nation, and if we want to continue to be a really cultural nation we have to invest in that - and that includes the college," she said.

Last year WNO had a 10% cut from its application for standstill funding from Arts Council Wales, while National Theatre Wales lost all its core funding.

Arts Council Wales's funding from the Welsh government was cut by 10.5% this year.

Tim Rhys-Evans, director of music at the college, said he frequently had conversations with students worried about their future.

"We have a lot of conversations about the state that the arts world is in," said Mr Rhys-Evans.

"Are there going to be jobs for them when they leave here? I tell them the world is always going to need creatives.

"The difference that we have made to the international arts scene is something that we all need to be really proud of, and make damned sure it’s still going to be here in generations to come."

Ms Gaunt said it was "essential" for the college - which turns 75 this year - and the arts sector more widely for levels of funding be be "rebuilt to former levels".

She said: "Much more can be achieved and contributed to our societies by relatively modest increases in funding."

The Welsh government said: “The arts sector makes a vital contribution to our social, cultural and economic fabric - enriching our communities and inspiring future generations.

"Our draft budget for the next financial year will be published next week.”