Cost of living: NI artists call for more funding to support sector

"I can't make art... because I don't have the funding to back that up."

Sinéad O'Neill-Nicholl is one of many local artists calling for more investment in the sector.

It comes as approximately three quarters of applications for the Arts Council for Northern Ireland's (ACNI) Support for Individual Artists Programme (Siap) fund were rejected.

ACNI said demand for the scheme has placed "new pressures" on funding available for individual artists.

The fund aims to help artists purchase new equipment and develop new projects.

'I can't make art now'

Sinéad O'Neill-Nicholl said not receiving funding has left her in a difficult financial position

Sinéad O'Neill-Nicholl left work in the public sector to pursue a career in visual arts, but juggles family life with voluntary roles and multiple short-term jobs to get by.

"I really wanted to do something where I got up in the morning, and said: 'Oh my God, I actually love doing this.'

"But I do think I am very stretched at the moment," she told BBC News NI.

Ms O'Neill-Nicholl applied for Siap funding earlier this year to fund a mentoring scheme to progress her career to the next level. Funding would have allowed her to give up some of her paid work.

But her application was rejected in November.

Specialising in visual arts and sound, Ms O'Neill-Nicholl's art often involves live performances

She said she saw her application for funding as an investment in her future as an artist.

"It has really left me in a very difficult financial position even though I'm working," Ms O'Neill-Nicholl said.

"I think my household shopping bill has doubled since this time last year, and what I'm paying out is ridiculous. I'm really having to think about things.

"I can't make art now. I want to, but I can't do that for the foreseeable future because I don't have the funding to back that up."

'The system is broken'

About 920 eligible applications were received for the 2022/23 Siap General Arts Award fund, a combined request for £4.3m in funding.

However, the Arts Council funding pot was £985,000 - and 262 individual artists received money.

Three years ago, the total number of eligible applicants was 280.

"The subsequent 228.6% increase in applications to Siap's General Arts Award scheme this year, compared to those in 2019/20, has placed new pressures on the funding available for individual artists," a spokesperson for the Arts Council said.

A further £16.6m of funding would be needed to properly support and develop artists and organisations, it added.

PhD researcher and curator Jane Morrow said she works up to 14 jobs

PhD researcher and curator Jane Morrow was one of the applicants to get funding.

But she said the amount she and other successful applicants received would leave many making choices between living and working.

"Artists pay taxes, they pay gas bills and electricity bills in a cost-of-living crisis, they have food to put on their own tables and they can't afford to sustain it without a whole lot of other jobs," she said.

"I personally have 14 jobs... the system is just really broken and the problem is that it is hitting individuals."

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Ms Morrow worries a lack of understanding about how artists work will lead to many leaving the industry altogether.

"Northern Ireland has always had an issue with the brain drain in general, but it does mean that not only do artists leave here to go elsewhere to try and sustain their practice, but it also means that they just leave the arts entirely," she said.

"We're absolutely wrecked. The levels of burnout are insane because the perceived commitment to your vocation is supposed to sustain you."

Emma Campbell, a member of the Array Collective, said a lack of funding could mean only wealthy people would be able to make art

Emma Campbell, a member of the Array Collective who won the prestigious Turner Prize in 2021, said artists have been left feeling "devalued" by the lack of investment.

"This is cutting off the arts community at the roots."

Ms Campbell said without proper funding, only certain individuals would be able to pursue art as a career.

"The worse that it gets, only wealthy people will be able to do it," she said.

"People won't stop being artists, but they will stop having the materials to produce art."

Funding set within budgetary pressures

The Department for Communities (DfC), which provides some funding to ACNI, said it recognises the "many challenges faced by arts and creative organisations and individuals in the sector in the current financial climate".

"The department will continue to work, within the confines of its budget, to support the arts," a statement said.

According to DfC figures, £10.35m was given to ACNI for 2022/23, an increase of £150,000 from the previous year.

It added the level of funding is set "within a context of pressures" which are faced by all departments.

In September, the Republic of Ireland launched a basic income pilot for musicians, artists and performers.

For the next three years, about 2,000 creatives will be given a weekly payment of €325 (£278) to pursue their creative work.

The DfC said no plans are in place to introduce a similar scheme in Northern Ireland.

"The department and ACNI will be carefully considering the outcome and evaluation of the Irish pilot to inform the development of any future programmes."