Whilst there may have been an injection of funding by the government for the cultural sector up until the recent austerity cuts, there is clearly still an independently inspired artistic impulse that lives on despite the administrative bureaucracy trying to promote it. Clusters of artists as has occurred in Hebden Bridge, St Ives and of late from Buxton up to sunny New Mills in Derbyshire, seem to have developed without any formalised support, so how should artists respond to such buoyancy in the cultural sphere? Should we be campaigning for more funding for the arts, and if so with what arguments - spur to economic generation, transformative powers, social well-being or because it's good for our soul, and how should that funding be distributed? Or is it best to leave art to take its own course without formal patronage so it doesn't become over commodified?

Some background readings

Origins of Creative Industries Policy in The Creative Industries by Terry Flew 19 April 2011

Clare Allan: Burnt Wood and Paper at The Portico, reviewed by Simon Belt, Manchester Salon November 2012

The Creativity Gap, by James Heartfield

The sacred in art is about more than religion, by Kenan Malik, Guardian 18 March 2014

David on whether London is overrated as a place for artists, by Dave Bowden, IdeasTap 2 April 2014

Watch video of the speaker and audience comments below. Thanks to Dan Clayton the documentary filmmaker from Leeds for this.

Sponsored by

This discussion was kindly sponsored by Kinder Kitchens, a kitchen design company with their showroom on Albion Road, New Mills, Derbyshire. The Kinder Kitchen showroom has several kitchen displays showing both contemporary and traditional themes as well as a range of worktops including granite, solid wood and laminate. These kitchens show some bespoke hand-made features that make their kitchen displays unique.