NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
I suppose from a personal perspective I should have been quite pleased after all its only a little over a month ago that I was wittering on in my OUTSIDE LEFT column in the Manx Independent about how the government seem to find money to fund the hobbies of some folk (see link):
https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/columnists/bernard-moffatt-outside-left-hobbies-paid-for-by-taxes-1-7519171
But I actually was quite sad when I heard the Sayle Gallery is under threat because the Arts Council are cutting its funding.
I’ve not visited the Sayle recently in fact the last time I ‘patronised the arts’ was a visit to Laxey to see an exhibition Graham Joughin was showing there at Mother Ts Community Centre (and very good it was to!). That seemed to be a community run effort that funds itself – perhaps a model there for the Sayle?
The other thing is crowd funding! We publicised recently (and it will go live tomorrow) the ‘crowdfunder’ to get that headstone on William Kennish’s grave in New York aims to raise £4,000 – hope we can meet the challenge.
Coming back to the Sayle the Arts Council Chairman MLC Geoff Corkish, says ‘while unfortunate, the gallery’s plight is not an isolated one’.
Well probably part of the problem is the Arts Council itself it’s a body like so many other quangos designed for a different age when they could just sit round like a load of cuckoos waiting to be fed the government cheque and then sanctimoniously dish it out to those projects that found favour with them.
What’s needed now is a body that has some go in it which is prepared to lobby hard and encourage the newer funding mechanisms like crowd funding. It’s also clear from the comments from those who run the Sayle that the Arts Council communication skills leave a lot to be desired as apparently an expected phased reduction became a sudden slash!
It’s bizarre actually that government is still wasting money by the shed load like that £300,000 that Laurence Skelly’s DED ‘flushed down the toilet’ and then described as ‘a valuable exercise’. Also that ‘mad’ silt hauling extravaganza that Gawne and Ronan oversaw which will have to be rerun in five years time if not sooner.
Anyway a Sayle ‘crowdfunder’ should get of to a good start because with Geoff Corkish’s MLC salary for doing nothing for the last six months he should be able to ‘push the boat out’
BERNARD MOFFATT
Issued by: The Celtic News
30/11/15
THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE. The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues https://celticleague.net