Citizen Journalism makes my writing efforts seem minor. But here’s my latest offering – an only somewhat tongue in cheek argument for stopping of all government arts grants. More seriously, my underlying point is that if we are going to talk about an arts economy, then we need to remember that an economy is supposed to be sustainable. And the arts economy, given its cycle of boom bust particularly amongst the big arts companies, is clearly not.

http://www.artshub.com.au/ahau1/news/news.asp?Id=76798

“Grant funding is a vicious, non- productive circle – just like long term reliance on the dole. It ties people into a pre-determined model, instead of exploring alternatives. It’s a bureaucratic, unimaginative way to do business. Each year the Australia Council and sundry state government arts ministries publish their glossy grant round booklets. Each year arts managers and artists pore over the colourful pages, considering how they can manipulate and massage their current visions into the frameworks compiled by a bunch of government employees sitting in their ergonomically designed cubicles.”