Government spending remains the single biggest spender on arts & culture almost everywhere. Naturally, the art scene in any country depends heavily on government support and sustenance. However, 2024 saw several governments – both national and local – turning their backs on the arts.
The most sensational of these was the €130 million cut in the cultural budget by Berlin. The new administration in the German city cited sustainability in the coming year as the reason behind the drastic budget cut, which amounted to 13 percent of the total cultural budget. Despite massive backlash and protests, the city council went ahead and passed the decision.
The UK was also at the receiving end of criticism for its reduced spending on arts & culture. A report found that cultural spending in the UK had reduced by £2.3 billion since 2010-11. Most of these cuts happened at the local level, where city councils prioritized providing more urgent services like elderly care to the citizens. The neighboring Scotland was in a similar boat after it announced the reintroduction of the £6.6 million budget cut to Creative Scotland. As a result, the organization halted applications for artist grants. Meanwhile, the Finnish government also announced its decision to reduce the support to the art and culture sector by €17.4 million in the next year’s budget.
The United States was not far behind as well. In September, Houston’s city council voted to remove $10 million in funding given to Houston Arts Alliance. Oakland took various measures to deal with its $133 million budget deficit – one of which was slashing its cultural budget, which only amounted to 1% of the overall budget, by half.
The budget cuts by various governments have understandably left the art world furious. Without government funding, many non-profits would be unable to support both themselves and vulnerable artists. Artists who directly or indirectly depend on government support would find themselves in jeopardy. It might also lead to an overall dissuasion of artistic growth in the community.