Andrew Goodyear, who was re-elected as chairman at last week’s AGM, is in discussion with Dan Houseago, who has been appointed group director for economy in the new-look government structure devised by States chief executive Charlie Parker.
Meetings have been taking place with arts organisations, Mr Goodyear says, after the Arts Centre, ArtHouse Jersey (formerly Jersey Arts Trust) and the Opera House sent a joint letter to election candidates asking them to support the creative sector, which they claim is under-funded.
Ahead of the AGM, Mr Goodyear went further by writing to the Arts Centre’s more than 900 members. He claimed that low financial reserves caused by a lack of government funding and support meant the organisation was at its most critical point in its 35-year history.
‘We simply do not have the funds necessary to operate on the current basis,’ he wrote.
‘The time has long passed when we could present a balanced budget due to a consistent lack of investment both in terms of the scale of the revenue grant received from the States and the lack of capital investment in the Phillips Street building.This has resulted in our modest levels of cash reserves having been slowly eroded as we struggle to maintain a building which has not seen significant investment since opening in 1983.’
For example, he added, the sound system, which is crucial for performances, needs to be replaced but there is no cash to update it.
In addition, he went on to say that the organisation has lost office, performance and rehearsal space at St James and the Old Magistrate’s Court.
He also accused the States of relinquishing its obligations to the Arts Centre and failing to meet promises made a decade ago by Education for a new building.
For its first 31 years the Arts Centre came under the Education Department but four years ago it was switched to Economic Development.
Mr Goodyear said neither departments placed the arts and culture at the top of their priorities.
In 2012, the Arts Centre received an annual grant of £455,000 from the States, £5,000 less than it got this year. It represented a drop of one per cent, while the cost of living has risen by nearly 20 per cent.
And, over the same period, total government spending has gone up from about £600 million to more than £700 million.
‘We have spent the last decade relaying these messages to government with little success,’ Mr Goodyear said. ‘Our relationship with government should be a partnership.
‘The government is obligated to ensure there is a cultural strategy for the Island and has taken the decision to outsource the delivery of this strategy to organisations like the Jersey Arts Centre. This is not a discretionary activity.’
Notwithstanding his frustration, Mr Goodyear said that after meeting Mr Houseago he remains optimistic of finding a solution.
‘Hopefully, we are going to engage with government in a positive way to get the right outcome,’ he said.
