This McMaster guy is fucking mental.
Actually he's not, most people around the arts that I know (myself included) have been saying and arguing for similar things - that Mcmaster said - for years. Previously in order to qualify for arts funding you have had to meet a certain amount of criteria surrounding audience figures, budget and such that have been totally unreasonable to anyone operating outside of a community arts system, which is why you've seen so much art in your borough, artists working in schools etc.
While this is entirely worthwhile, it's not quite the same thing as producing other types of work, which have maybe suffered as a result. It's also meant that alot of the work has suffered as a result of artists tailoring their work in order to get funding, as opposed to the funders tailoring their applications. Which has basically meant that in order to get artist funding, you have to hire a 'consultant' who then fills in the applications for you, who is a consultant who has been through various Arts Council run courses which tell you how to get arts council funding. It's a very middle management based approach. But basically alot of shite work has come out of that particular system.
It's an interesting thing for them to have done, I've personally been arguing with the Arts Council for years on this particular subject. I don't agree with funding being cut from other areas though.
