The aim of the Save the Arts campaign is to encourage people to sign a petition which will be sent to the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. It points out that it has taken 50 years to create a vibrant arts culture in Britain that is the envy of the world and appeals to the government not to slash arts funding and risk destroying this long-term achievement and the social and economic benefits it brings to all.
Over a hundred leading artists including David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Anthony Caro, Howard Hodgkin, Anish Kapoor, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin have joined the campaign to make the case against the proposed 25% cuts in government funding of the arts. The campaign acknowledges that reasonable cuts and efficiencies are necessary but that the 25% cuts being proposed will destroy much of what has been achieved and will have a particularly damaging impact on smaller scale arts organisations, as well as on national and regional museums and their collections.
The first stage of the campaign presents a new video animation by artist David Shrigley highlighting the effect of the funding cuts and a new work by Jeremy Deller with Scott King and William Morris. Each week, the work of a different artist will be released. Mark Wallinger will present the next project.
The costs of David Shrigley’s animation have been covered with a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. All artists engaged in this project have generously donated their time, talent and art.
The London branch of the Turning Point Network includes representatives from:
Acme StudiosArtangel
Barbican
British Film Institute
Camden Arts Centre
Cape Farewell
Central Saint Martin’s College
Chisenhale
Cubitt
Engage
Frieze
Greater London Authority
Hayward Gallery/ Southbank Centre
ICA
Iniva
National Portrait Gallery
Photographers Gallery
Royal Academy
Serpentine Gallery
South London Gallery
Tate
The Whitechapel Gallery
Artists Supporting the Save the Arts campaign
Faisal AbduallahDavid Austen
Charles Avery
Fiona Banner
Jordan Baseman
Becky Beasley
Zarina Bhimji
Karla Black
Martin Boyce
Anthony Caro
Jake & Dinos Chapman
Adam Chodzko
Steve Claydon
Nathan Coley
Matt Collishaw
Nigel Cooke
Tony Cragg
Michael Craig-Martin
Juan Cruz
Ian Davenport
Richard Deacon
Tacita Dean
Richard Deacon
Jeremy Deller
Willie Doherty
Peter Doig
Tracey Emin
Nogah Engler
Luke Fowler
Anya Gallaccio
Ryan Gander
Ori Gerscht
Liam Gillick
Andy Goldsworthy
Douglas Gordon
Antony Gormley
Brian Griffiths
Sunil Gupta
Maggi Hambling
Richard Hamilton
Mona Hatoum
Susan Hiller
Damien Hirst
David Hockney
Howard Hodgkin
Runa Islam
Alison Jackson
Chantal Joffe
Isaac Julien
Alan Kane
Anish Kapoor
Michael Landy
Mark Leckey
Hew Locke
Sarah Lucas
Steve McQueen
Malcolm Morley
Ron Mueck
David Nash
Rosalind Nashashibi
Mike Nelson
Tim Noble
Humphrey Ocean
Harold Offeh
Julian Opie
Cornelia Parker
Peter Peri
Grayson Perry
Susan Philipsz
Tom Phillips
Marc Quinn
Fiona Rae
Peter Randall-Page
Bridget Riley
Conrad Shawcross
Yinka Shonibare
David Shrigley
Bob and Roberta Smith
Terry Smith
Simon Starling
Sam Taylor-Wood
Jurgen Teller
Wolfgang Tillmans
Mark Titchner
Keith Tyson
Francis Upritchard
Jessica Voorsanger
Mark Wallinger
Rebecca Warren
Gillian Wearing
Sue Webster
Richard Wentworth
Rachel Whiteread
Cathy Wilkes
Jane and Louise Wilson
Bill Woodrow
Richard Wright
Carey Young
Toby Ziegler