It was with great relief that the arts community heard on Monday morning that the penny had finally dropped. The creative end of South Australia’s arts was in desperate need of some sustenance.
As Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said: “It’s been a long time coming.”
Hundreds of once-familiar faces came out of the woodwork to hear Premier Peter Malinauskas and Ms Michaels announce $80 million in additional funding, including for the creative end of the arts, over 4 years.
It was as though a cloud had lifted over the arts of Adelaide. In fact the sun came out at a very propitious moment just as dollars began to be mentioned.
The general impression from the Malinauskas Government to date had been that it was doing its best to dodge any mention of those people who scrape a living from their art.
The footballing Premier hand-balled the arts portfolio to a newbie minister in Michaels, the Lot 14 Tarrkarri Centre and Adelaide Concert Hall plans remain frozen, the arts and cultural institutions were sweating over the lack of funding, and funding for creatives was withering away to a joke on the public purse vine.
People in high places spoke of a reluctance for Labor to be associated with the arts for fear of being accused of murdering hospital beds, ramping ambulances, or getting in the way of car races and football fans.
But this was it: Peter Malinauskas talking about how crucial arts was to South Australia’s identity; a nation-leading hub where artists and creatives could thrive. He even referenced the transformative effect of Don Dunstan’s reign on the arts 50 years ago.
“But that very success has made the arts sector easy for governments to take for granted,” he said. “Or for some governments it has made the arts a target for savings, which is another word for cuts.”
“We want to reaffirm the importance of the arts to public life.”
His newfound passion for the arts was particularly focussed on democratisation through participation, even going so far as to present it as a way of diverting young people from their social media screens.
Key figures in the announcement were an additional $80 million over four years. That includes kicking off with $13 million focussed at the creative end of arts and culture.
It is important to realise nearly all the present State Government “arts” budget – about $149 million a year – is not discretionary funding. It is tied up meeting the running costs of cultural institutions. That ranges from the Festival Centre to libraries, museums and the Art Gallery of SA. Next comes the main arts companies like Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, SA Theatre Company and Adelaide Festival.
The actual creatives get a poor deal at the margins. They include film-makers, writers, composers, designers, choreographers, visual artists along with all the artists and performers who work with them. Fresh funding may improve their chances of income, recognition and bringing their work to audiences. We’ll see.
Ms Michaels’s announcements came in a set of bites designed to match a new set of aspirational policy strategies sewn together over several years after extensive consultation with the community and released under the banner A Place to Create.
They include:
$2.3m to support participation and first nations artists.
$2.5m to young people, especially through the youth arts centre, Carclew, youth orchestras and an interactive experience being built for the State Library for children
$1.5m to original local music and live music venues
$1m+ for artists to be directly supported by increased grants and funding programs including schemes to encourage donors.
There’s even a new name for our government arts office; Create SA
Among the institutions, the Art Gallery of SA is to receive the lion’s share of new funding.
The newly installed director of the Art Gallery of SA, Jason Smith, was there to confirm that $15 million would go towards a series of four important winter exhibitions at the gallery from 2026 to 2029.
There is also an in-kind contribution of $4m to add to the Federal Government’s $7m to make a creative hub out of the Adelaide Central School of Art.
There is a plan to re-open the Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, which has been closed, awaiting some TLC even as hundreds of millions of dollars budgeted for Tarrkarri is being debated.
Is there anything for literature? Can’t see it mentioned in any coverage, so imagining not?
If they want high rates of engagement with the arts, they should really be looking at literature. Was there any mention of books, Dad?