Another aspect of the professional art world that often strikes me is how out-of-place I can feel. As someone from very traditional working-class stock, I rarely meet creative professionals with similar life experiences.
I feel passionately that arts should be accessible to everyone, no matter their background. Race, gender, sexuality, disability, class – nothing should be a barrier. In fact, I feel that the best art is created by diverse groups of people – it’s probably one of the reasons I find street art so exciting.
How can we ensure that the arts don’t become the reserve of the elite? Where is it written than only white middle-class people can engage with culture?
I think part of the answer probably lies with some of the issues I explored in my last blog about money – working classes are less able to take the risk of an unsteady job as they don’t have savings or family money as a safety net. However, I think there is also a cultural issue starting right at school age. Particularly under the current Government’s agenda of stripping back arts education, we are losing an entire generation of potential artists as there are no music, dance or drama classes. There should be opportunities for children of all ages to engage in the arts as part of the curriculum – not just as (often pricey) extracurricular activities which are simply out of reach for many poorer families.
That’s one of the reasons my recent Call of the Wild event was so great to be a part of – it was a completely free-to-attend workshop where families could engage with a range of arts opportunities. It was great to see a range of families attending, of all different backgrounds and abilities.
I find this especially important as I think people from these underrepresented backgrounds often have the most pressing issues which would benefit from the catharsis and exposure that the arts can offer. Take, for example, Lawrence Hoo’s poetry and current CARGO project. No-one can deny these are important issues to air, and no-one is better placed to do so than the people who have directly been affected by these issues for their whole lives.
That’s why I think diversity of all kinds is the most important issue facing the arts right now.