Photo: Clem Onojeghuo | Unsplash
Ireland's government has begun to pay 2,000 artists a weekly income of 325 euros ($325). During the coronavirus pandemic, venues for the arts were shut down for long stretches, deeply impacting artists' income. In response, Catherine Martin -- Ireland's Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media -- put together a taskforce to explore how the arts could recover from the "unprecedented damage" caused by the pandemic, and from that group, the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, which will run 3 years at the cost of €25 million, was born. Recipients include over 700 visual artists, 584 musicians, 204 people working in film, 184 writers, around 170 actors, 32 dancers and choreographers, 13 circus artists, and 10 architects. All of them will also take part in a research study that will collect data on the impact of the payment. Demand for the pilot was high: over 9,000 people applied and 2,000 recipients were selected randomly and anonymously. Martin remarked that the pilot program has the "potential to fundamentally transform how we support the arts and creativity".
|
|
More:
