Government have finally announced £1.15b so-called rescue package for the arts, heritage and museums (where’s the libraries?). In a mixture of grants, repayable loans (Tories gonna Tory) and overdue capital investment

SCRUTINY: Although we might be sighing some relief it’s important we continue to scrutinise where this money is from - recognise the pay off (typically austerity), the payback and the distribution...

DISTRIBUTION: govt says the distribution of these funds will be with “expert independent figures from the sector” - who are they? All of this package was put together behind closed doors - we must pry them open.

NEED: How has govt arrived at this figure? Has it been measured? Against what data? Is it enough? Again, we must scrutinise and move beyond gratitude - this isn’t generosity, it’s firefighting.

DISTRIBUTION: again we see our peers in Wales, NI and Scotland given far less investment based largely on population per capita - these systems are antiquated and not demonstrated by need. NI arts needs more than £33m.

NEED: institutions w/the biggest pockets will be astute + prolific enough to replenish reserves and save their teams - we must demand this money is shared with those without capital assets - many of our institutions have commercial side hustles that need to be taken into account!

SHARE: For those of us with infrastructure that means grants can be made we MUST share them with those who don’t - artists, workers, independents. This cannot lead to the protectionism of arts architecture - it must be shared at every level

TRANSPARENCY: There will be massive public scrutiny of our sector and rightly so. Now more than ever the arts fortresses and castles must open their doors (figuratively) and accounts.

The fight isn’t over - we’re not saved. There will be more to close, more redundancies before this cash reaches us. Continue to lobby, question and demand transparency. This could be a moment for arts socialism - let’s not make it the moment we were bought.