Sligo's Artists and Art workers gather to support the National Campaign for the Arts.© Colin Gillen/Framelight.ie

The Campaign, which has the support of Emmy Award winner Dearbhla Walsh, Dervish musician Shane Mitchell, writers Dermot Healy and Leland Bardwell, artists Dorothy Cross, Sean McSweeney , Joe Walker, Grace Weir and Nick Miller, composer Ian Wilson and Sligo born film director Neil Jordan , among other, was launched in response to the McCarthy recommendations which include withdrawing funding to Culture Ireland and the Irish Film Board, the two agencies largely responsible for Ireland’s high international profile. The campaign also calls for the maintenance of existing levels of arts funding for the Arts Council as well as full representation at senior cabinet level. The gathering in Sligo is timely as the city has just celebrated its first “Culture Night” and the phenomenal success of the initiative has illustrated the transformative power of Arts and Culture in a time of recession. The streets of Sligo were alive on Culture Night with thousands of people pouring into the city to take to the streets, to socialize and to take advantage of the diverse range of free events on offer. Sligo’s offering was one of the largest of the nationwide Culture Night programme, and illustrated the rich diversity of artistic life in the county. The Cultural debate is not just one for the souls of the nation; there is very strong economic evidence to back the assertion that arts and culture can help pave the way out of a recession. National and European research (see below) is backed by recent regional research by the Western Development Commission (Creative West 2009) which confirms Sligo’s importance as a cultural centre in the Western Region which generates high quality employment (4.2% share of total employment in Sligo) and stimulates innovation in other sectors. Sligo has a powerful reputation nationally, and abroad, as a county of creativity and innovation, with arts and culture playing a significant role in stimulating rural and regional development on a long-term sustainable basis. This can lead to investment in the county and is an important factor in attracting visitors to the region, perhaps the most important factor. At a national level Cultural Tourism is achieving an annual growth of 15%, three times the overall growth rate for tourism and is worth over €2billion to the economy annually. (Source Failte Ireland Survey of Overseas Travellers / CSO Travel & Tourism.)This represents a third of all business tourism revenue, highlighting that this sector is high yield1 with Cultural Tourism currently accounting for 6 in every 10 visitors to Ireland. In a modern country, a healthy arts and music scene is a key element in keeping a community stimulated, energised and stable. The cuts to arts funding proposed in the Mc Carthy Report could have a disastrous impact on plans for 2010 arts events in Sligo and subsequently provide a lethal blow to local businesses. The local arts community recognises this and is particularly concerned about the long-term damage such drastic measures could have on cultural innovation and development for the city, region and an entire generation. As Colm Tobin noted in a recent interview with RTE: “We’re not talking about the Arts as a luxury in Ireland, we’re talking about it as a necessity….we are an aspect of the health of the nation, an aspect of the education of the nation, an aspect of industrial policy. The Arts is fundamentally embedded in society and not a luxury… It is fundamental to the health and welfare of the nation.”

Sligo's Artists and Art workers gather to support the National Campaign for the Arts.© Colin Gillen/Framelight.ie

A view echoed in the words of artist Dorothy Cross, (whose work is represented in Sligo’s Niland Art Collection): “Art promises like nature does. Sligo is known for its Art and Nature; both must be preserved” and writer Dermot Healy : “It’s the future – not only the here and now- that suffers when the present turns selfish”.

An amazing array of events took place in various and unlikely places around Sligo.

Sligo's Culture Night © Colin Gillen

Tourlestrane 1-14

2nd replay Markievicz Park Sat 26th at 5pm

St John's v Tourlestrane © Colin Gillen/framelight.ie

The countdown has begun towards the GROW YOUR BUSINESS trade workshop, taking place at the Glasshouse Hotel Wednesday, September 16th. Local business people looking to grow their customer base will be given invaluable advice and gain practical hands-on experience regarding growth opportunities. Experts across several fields – print, newspaper, radio, corporate DVD, internet and photography – will be on hand to provide practical advice as to how to expand product lines, grow new services or attract new customers. Display stands and units will be set up around the conference room at the Glasshouse Hotel, allowing you, the visitor, the chance to sit down with representatives from the various service providers, who will explain how technological advances can help you consolidate and expand your business.

Invitation