Feeling undervalued as a creative? You are not alone - Interviewed and Edited by Jess Wishart

Earlier this year, the UK government put forward a proposal to cut funding for arts courses at higher education institutions by 50%. After a year where museums, music venues and art galleries had to close their doors to the public with many not surviving, and students paying full tuition fees with little or no access to studios this is just another unnecessary hit to an industry crying out for help. In times of crisis art is an indispensable asset to society - and yet it has never in recent times been so undervalued. Young people who decide they want to continue on a creative path with their education after leaving school are far too often met with hurdles they must overcome in order to pursue this. Whether it’s dealing with people who will tell them the arts are not a real career path, a lack of access to facilities that would allow them to properly explore their passions, worries about how they could finance their studies, or a government who seems to be doing everything in their power to discourage them from going down this path. These difficulties are acutely imposed on those from less privileged families who may face pressure to enter into a line of work with more financial stability, or may not have spent summers going around visiting the latest exhibitions and productions as these are sadly still not as accessible to everyone as they should be. Unfortunately these issues don’t end once you begin learning at a college or university level. The costs of materials, laptops, softwares and more essential tools to creative learning come at no small price and the little financial help that is provided to students in order to afford such things is under threat to be cut in half. In such a difficult time within the creative industry it is more important than ever to look after and look out for one another. Community is absolutely vital and we must not forget or undervalue its significance. Pause or Pay is a UK wide movement that found its roots in standing up for students who lost studio access in March of 2020 due to the pandemic. They have since expanded their area of concern to all issues facing arts institutions, standing in solidarity with students from all over the country. Original Magazine: As art students and graduates, why is a sense of community so important? Pause or Pay: I think a sense of community for art students is so important because it's the space which is crucial to our work developing and progressing; we learn so much from our communities as we bounce ideas back and forth, taking inspiration and critique from each other. Without this our ideas end up circulating our own heads and we aren't given an output for all that we are making. I also think that the dialogue between the artist and audience is a really big part of the process, but with no community to see the work of students, then this conversation isn't being had. I think like all communities, we thrive in the spaces where we are surrounded by the people who know us best. And after several years of a degree, graduating students have really learnt to understand each other's practice more than anyone else. Original Magazine: Why was the Pause or Pay platform created? Pause or Pay: Pause or Pay UK emerged in April 2020 as a response to the disruption of studio-based learning by the pandemic. Students on practical and creative courses were paying full tuition fees yet receiving a fraction of the education entitled to them previously, with no access to studios and university facilities, and reduced contact hours. We have seen students dangerously attempt to complete their degree and continue their creative practice outside of university facilities as their courses still require them to be producing outcomes as if the pandemic didn't exist. For example, photography students using dangerous chemicals in a space unfit for the purpose of developing photos. We are demanding that students are either allowed to pause their studies under the recognition that it is a physical impossibility and dangerous to suggest a continuation of artistic activities outside the studio and the safety of a workshop. Or for the government to financially assist these institutions to refund previous fees or discount fees to reflect the loss of teaching, studios, access to facilities, and industry networking opportunities. Whilst Pause or Pay UK was created in response to particular conditions for students which arose as a result of the pandemic, our manifesto and aims aspire for a more accessible and diverse art education and a reimagining of the art school. Original Magazine: What are your thoughts on the proposed funding cuts to arts courses - and is there anything that we can do to help prevent them from being put in place? Pause or Pay: The proposed funding cuts to arts courses are yet another example of the arts being deprioritised by the government. Creative students are persistently being disregarded because of the ignorant belief that they are less essential and of less economic worth. Not only does this directly impact current creative students but it reduces the accessibility of the arts for future students and creatives. The value of creativity is constantly being undermined, whilst playing such a crucial part of everybody's life, everyday. We would have thought that after a year in lockdown when a huge number of people turned to the creative industry during this difficult period, such as through films, music, sewing, making, that we may have finally realised this... but sadly not. Even if the dip in OfS funding is counteracted by some means, the proposal only serves to pitch students, subjects, and academics against each other for meager slices of the funding pie. Higher education funding has decreased drastically over the years, and all of us within the university, regardless of the subjects you teach or learn, need to link our fights to pushback against the cuts. At the moment there are a number of petitions circulating which we can sign to help to prevent this proposal going through, and student protests are also being organised. I think it's also really important to simply be having the conversation that enables people to understand how integrated the arts are within our life, the value of creativity both to art students and everyone else, and why their education deserves to be protected as much as any other subject. Original Magazine spoke with three students of arts courses both graduate and current to gain an insight into their opinions and experiences. I believe that the creative arts are society’s mirror and, in order to accurately reflect and represent society, people from every background must be represented, at every level. That is not the case now but we will certainly not make any progress with that by cutting funding, and therefore access, to arts courses. — Imogen Mackie Walker As to funding cuts, I already feel like we are underfunded and forgotten about, so this just feels like an attack on creatives, why are they cutting ours and no one else’s? Are our skills and careers less important to the government? — Kami Pawlus Proposed cuts are terrifying now as a graduate. What is more terrifying is that the institution does not seem to pay any heed to industry apprehensions. Rather than accommodating and pushing people in personal career paths, they take in a large number of students for money, knowing these students will likely not gain employment in the industry. The amount of students they let in is totally disproportionate to the number of opportunities within the industry, and they don’t necessarily seek to promote diverse artists beyond their marketing quota. — Anonymous Interviewed and edited by Jess Wishart @jessamiahh