Art without compromise

I am an artist based in a remote corner of Cumbria/County Durham. I mostly make large-scale art installations in rural locations. For the past ten years or so my work has been concerned with landscape – its use, history and content. For me the audience is an integral element in the installations and my works tend to be public events which can attract thousands of people. The works are mostly temporary and as such only exist for a week or two, before they are broken down and industrially recycled. The ‘once upon a time’ element is part of their draw, with visitors taking home memories and the work living on as part of the collective memory of the local community. I rarely exhibit in conventional arts environments – I’ve only shown three pieces in galleries in the past ten years, and so my work tends to fall outside the established artworld consciousness. I’m more likely to be featured in the farming media that the arts press.

Up until three years ago I also ran a rural arts organisation based in an isolated sheep-market town with a remit to provide and promote access to quality contemporary art in the rural environment. This was largely through a programme of gallery exhibitions in our small exhibition space, and eventually through the occasionally-successful FRED festival across Cumbria. However, the constant struggle to develop and grow ideas with ever-shrinking budgets stopped it being fun, and when it took my own money to make things happen, it was time to call it a day.

Nothing new there. The nature of rural regions is a simple numbers thing – there just aren’t enough people to generate money for the local authorities, so there’s never really been any money for anything. We’re used to underfunded services, and the arts are no exception. With all the talk about squeezed funding for the arts, it should also be remembered that some parts of the rural economy are doing rather well: farming traditionally does well in a recession, and stock and grain prices are the best they’ve been for years. Tourism also continues to grow, as more people take holidays in the UK.

My work comes from a mixture of sources, currently about 50:50 private commissions and work for local authorities or arts organisations. The breakdown between private and public funding in terms of money, though, is nearer 80:20. Of the public money, more of it comes from the agricultural and tourism pots than the arts – not surprising as sheep farming and tourism are the main industries where I live. It’s a rural thing.

A few years ago I realised that relying on public arts funding wasn’t a sustainable business model. As a result I’m always looking at alternative ways to realise new work. It’s no longer enough just to see how much a project will cost and where the money will come from. I have to look to see what a project can generate, calculate its added value. Understanding the extra value my work can offer businesses outside the arts has helped secure more private commissions. It may be that for them the art is a by-product of what they want, but for me it means less compromise and the ability to realise my own projects. And that I guess is the ultimate goal – to make art without compromise. That and keeping a roof over my head and bread on the table.