The creative industries - just for rich kids?
As part of our 'A Class Apart' feature, we delve into our archive of 'Rants', a series of opinion pieces by guest writers, for this pertinent text by Becky Hunter from 2010
Art Party Conference, Scarborough, 2013
Massive budget cuts have already shockwaved ‘a chill through the arts world’. Now, an independent survey reveals more difficult truths for aspiring creatives, this time regarding relationships between wealth and career progression.
According to the poll, commissioned by national charity Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE), while most parents are supportive of their children entering a creative field, only 35% are well-connected enough to assist them in finding internships or in networking with friends and family in the business – perpetuating a white, well-heeled, upper-middle class arts sector.
CCE’s chief executive, Paul Collard is committed to tackling the problem: ‘Creative Partnerships… helps to introduce children to a range of creative professionals’, aiming ‘to support interested young people no matter what their background to get a foot in the door.’
Given the huge impact of early-life experiences, empowering children to see a creative career as a viable option makes sense. I come from a working/lower middle class background in the deprived North-East of England, with no family career network. Encouragement from teachers and visiting artists throughout comprehensive school skyrocketed my creative confidence and – feeling utterly entitled – I entered a top London art school.
While role model artists of the YBA generation, such as Gillian Wearing, embraced working class roots, at Chelsea I found myself one of a tiny percentage of non-privately educated students. Unprepared for the necessary social adjustments, my artwork suffered, as did my mental health.
Sob story aside, here is my point: the creative industries are certainly not just for rich kids. The door must be flung wide open to people from all communities. Yet, if we don’t prepare deprived young people for the often alien, affluent atmosphere they will encounter in the arts, progress will not be made.
