Arts support hit by recession

Levels of UK business funding of the arts have fallen back by nearly a tenth this year, after record giving in 2008.

Research by Arts & Business, which monitors corporate funding of the arts, shows that non-state investment in the arts fell from £687million ($1.12billion, €776m) to £655m during the past year.

The biggest losers were museums, whose funding fell by 37 per cent overall to £81m. In the UK’s last serious recession, in 1991-92, arts funding dropped by 14 per cent. Arts & Business predicts that there are ‘two difficult years ahead’ for the arts.