OUGD601 - Essay Research - Why arts and culture matter?

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/88265413304/speech-on-young-people-and-the-arts-by-harriet 

Why arts and culture matter by Harriet Harman

I come to this as someone who believes that the arts are fundamental to what it is to be human.  For how each individual develops and understands and sees themselves and the world around them.  For how we understand and interpret time and place.

And that is why it must be for everyone, not just for some. And that’s why it is a public policy imperative to make that the case.

There has been a view that public policy on arts, culture and creativity should focus principally on the contribution it makes to the economy. And that is certainly important. 

But it’s about far more than just the economics…

It’s about what it means for each and every individual, for all our communities as well as the economy.

Arts are important for communities

Young people’s engagement in arts is vital in for their sense of community and place.  The leaders of our great cities - like Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Gateshead - are in no doubt about the importance of the arts to civic identity.  And that is why they are so determined to sustain the arts in their cities.  Albert Bore, the Leader of Birmingham City Council, once said that without the arts, our cities are deserts. 

And, beyond the individual, the whole community benefits when the arts are a path to rescuing a young person who has gone off the rails or when the arts play their part in helping people struggling with mental illness.  Arts and culturerefresh the parts that others can’t reach - that’s why it is so incomprehensible to ban books being sent to prison.

Arts are important for the economy

At a time when people ask where the jobs of the future are going to come from, and how we’re going to pay our way in the world, we should be in no doubt about the importance of arts and the creative industries for jobs, growth and the economy.

This country excels in the arts and culture in all their forms.  We produce some of the greatest creativity on the plant – whether it’s music, fashion, film, theatre, broadcast, design, art, our libraries, our museums.  Our cultural creativity is admired and envied – and consumed – around the world.

That’s why the creative economy already accounts for over 2.5 million jobs and contributed over £70billion a year to the UK’s economy and £15.5 billion of exports.  Creative industries are growing faster than any other sector.

This artistic and creative success which is so evident today did not come out of the blue - it is built on years of public support and investment.

Investment which nurtured the creative talent of people from all walks of life, in all parts of this country because arts and culture thrives on the widest pool of talent. 

For our economic success in this sector to continue to grow in the future, it needs a widening not a narrowing talent pool.

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