Merrigong Theatre joins #istandwiththearts campaign

Friday saw thousands of artists and performers across Australia ask the public for their support, and “stand up for the arts”.

At the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, the Sydney Dance Company spoke to the crowd at the end of their show, and will do so again over the weekend, telling audiences that 1300 jobs will be lost and companies will close if the cuts are not reversed.

Merrigong’s artistic director Simon Hinton said the issue has been ongoing for almost a year but now it’s time to ramp up the fight ahead of the federal election.

Last month, 65 arts organisations lost recurrent Australia Council funding after the arts funding agency was forced to cut its multi-year grants program back from six years to four years, after losing more than $100 million in government funding in 2015. 

Mr Hinton said what everyone is calling for is an actual policy and strategy for the arts as many organisations are “at breaking point”.

Labor and the Greens have both indicated they would favour bringing back funding to arts programs, though the Coalition is yet to come to the party.

“The main thing is not about politics but us as a community, understanding that culture and the arts have such a vital part to play in the health of our community and we can’t take that for granted, we must support it,” Mr Hinton said.

As Merrigong is largely funded by Wollongong City Council and state government funding, the company hasn’t been too badly affected though many other companies that visit the region have.

“We will see in the next few years that the supply of work that can come and tour here, and the number of artists from this region who work in those companies, affected,” Mr Hinton said.

He believes the danger is the public will see bigger companies like the Australian Ballet or the Sydney Symphony Orchestra go untouched but says “the arts is an ecology”.

“Hugo Weaving and Nicole Kidman have become who they are because they came through that ecology of the small theatre companies and youth companies that have been damaged so badly.”

Over the next two weeks visitors to Wollongong’s arts precinct will be asked to sign an "avant card" in support of the campaign.

Meantime, Hugo Weaving said it's vital to get the message out before the election “so that the future remains bright for the whole arts sector”.

“I stand with the arts and request the recent devastating cuts be reversed."

Pledge your support – ​click here #IStandWithTheArts