Ireland basic income for arts workers

SAROJA COELHO, TALIA SCHLANGER (HOSTS): TS: Ireland is known for many things - its rolling green hills, the perfect pour of Guinness, and its vibrant music and arts scene. But the realities of BEING an artist in Ireland aren't always as attractive. The precarity experienced by many artists all over the world was amplified during the Covid Pandemic. Back in 2022, Ireland's federal government announced a pilot program that would give a basic weekly income to reduce the strain on arts workers. They would receive €325 a week - which amounts to roughly $2,000 Canadian a month. That pilot is set to come to an end this winter - but the Irish government recently announced its intention to make the program permanent. Elinor O'Donovan is a visual artist who has been participating in the pilot program. We reached her in Dublin. SC: Elinor, you've been in your studio all afternoon working. Can you tell me what kind of art you make? ELINOR O'DONOVAN: So, I'm a visual artist who makes films, among other things, including installations, drawings, sculptures, and digital media art as well. SC: And you first joined this program when it launched as a pilot in 2022. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about what the program offers artists. EO: So as part of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme, 2,000 artists were randomly selected to receive €325 a week for the duration of the pilot. So I've been receiving that now for the last three years. It was just supposed to be a three-year scheme, but it's been extended to three-and-a-half years, so I'll keep getting €325 a week until February 2026. SC: And how does that impact your life? EO: Yeah, it's been pretty huge, to be honest. It's been really transformative for my work and for my wellbeing in general. When I found out I was going to receive the basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme, I quit my part-time job, which meant that I was able to work as an artist full-time for the last three or so years. And, I guess, from that perspective, it's been hugely transformative to my work and the way that I'm able to make work. SC: The 2,000 spots you just described, those were chosen by a government lottery system. You know, enabling people to participate. But how did they choose who was eligible? EO: Yeah, they left the eligibility criteria quite broad. You just had to, you had to be an artist of some kind. But they accepted different forms of proof. So, you know, you could show that you had an artist website. You could show that you've received funding from the government before. You could show that you've, you know, done exhibitions in public, that kind of thing. SC: But there were real questions now about who's deserving of the stipend. How do people get access? Is it fair? Which kind of art gets supported? Maybe you could open up for us how the government assesses whose art is more valuable to the country, to the citizens who are paying the taxes for the program? EO: Yeah, because it was selected by a lottery, the emphasis of the pilot scheme was really just to see how it affects artists from all different strands. But even from that perspective for the pilot scheme, there were makers who were, you know, excluded from the eligibility criteria. So, for example, designers, fashion designers, my sister is a young fashion designer, and she wouldn't have been eligible to receive the basic income. So, I am part of Praxis, which is the artist union of Ireland. And we are kind of advocating for when there is a successor scheme to the basic income that it is rolled out to people who were omitted from the original pilot scheme. because, you know, in these sort of creative fields, there is still a similar sense of precarity for a fashion designer as there would be for a visual artist, for example. SC: Maybe you could tell us more about that. What are some of the big challenges that face artists who don't have access to that kind of funding? What do their lives look like? EO: Yeah, there's definitely a greater sense of precarity. I mean, the data that's been published as a part of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme has shown that the people who are in the control group. So, you know, the smaller number of people who aren't receiving the, the basic income, you know, that actually, at the start, it didn't seem like there was much difference between the people who are receiving the scheme and not receiving it. But now, after the three years, we're seeing, actually, that there are advantages to having your time as an artist kind of assured, I guess. That you have time to work on your practice more. SC: And what do you think that matters, Elinor? Why does it matter to support artists in this way? EO: I mean, the arts is just extremely valuable to society, I think. You know, even on a, on a practical level, the data published by this pilot scheme has shown that, you know, for every €1 that was spent on the funding the Basic Income for the Arts, it returned €1.39 in terms of value to, and benefit to, society. So, just from, like, a financial point of view, it's been hugely beneficial. But beyond that, you know, I think there is something intangible that the arts offers to culture and the society at large that is harder to measure. But I think it's still extremely valuable. SC: Ireland has now decided that this program is going to be permanent. I wonder how you felt when you heard that? EO: Yeah, it's definitely good news to hear that. I suppose it's tentative good news. We still don't know yet what the successor scheme will really look like. There hasn't been any information published yet about what that will be. There's a lot of uncertainty. The money there, we believe, is only enough to fund 2,000 artists. So, it mirrors the size of the pilot scheme. For it to only still be a very, very small number of artists, compared to, say, the 10,000 people who applied for the Basic Income for the Arts in the first place, to only sort of select 2,000 artists, still doesn't really quite feel good enough. SC: I'm trying to imagine what this look like in your life as an artist. You talked about your, your, the art that you make, that you make film, that you work in digital spaces. I'm wondering what this funding allowed you to create over the time that you've been funded this way. You said your work has improved. Maybe you could tell me about one art piece that you're not really sure would have been possible in the same way if you hadn't had this kind of funding. EO: So, I say that I make films. But, actually, that's a really recent development for me in my practice that has been afforded by being a recipient of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. I went to art school, but I didn't have a formal training in making films. So, having that kind of time to figure out, and write, and produce a short film myself, never mind the fact that I also was then able, with a little bit of the money that was coming to me from the basic income to support paying a producer, paying a cinematographer, paying actors to work with me in this film. So, there's kind of a really nice ecosystem, I think, coming out of the basic income as well in that artists always pay other artists to, to work with them. And so, from having made my first film in 2023 to now sort of consistently making films as part of my practice, I think that's been a huge, exciting development for me as an artist, thanks to the basic income. SC: Elinor, thank you so much for, for telling us about how this has all affected you. EO: Yeah, thank you very much. TS: Elinor O'Donovan is a visual artist and participant in Ireland's Basic Income for the Arts program. We reached her in Dublin, Ireland.