The grant will be used to research how financial inequality puts people off working in the arts
A CARDIFF-based gallery has been awarded a £45,000 grant to explore how financial inequality prevents people from engaging with the visual arts in Wales.
Over the next 18 months g39, on Oxford Street in Adamsdown, will use this money to examine how providing consistent support to working class artists and art lovers could help their long-term involvement with the arts.
The grant comes from Art Fund, a national charity which supports British art institutions. It is one of 40 “Reimagine” grants announced this week for galleries across the UK.
Chris Mooney-Brown, director of g39, said: “This project is largely a consequence of the pandemic, which served to highlight the gross inequalities of our society.
“We were particularly struck by the precarity of arts workers and artists with little or no financial security.”
G39 is an artist-run organisation that serves artists around Cardiff and the UK, with art exhibitions throughout the year as well as studios for artists-in-residence.
Mr Mooney-Brown said: “Artists’ livelihoods were impacted profoundly, and the precarious gig economy and the portfolio careers of artists and art workers collapsed. It laid bare challenges faced by the workforce in Wales that were previously hidden or less obvious.”
Tom Cardew, 33, of Adamsdown, is currently an artist-in-residence at g39. He was happy to hear the gallery had been acknowledged nationally for its work.
He said: “It doesn’t surprise me that g39 has received this grant because they are really important for a lot of artists and networks in Cardiff and South Wales.
“It’s quite different to a lot of places in Wales as others can be very outward-facing, whereas g39 focuses more on working with artists not just for exhibitions, but also helping them make their work and get by financially.
“I’ve found their support really valuable over the years.”
Art Fund has given a total of £2 million to cultural organisations in its latest round of Reimagine grants. Museums, galleries, and other institutions applied for between £5,000 and £50,000 to support their work as they recover from the pandemic.
Director of Art Fund Jenny Waldman said: “Art Fund’s latest Reimagine grants will allow even more cultural organisations to deepen their resilience for the future, turning some of the challenges, but also learnings, of the last two years into even greater resources for their communities.”
