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Sponsorship very positive as long as it’s enlightened, says director

‘Artists need skills that businesses have – finance, tax, administrative work’

Rough Magic Performers Cormac Lawlor and Sarah Shine at the announcement of the Sky Arts Ignition Partner. Photograph: Alan Betson

Meadhbh McHugh
Fri Feb 14 2014 - 01:00

With a dedicated arts channel, talent scholarships, the large-scale Sky Ignition programme and title sponsorship of the Sky Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, Sky is making waves in the Irish arts community onscreen and on the ground. The reaction seems good and the results are better.

When the Brecht/Weill opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny , opens this year by Rough Magic Theatre Company and Opera Theatre Company, it will be one of the biggest unions of corporate funding and theatre practice in recent tines. It's largely enabled by Sky Ireland.

“We simply couldn’t have attempted it otherwise,” said Rough Magic’s artistic director, Lynne Parker.

The Sky Arts Ignition grant of €230,000 was awarded to the winning project from the Irish competition alone this year. Next year it again allows both UK and Irish applicants. Sky Ireland’s Mark Deering said this “highlights our commitment to Ireland”. But it isn’t philanthropy. As Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with a channel solely for the arts, Sky Arts, it’s in their interest to support ground-level cultural projects in terms of future content and in building audiences: including arts practitioners and supporters. It’s working: Sky Arts reaches more than six million viewers every month.

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The arts are similarly looking for new audiences. “The great benefit for us is the raised profile it gives. Whether or not it’s filmed, it will have huge reach in the audience we can bring in and that was part of the attraction for Sky; we were looking to build a new audience,” said Parker.

Is this the future? “It’s unavoidable. But when you look at this kind of scheme you see that actually it has a benign effect. As long as the sponsorship is enlightened, it’s very positive. The problem is it’s still not part of our culture”.

Sky also offers Sky Academy Arts Scholarships, supporting five young artists a year with bursaries of £30,000. The curator and co-founder of Block T, Grace McEvoy, was shortlisted this year.

“There aren’t as many grants for individuals,” said McEvoy who was attracted to the mentorship element.Artists need skills that businesses have – finance, tax, administrative work – there is opportunity for more holistic collaboration.”

Essentially for those making creative work, the source of funding is less important than the fact it happens at all.

“The more opportunities for artists and creative producers to do what they do: the better.”