It was the word "trauma" that did it: an arts professional was blogging about her response to Arts Council England funding cuts, but sadly I did not feel her pain. Let's keep emotive words for those occasions - war, rape, death - that demand their proper use, and instead deal with the facts, because they have been in short supply in the past few days.
What the Arts Council is doing is, for the most part, a good thing. I have one or two caveats, but believe these adjustments are part of a radical overhaul of arts funding that is long overdue.
Many of those who have contributed to this debate appear to have forgotten that nearly three-quarters of existing ACE grant holders will receive an increase, and dozens of companies will be funded for the first time. ACE does not have a bottomless pit from which to support every single arts organisation that applies, and - as in the rest of life - there will be losers as well as winners. And if funding for new applicants means that some existing dross disappears, then so be it. The Drill Hall in London, for example, says it will go under if its grant is removed: well, as it hasn't staged a decent show in the past five years - trust me, I've sat through most of them - good riddance.
Grants, wrongly allocated, allow companies to operate without even the most basic financial nous. They are like a security blanket for serial bedwetters in that they don't sort out the real issue, merely cover it over. Your unwatchable nonsense - sorry, innovative programming - didn't attract many through the doors last year? No problem, we'll raise your grant this year!
For too long, funding has been given regardless of quality and has been about which boxes - diversity and community in particular - applicants tick. This has led to an appallingly cynical attitude where some organisations appoint a staff or board member simply because they come from a minority, or, worse, inflict their rubbish on unsuspecting schools or care homes in the name of outreach.
If nothing else, the ACE funding debate has galvanised that amorphous thing, the "arts community" into a coherent response and has put a spotlight on the role the arts play in our daily lives. And that must be a good thing, so let's stop bleating and work out how public money should be properly spent.
