The Art of Funding: Financing the Arts An Examination of Legal Bottlenecks in Government Funding of the Cultural Sector
On 2 March 2023, Ellen Hardy defended her PhD thesis at UM. In her research, she looked through a legal lens at how public money is distributed in the cultural sector and offered solutions to the problems the sector experiences in doing so.
The cultural sector is funded by the government in various ways. It does so through subsidies of all shapes and sizes, as well as through art and culture prizes. So what problems arise and can they be eliminated? These questions are answered in this study. The perspective is that of administrative law, because public money is distributed through subsidies and the subsidy instrument is regulated by the General Administrative Law Act.
The study is structured around four sub-themes. These are (1) the legal form of funding, (2) the legal protection of applicants, (3) the design of the distribution procedure and (4) the requirements for distribution decisions. The legal form does not always appear to be clear in Dutch art and culture awards, which can lead to organising institutions neglecting their legal duties and artists not using their rights. Distribution procedures also lead to bottlenecks. Governments like to distribute culture budgets using the tender system because applications can then be compared and scored. This creates a ranking that is used to distribute the available budget. With cultural subsidies, the finances are usually not sufficient for all positively assessed applications. This raises the question of the legal protection of applicants, especially those who fall just below the 'cut line'. Can they challenge their position in the ranking? Moreover, since 2018, it is obligatory to give all potential applicants equal chances of receiving a grant and grant providers must guarantee a certain level of transparency for the distribution procedure and decision-making. Did the distribution procedures for the National Cultural Basic Infrastructure 2021-2024 meet these requirements? Finally, there is a focus on expert advice and the duty of verification. In cultural grant procedures, grant makers almost always engage experts to advise on the quality of submitted applications. These opinions carry a lot of weight in the decision-making scale. How is it ensured that the grantor maintains control over the diligence of the advisory process?
This study identifies bottlenecks, answers questions and makes recommendations. It establishes a cross link between administrative law and the cultural sector, which is new. The perspective is administrative law, but it is certainly not only intended for administrative lawyers.
To also reach the cultural sector with this research, the main findings have been summarised in a Trial Magazine. In it, the bottlenecks are expressed in crystal-clear terms, without legal jargon. Both the thesis and the Magazine have been available digitally since 3 September 2023. For the thesis: see http://dx.doi.org/10.26481/dis.20230302eh . The magazine can be read at: https://inpress.studiowetenschap.nl/ellenhardy.
Ellen Hardy studied flute at the Maastricht and Brussels conservatories and law at Maastricht University. She worked as a teacher for a long time and was active as a performing musician in the Dutch chamber music sector for many years. She was also a lecturer and researcher at Maastricht University for over two decades. From 1 August 2023, she will work as a University Lecturer in administrative (procedural) law at the Open University.