In response to the British government’s proposal to cut funding for the arts by 25 percent, British artists have taken not to the streets, but to their studios. Under the aegis of the Turning Point Network, a national consortium that promotes the arts, over a hundred leading artists have launched a campaign that features not just the typical slew of petitions, but also original works of art.

On the campaign’s Web site, the public can view an animated film by David Shrigley that makes the case for the importance of arts funding, marshaling statistics and facts and combining them with the artist's familiar humor and charm that have been successfully deployed for various ends  (including selling Pringle of Scotland sweaters).

In the short film, the production of which was financed by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, a farmer — whose traditional, non-elitist profession supports the notion of a wide and democratic public for the arts in Britain — tells his son about the proposed cuts as he goes about his daily chores, making economic, cultural, and patriotic arguments for state sponsorship of the arts.

Interspersed with these scenes, handwritten texts inform viewers that "the growth of the arts has helped renew derelict city areas in Britain" and that "of the top 10 tourist attractions in the U.K., 8 are museums." After a gently mocking depiction of an incompetent soccer player that evokes England’s less-than-stellar performance in the World Cup this summer, the culturally-minded farmer adds that the arts "are one of the few things we have left to be proud of." 

><br>>

The Web site and film state that artists are willing to accept limited steps toward financial austerity, but that the size of the cuts proposed would devastate the country’s thriving art scene. The group’s press release expresses the fear of "a particularly damaging impact on national and regional museums and their collections." According to the Washington Post, major arts institutions in Britain typically garner 50 percent of their funding from the government, compared with a mere 10 percent in the U.S.

><br>>

In addition to David Shrigley’s film, a different artist will create a new work approximately every week in support of the campaign. The first piece, officially released today, is a poster created by Jeremy Deller with Scott King whose bright lettering proclaims a quotation from 19th-century English socialist, artist, and intellectual William Morris: "I do not want art for a few any more than I want education for a few, or freedom for a few." The Shrigley film has already gone viral in England, and the plan is for the posters to start appearing on London streets.

The next artist up is Mark Wallinger, whose piece will not be announced until its release on September 20. Whatever the collective effort’s ultimate impact may be, given that the roster of artists supporting the project includes the Chapman brothers, Tracey Emin (whose firefighting skills Shrigley's short film teasingly prods), Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, and Steve McQueen, Britain can certainly look forward to some interesting and provocative public art coming out of the campaign as it progresses.