“Reach for the stars and if you don’t grab them, at least you’ll fall on top of the world.”
Mr Worldwide is on my mind. The musician recently visited Dublin where he treated hordes of bald cap clad fans to a dose of Pitbull positivity. This is the man who gave us the lyrical gems such as “This is for everyone going through tough times, been there done that, but everyday above ground is a great day remember that” and “Excuse me, Excuse me. I might drink a little more than I should tonight”.
But it’s the motivational, “reach for the stars…” that’s currently on my mind.
It’s not the most unique line. Variations of this maxim exist globally. The closest, in Ireland, we might consider to be Oscar Wilde’s “we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. A slightly more pessimistic slant, but, let’s face it, reaching for the stars is not the most Irish thing to do.
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What you are much more likely to hear, in the land of one hundred thousand welcomes, is “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush” (ie, don’t risk it – what you have may be better), a slightly more emphatic “sure, give it a lash” (ie, try – but not too hard) or a basic “shoot”, uttered when you have missed something that you never told anyone you were aiming for.
Humble is what this (humble) nation is all about.
Anyway, I’m thinking about this – Pitbull, the stars, humility – after an online meeting with the National Campaign for the Arts – the group are campaigning for the retention and extension of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot programme.
Shortly before the meeting was due to start, Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan announced that the scheme would be extended for an additional six months. We were off to a good start. This additional funding period would allow more time for the Government to evaluate the pilot programme, introduced by Mr O’Donovan’s predecessor Catherine Martin, and decide on its future.
Both government parties committed to continuing the Basic Income for the Arts in their 2024 election manifestos. Fianna Fáil, the majority party, did so with slightly more emphatic language that included a commitment to addressing access issues for disabled artists.
With the report confirming the unequivocal success of the pilot programme, the mood of the meeting was positive. Remember, the chair repeated towards the end of the meeting, our asks are humble.
Around this time, another report was published: Low-Income Disabled Artists’ Navigation of Welfare and Working Lives by academic Philip Finn. The report addresses the following question in an Irish context: “How does the welfare system enable or constrain the working lives, social inclusion, and participation of artists with disabilities?”
Humble is the key word in its findings.
“Artists with disabilities,” Finn writes, “tend to be paid less, have lower rates of employment and apply for and receive lower funding amounts.” Almost half the participants in Finn’s study reported that they “limit the amount they earn due to earning thresholds of disability welfare supports”.
Under current social protection rules, disabled people, artists included, in receipt of Disability Allowance risk losing their essential supports if their monthly earnings supersede a rate lower than the average Irish monthly rental payment.
Very humble indeed.
Equally stark is the report’s finding of the pervasive concern that heavily influences the choices of disabled artists in their careers who fear the potential loss or reduction of supports, compounded by the lack of clarity available from the Department of Social Protection regarding assessment guidelines.
Losing the safety net of Disability Allowance to consider accepting a once-off book publishing contract or arts commission thus may be imprudent. In this scenario, many disabled people would opt for the “humble” option of requesting lesser or no payment or turning down the gig entirely. Reaching for the stars is too risky a move.
For disabled artists the bird in hand approach might be more sensible. Just make sure that bird doesn’t have any great ambitions to fly too far. Otherwise, you might have to swap it for the one that is content to stay put in the bush.
