Niarbyl a Sculpture by Bryan Kneale planned

[display name]

1 hour ago, Gladys said:

Nothing worse than an unkempt lawn. 

Tch! You modern girls

[monasqueen]

20 hours ago, Two-lane said:

Has someone got a link to McEnroe's "You can't be serious"?

Try this one 

 

[Hairy Poppins]

I really can't see the problem. 

[Fred the shred]

What does the black blob signify it looks like a bowl that has gone astray.

[Fred the shred]

And so the comments just keep coming on social media there were 179 on one site all totally against this sculpture, it will be interesting to see what happens.   I think the Arts Council has too much money to play with especially when more important issues need addressing.    Who would have imagined that in 2024 we would have had a food bank our answer to the Victorian soup kitchens.    Perhaps it is time we as a nation had a hard look at our priorities.

[Freggyragh]

I think it would be better somewhere in Laxey, where it might fit with the more industrial landscape, and where Brian's roots are.

[Hairy Poppins]

13 hours ago, Fred the shred said:

And so the comments just keep coming on social media there were 179 on one site all totally against this sculpture, it will be interesting to see what happens.   I think the Arts Council has too much money to play with especially when more important issues need addressing.    Who would have imagined that in 2024 we would have had a food bank our answer to the Victorian soup kitchens.    Perhaps it is time we as a nation had a hard look at our priorities.

You've hit the nail on the head. 

Unfortunately nothing will change. There are too many of our not so great and not so good (and their associated hangers on) who make a nice little salary from the Arts Council/Culture Vannin/Manx National Heritage and those kind of quangos. 

The true cost of them must be something like £10m+ each year. 

[TheTeapot]

I've probably not paid enough attention and missed it, but I had a little look and didn't see the obvious answer.

Has this sculpture been commissioned by someone (MNH for example) or has the artist just said 'he's a sculpture I did, it'll look nice here, that's £50000 please/I donate it to the nation"

 

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

I've probably not paid enough attention and missed it, but I had a little look and didn't see the obvious answer.

Has this sculpture been commissioned by someone (MNH for example) or has the artist just said 'he's a sculpture I did, it'll look nice here, that's £50000 please/I donate it to the nation"

I linked to the press release earlier and a bit more information came out on Thursday.  I don't think the publicity for it has been handled very well and even the basic information about it (dimensions, materials and exact location) have been hard to find out.  I don't think this is because they want to keep things secret, just the useless way that communications 'professionals' communicate.

The 'consultation' has been similarly badly handled.  They did put on an extra session at the Villa Arcade on Saturday (because who's going to trek to Dalby on a wet and windy Thursday afternoon in February) but it was announced and publicised so late that I don't know if many went.

As far as funding goes the press release said:

This project is proposed by Bryan Kneale, who is gifting his time and fee, and if approved will be funded by Isle of Man Arts Council via a lottery funded grant, The Frampton Fund and Culture Vannin, and delivered in partnership with Manx National Heritage and Bryan’s family

So there will be some public money (mainly lottery) involved in the production and installation, but they've also got some outside cash as well and there's no artist fees.

[doc.fixit]

maybe the artist should pay the govt?

[Freggyragh]

17 hours ago, Hairy Poppins said:

You've hit the nail on the head. 

Unfortunately nothing will change. There are too many of our not so great and not so good (and their associated hangers on) who make a nice little salary from the Arts Council/Culture Vannin/Manx National Heritage and those kind of quangos. 

The true cost of them must be something like £10m+ each year. 

Culture Vannin's accounts for year end 2022 are online. They got £100,000 from government, £39900 from lottery duty, and have other ringfenced assets from private donations. From the published accounts of the Manx Lottery Trust it seems that the Arts Council is on a similar deal, with a little more from the lottery, and Sports Council gets less from gov, but more from the lottery. Unless I'm mistaken, government grants from the taxpayer for all three was £220,000 for year end 21 — which is frankly disgusting for a reasonably wealthy jurisdiction. Even with this tory administration the UK central gov spends £4.5B on cultural services alone, with devolved admins, councils and universities adding much more. No wonder people don't want to live here anymore. 

Edited February 12 by Freggyragh

[John Wright]

4 hours ago, Hairy Poppins said:

There are too many of our not so great and not so good (and their associated hangers on) who make a nice little salary from the Arts Council/Culture Vannin/Manx National Heritage

Yes, there are a few, very few, paid workers in Arts Council, Cultute Vannin, and more in MNH. They aren’t well paid jobs, on the whole.

The great, good, and not so good, even hangers on, don’t get paid. I served two terms on the Arts Council, and two separate terms as a trustee at MNH. 

I got expenses. Over the whole time I probably gave 1,000 hours and got less than £1,000 in expenses.

Over that time I spent about £20,000 in sponsorship of visits by Royal Liverpool Phil, Hallé, London City Ballet and Rambert, plus Fascinating Aida.

[Freggyragh]

John, sincere thanks, and I'll extend that to all the hard working folk at these underfunded institutions. 

[Mr Helmut Fromage]

2 hours ago, John Wright said:

Yes, there are a few, very few, paid workers in Arts Council, Cultute Vannin, and more in MNH. They aren’t well paid jobs, on the whole.

The great, good, and not so good, even hangers on, don’t get paid. I served two terms on the Arts Council, and two separate terms as a trustee at MNH. 

I got expenses. Over the whole time I probably gave 1,000 hours and got less than £1,000 in expenses.

Over that time I spent about £20,000 in sponsorship of visits by Royal Liverpool Phil, Hallé, London City Ballet and Rambert, plus Fascinating Aida.

Yes JW most people don’t understand what the lottery money is, where it came from and what it is intended for  - it paid for Louis Theroux a couple of years ago which prompted a man with an events company who has one but takes up two seats in the HoK to ask a question with absolutely no self interest at all - Wannenburgh learned that Lottery funding pays for the talent the Government pay for the £1m loss at the facility (it is shockingly managed and bleeds cash daily)

[thommo2010]

What will happen is people will bump their gums the  sculpture will be installed and then nobody will care.