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Education, Sport and Culture Committee says it is eager to see what parts of the States estate could be used for artistic purposes.
Deputy Adrian Gabriel brought up the topic in the last States Meeting of the year, stating that "the buildings that the States owns are effectively blank canvases, and those could be used for street art or any other type of art".
Deputy Gabriel added: "Sponsorship doesn't all have to be financial. We have an acres of space available to us, even in a green space that could be used or for all installations."
Now, Education, Sport and Culture has released a brief statement throwing its support behind the potential use of States owned buildings for artistic purposes.
"As reflected by the Education, Sport & Culture President at the last States Meeting, the Committee is very much open to exploring options for using States premises in creative ways to support the arts.
"In our view, Deputy Gabriel’s suggestion is a good one and there have already been other discussions along similar lines. Following these discussions officers have been empowered to explore options to use this to enhance the States of Guernsey’s estate and celebrate landmark events. It’s an exciting opportunity we will be exploring with our partners in the arts community."
Express has covered Street Art in Guernsey and the desire for public spaces displaying local work. An opinion piece is available online here, with further clarity and information provided by experts in the field available here.
Online reactions and interactions had closed into the 140 mark at the time of writing. Support for the arts was further signalled by Deputy John Gollop bringing funding to his colleagues attention, and questioning the positioning of its place within Government. That came after a tribute to him was submitted to the 2024 Guernsey Arts Open, you can read about that here.
Pictured: Deputy John Gollop was immortalised by artist Ross Le Brun for the current Guernsey Arts Open competition.
That debate resulted in a suggestion is that the arts should be seen more as an economic enabler, and could even sit with the Economic Development committee.
If you would like to know more on the suggestion to mirror a similar system to Jersey for art funding, with their commitment to investing 1% of its government’s overall spend to arts, culture and heritage, you can read more about that here.
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