Letter: Striking a balance over sponsorship of the arts

Sir: There is clearly a fine line to be trod in arts sponsorship. The balance between good and bad taste is something that everyone in business and the arts is concerned to get right.

David Lister (24 March) alleges that business is demanding too much from the arts. The Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts (Absa) does not agree.

Mr Lister omits one key word in his article, and that is 'recession'. Businesses seeing profits fall and staff made redundant need to be able to justify every penny.

The arts community that Absa speaks to accepts that business is looking for more than just a 'warm glow'. There are still many exceptions in the business world to this new trend. But if business sponsorship is to grow, more companies will see the benefits of promoting their products as well as their corporate image through the arts. Business will also want to evaluate the return it receives from sponsorship.

The arts must have the right to refuse not only sponsors' cash, but also their demands; Absa's members understand this. David Lister may want arts companies to become more arrogant - his words, not mine - but in the long term I believe the arts will suffer.

Sponsors are not fools. If they go over the top, the negative response will be counter-productive. If newspapers praised the relatively few businesses that are sponsoring, rather than continuing to attack them, our arts community would be better off.

Yours faithfully,

COLIN TWEEDY

Director General

Association for Business

Sponsorship of the Arts

London, SE1

24 March