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Glad to hear that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is finding consolation in art - according to his blog, the arrival of new artwork for his office is taking the edge off discussions about his department's cultural settlement.

Those who work in the film industry may be less inclined to look on the bright side after the axing of the UK Film Council.

The body - established less than 10 years ago - has funded work by Andrea Arnold, Peter Mullan, Lynne Ramsay and Kevin MacDonald - to name but a few.

It's also been responsible for setting up training and other schemes to nurture newer, younger talent and for pushing for better distribution.

Its support of the festival circuit was also important. And although its funding of the Edinburgh International Film Festival had already ended ahead of the 2012 Olympics - many were hopeful its support would resume.

Future funding

Like any quango, it has its detractors, and there are plenty of disenchanted film-makers ready to weigh in about what it chooses to fund. Do commercially viable films like Street Dance require public subsidy?

Or should it concentrate on arthouse films, seen by only a limited audience? Did it really take enough risks? Or was it simply trying to repeat the success of films like Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Some feel the UK Film Council never successfully achieved that balance - although from a Scottish point of view, In the Loop, Touching the Void and Red Road seem to offer a fair range of both talent and content. And in the current climate - the demise of any source of revenue is to be lamented.

The UK government says support for film - largely via the lottery - will continue. But the big question is who will decide who gets the cash?

The quango was created to allow an arms-length body to take those tough decisions. Will the funding now be administered directly from Westminster?

That must surely cause concern among film-makers north of the border, even those who've been previously unsuccessful in their bids for money.

And it must put added pressure on the newly formed Creative Scotland, to support and appease a film-making community which already feels compromised by the change.

Like most sectors, the Scottish cultural scene is bracing itself for a storm.

Alongside hospitals, schools and old folks' homes, art galleries and theatres seem, well just a little frivolous - and the first candidate for cuts.

Whether it's a national orchestra or a community arts centre, it's not a question of if but when.

The problem is few organisations have just one source of funding.

Even the national companies - funded directly from the Scottish government - rely on local authorities, businesses and private individuals, all areas likely to be squeezed.

Plug the gap

Creative Scotland - set up just weeks ago - will have some tough decisions to make, even before the fate of its own £60m pot is decided.

And with lottery funds due to dip because of the London Olympics, there's little scope for any kind of fallback funding.

Some believe private business will plug the gap - and while there's no denying the impact it has on Scottish cultural life, it's still a small and moveable feast.

And relationships with the handful of philanthropists with the wherewithal to help take years to establish.

Most arts bodies don't have that time on their side.

Worst hit will be the mid-range organisations - who employ a handful of staff and rely on mainly local authority funding.

No fat

Cuts of 20% won't mean fewer canapes with the champagne, but the closure of the company all together.

While suggestions that Glasgow Museums may sell off the silverware - and the works of art - are wide of the mark, visitors CAN expect reduced opening hours, fewer events and limited services.

Smaller companies - particularly community-based ones - are already surviving on a shoestring. There is no fat to trim, these companies will simply go under.

Larger organisations won't escape.

The Edinburgh International Festival - despite its profile - has to make cuts of £200,000 over the next two years.

That doesn't just mean fewer performances - it has a wider knock on for audiences, for companies, and for tourism.

Nobody dies

And that's a message the arts sector has to get across loud and clear over the next few months.

Nobody dies if they don't see Scottish Opera perform - but think of the lives transformed by paintings seen firsthand, by witnessing actors live on stage, by an orchestral concert in all its glory.

Arts organisations provide more than employment and entertainment.

And in tough times, their input is event more vital from the single painting wheeled out from safekeeping for art deprived audiences during the London blitz, to the video and cinema boom of the 80s.

The best hope for most is to backload the cuts, so that they don't coincide with the loss of lottery funding.

To look for other kinds of support - sponsorship in kind, friendship as much as funding.

And for many, the answer will lie in the support of local communities, which may rally round the cultural services they most value - and give them extra protection amid the cuts to come.

Congratulations to Londonderry, which last night won its bid to become the 2013 UK Capital of Culture, against competition from Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield.

And cue a flurry of texts and calls about whether the coverage was right to refer to it as the FIRST capital of culture.

Technically, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is quick to point out, this is the first time that any city has been named UK Capital of Culture, but both Liverpool and Glasgow have held the title of European Capital of Culture (in Glasgow's case, it was European City of Culture - the title was later changed.)

And without wishing to dampen the enthusiasm of Derry - who without any government funding, have high hopes for their year-long bonanza - isn't that the problem?

Since Glasgow won the European title in 1990, and inspired a clutch of gritty, industrial cities to follow suit, cultural titles seems to be handed out annually.

Invent their own

From the 10 years of "city of" appointments, pioneered by former arts council chairman Lord Palombo (of which Glasgow once again took up the banner of architecture and design in 1999), to more recent ventures like ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖcoming, there are few parts of the UK which haven't celebrated their cultural prowess with a bit of branding, some fireworks and a festival.

Those who don't win the title, simply invent their own.

Highland 2007 grew out of a failed bid by the region to win the European Capital of Culture.

Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield all propose to go ahead with their cultural plans, despite not winning the official title.

Which makes you wonder why we're still so keen on titles - and make no mistake we are, with almost 200 countries bidding for the next batch of European cultural titles.

Things have changed dramatically since Glasgow 1990.

Media savvy

Culture continues to be a powerful tool when it comes to transformation and regeneration - but in today's fast moving media savvy world, it takes some doing.

Festival fatigue means it takes more than a few fireworks and a bit of contemporary theatre to persuade people to leave the house, even more when you're persuading them to jump on a plane and visit somewhere they've never been before.

Artists and performers rightly feel pressured into creating something that isn't just great art - but regenerative. Boxes have to be ticked.

And that's before you tackle the whole issue of what sort of culture you showcase - the big names who've made it? Or the grassroots community doing work all year round?

The effects of Glasgow 1990 are tangible, and well rehearsed.

A new concert hall and art gallery. Almost 6,000 new jobs. £14m straight back into the local economy.

Art's sake

But more than that, it changed the world's view of Glasgow, and it changed the cultural habits of those who lived there.

More people went to the theatre - up to 40% more - and to art galleries and museums. Tourist numbers doubled.

While most of the bids since then have a checklist of urban regeneneration, jobs and investment - there's little mention of boosting cultural appreciation, increasing audiences and enjoying art for art's sake.

I wish the people of Londonderry the very best with their plans.

If ever a city deserved to reinvent itself, and rebrand itself on cultural rather than historical lines, it's this one.

It's going to be a challenge but given the level of unbridled enthusiasm for last night's news that they'd won - I suspect it's a challenge they'll attack with gusto.