Green party: Give artists visas to stay in Amsterdam

GroenLinks wants to give artists from outside the European Union a special visa so that they will settle in Amsterdam. According to the party, many artists now go to settle in cities like Brussels or Berlin, which have special visas giving artists residency in the city, while the should feel at home in an international city like Amsterdam, the Parool reports.

GroenLinks Amsterdam members Rutger Groot Wassink and Lene Grooten will submit an initiative proposal after the summer. In it they will ask alderman Kajsa Ollongren to examine what will be necessary to have such a visa for Amsterdam.

"Being an artist in Amsterdam is increasingly coming to be something for the happy few. Amsterdam is an expensive city and beautiful studio buildings and breeding grounds are disappearing in favor of the market", Groot said to the newspaper. "GroenLinks finds this a shame and wants Amsterdam to stay an international art capital where different types of artists of all nationalities can live and work."