Singer Ana Matronic, of the massively popular American art-school disco group Scissor Sisters, has joined the Arts Council’s arts debate campaign in order to raise awareness of the importance of the arts in everyday life. Matronic (born Anna Lynch) has recorded a special video message for users of the Arts Council website exhorting them to get involved in the campaign and inviting them to have their say about what "art" means to them - from opera to hip-hop and ballet to break dance and beyond. Questions under discussion include 'what do you value about the arts'? And 'when should an artist receive public money'?

Between 2006 and 2008, the Arts Council will invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and the National Lottery in supporting the arts and the Arts Debate is designed to give members of the public the unprecedented opportunity to direct the flow of this funding to the types of project that mean the most to ordinary people. In the video, Ms.Matronic talks about what has inspired her as a performer, saying that at times music and art has "literally saved my life". The musician talks about her artistic background, her mother is a painter and her father is a photographer and a sculptor, and talks about the pivotal effect this environment has had on her career. The video can be seen from today on the Arts Council website here .

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