Arts at the Heart Magazine

ARTSAT THE HEART Winds Of Change

Inside: Ruth Mackenzie Interview Re-LandscapingTheArts -ACE Cuts analysed Conference Report Spending Survey Culture Forum Report

TheArts Development UK Magazine Issue 27 Summer 2011

Chair’s Introduction Winds of Change

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Arts Development UK News Changing to stay ahead

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Arts Development UK spending survey

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Outside In #2 –Arts Development UK National Seminar 08 Cover Feature Re-Landscaping the Arts

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The Cultural Olympiad The Best Is Yet To Come: Ruth McKenzie: Interview Cultural Olympiad programme

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The Culture Forum Tim Joss Sue Isherwood Colin Tweedy

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The Henley Music Review Bedford Blues Deafening Report

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Conference Report New Beginnings In Brighton Finding The Light In Dark Times The Minister’s Speech Positioning the arts in the new political landscape Arts and Health The Big Society Outsourcing Your Assets

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Arts Development UK Reports The Equalities Act Missions Models Money – Good Collaborations Cut to the Core! - The Arts in Somerset

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Case Studies Thetford Arts Projects To Barcelona and Back

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Editor: Paul Kelly Cultural Futures Tel: (w) 01202 363013 (h) 01202 385585 Mobile: 07825 313838 Email: artsatheart@gmail.com Published by Arts Development UK Tel: & Fax: 01269 824728 Email: artsdevuk@aol.com www.artsdevelopmentuk.org

Editorial research time kindly provided by the Arts University College at Bournemouth

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“We are passionate about the transformative power of the arts.”

Contents

Design - www.northbound.co.uk

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Arts Development UK Magazine

Summer 2011

Winds of Change In January 1960 an Old Etonian British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, gave a speech in Accra, capital of Ghana, in which he said a wind of change was blowing through the continent. The speech was significant in that it signalled a considerable change of policy towards British decolonisation in Africa and in that it coined a term that entered the popular vernacular.

And so it is that the speech has echoes today as a significant new policy direction is emerging from the coalition government, and the chill wind of austerity blows. From the mid-1990s many of us became accustomed, on both sides of the Atlantic, to the notion that we could fuel our aspirations through borrowing and credit and that unfettered economic growth would pay for it. So ingrained was this belief that we didn’t realise we were living in a house of cards built on toxic debt.

We are now living through ‘the adjustment’ under the seemingly relaxed guidance of another Old Etonian Prime Minister (and his Deputy) and this adjustment is proving difficult, in some cases painful and periodically uncompromising. The arts and culture were as much the beneficiaries of our ingrained belief in growth and the sector is having to restructure itself alongside our other public sector colleagues.

That is the outer dimension of the ‘winds of change’ that this issue of Arts at the Heart highlights. The other, inner dimension, is a plethora of developments and initiatives, some domestic, some more far reaching. Let me start with the domestic. At its re-scheduled December conference, nalgao took the important decision to rebrand itself. The whys and wherefores are detailed elsewhere. But I am delighted to welcome you to the first Arts at the Heart under our new banner of Arts Development UK. If you are reading this for the first time welcome! I hope this issue of Arts at the Heart magazine encourages you to explore our new website, consider our values and benefits and join us.

There have, of course, been other developments on a regular basis since our magazine’s last issue. These have included the National Campaign for the Arts and Arts & Business’s National Culture Forum, the Henley Review on Music Education, the RSA’s State of The Arts conference, the 2010 Equalities Act, the rather strangely timed and indeterminate House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on the

Front Cover photo:“The Singing Ringing Tree“ is a wind powered sound sculpture designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu and sited in the Pennines overlooking Burnley. The sculpture was commissioned by Mid-Pennine Arts, one of the organisations being cut by Arts Council England, as part of the Pan-Opticons project.

Photo by:Andy Ford.

Arts Development UK news Funding of the Arts and Heritage and the Government’s Localism Bill. Last, and by no means least of these, was Arts Council England’s review of its client portfolio and announcement at the end of March of both significant funding cuts and also some new additions to its client portfolio. Many of these developments will have an impact on level of the provision of arts and cultural activities in England in the years to come. Many of these are reported in more detail and depth in this issue.

Arts Development UK has a clear mission. We believe the arts should thrive in all our communities, that they meet local needs and they can have significant impact on both individuals and the organisations they work or volunteer in. The Arts are a great deal more than just a financial transaction. Buying tickets and seeing performances is part of the equation, but our sector’s offer goes much further than that. That’s where the word ‘Development’ in our name is important. We are passionate about the transformative power of the arts. And we aim to help our members maximise those opportunities so that the widest number of people can access and benefit from the arts, in whatever way they are conceived.

We live in challenging times, buffeted by winds of change. If you are reading this magazine for the first time, I hope you will join us, or at least follow us on our journey. If you are one of our existing members I hope you will stick with us whether as a corporate or an individual member. Working together makes us stronger.

Leading Learning Evaluation The National Culture Forum has published the evaluation of its Leading Learning Programme which offers leadership training and mentoring for senior local authority cultural services managers from across the UK. You can find the evaluation at http://tinyurl.com/6a8rcal For details of future Leading Learning programmes, contact Sue Isherwood at leadership@cloa.org.uk

FindYourTalent evaluation reports The FindYour Talent 2010 pathfinder case studies and overview evaluation report have been published.The ten case study reports present contrasting models for local authority, cultural organisation and school partnerships delivering a demand-led and progressively universal cultural offer for children and young people in their areas.The case study reports and overview evaluation report are available on the SQW website at http://www.sqw.co.uk/publications

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Lorna Brown Chair Arts Development UK

Arts Development UK Conference Dates Announced The first Arts Development UK conference will be taking place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool on the 13th to 14th October 2011, please reserve the dates in your diaries.

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Arts Development UK news

Changing to stay ahead >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

nalgao (the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers) has re-launched as Arts Development UK, to reflect the changing nature of arts development and those involved in it.

Lorna Brown

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The economic situation means that money available in the public sector (and Local Authorities in particular) is reducing severely.

With that, the role of nalgao’s members as developers and managers of arts and cultural services is undergoing long-term changes, which they need to be equipped to manage.

Arts Development UK is taking steps to build its strength, raise its profile and improve the value of the services offered to members and through them to their local communities.

The aim is the universal provision of high quality, effective local arts services that meet and reflect local needs and issues. Arts Development UK’s vision is to ensure that the arts thrive in all our communities, meeting local needs, challenges and ambitions. Its mission is to equip members to make this happen, developing Arts Development UK as a Professional Association focused on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all its members.

Membership of nalgao has always been wider than council arts officers, including individuals and organisations that are interested in what the arts can do for them.

The changes being introduced will bring about a change in emphasis and ensure services are available to all members equally.

The core offer to members includes access to the latest information on arts funding, policy development, the weekly e-zine, website and on-line forum, and the in depth magazine, Arts at the Heart - the information so necessary to anyone attempting to find their way through the swiftly changing landscape of arts development and emerging government policies.

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The other benefit to members is CPD, which includes the annual conference, topical seminars (such as Arts and Health and Youth Arts), regional meetings and study visits.

Now, Arts Development UK will provide more bespoke CPD through a range of experiential learning opportunities that include, buddying, skills exchange, formal and informal training and signposting members to relevant qualifications, helping them to learn more about arts development.

We have spent well over a year working with experts to develop a programme that accredits professional arts development skills.

Our vision of membership of Arts Development UK extends far beyond what a normal organisational membership looks like.

Through this accreditation scheme, we plan to offer our members ways of enhancing the often unrecognised, professional skills they develop in the course of a career path that sometimes looks more like a spider’s web than the linear progression route offered in more conventional industries. We expect to be rolling this programme out this Autumn and through it developing the membership into Fellowship.

Arts Development UK’s offer will be of benefit to arts organisations and artists who wish to understand better the landscape for publicly funded arts and to be part of part of a wide ranging community of respected professionals.You can find out more by clicking on this link or logging on to www.artsdevelopmentuk.org

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Lorna Brown Chair, Arts Development UK Email: lorna.brown@westsussex.gov.uk

Arts Development UK spending survey

The

n o i s n e Dim

6:1 More In Than Out

Arts Development UK’s Local Authority Arts Budget Review 2011 Pete Bryan and Paul Kelly It takes a crisis to get people talking, or so it would seem.

Arts Development UK’s review of Local Authority arts budget settlements attracted the highest response rate to such a survey with 104 local authorities responding – 30% of the possible total. This is the eighth survey undertaken by Arts Development UK and its predecessor nalgao, so there is a good body of comparative data to work with.

Whilst there are some to be expected rather gloomy aspects to the survey, there are also some surprisingly positive aspects. On the one hand 13% of all local authorities (45 authorities) in England and Wales have cut their officers or services in the last nine years. On the other hand, the research clearly shows that whilst there is uncertainty about sustainability in the sector, the majority of services that remain, are levering in substantially more external funds than in previous years. This leverage factor has grown from

1.3:1 two years ago to 6:1 currently; that’s £6 extra funding attracted for every £1 of local authority spending on the arts.

The survey reveals trends in eight key areas: 1 Funding 2 Financial leverage 3 Staffing levels and service security 4 Service location and restructuring 5 Specialisation 6 Partnerships 7 Priorities and 8 Performance measurement The findings using these headings are as follows and include anonymous quotes from respondents.

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Arts Development UK spending survey

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1 FUNDING

ys Funding arts bodies and projects has alwa arts ority auth l loca been a key role of arts services and the level of local authority key a as seen been ys alwa has ing fund ey in measure. Some key data from the surv this area: • The average local authority budget for arts spending has dropped by 16.3% in . the last year from £455,819 to £381,605 are • 85% of local authority arts budgets et budg or tion infla facing standstill before at thre r unde are 10% er cuts and a furth of closure.

• Just under 40% of local authority arts et officers were unsure about their budg cting expe were or -13 2012 for s prospect further cuts or complete closure. an • 88% of respondents who expressed 2012 in cuts er furth d ipate antic opinion ice serv 13 with a further 8% expecting d closure. 80% of respondents anticipate 17% with -14 2013 further cuts in expecting service closure by then. rting • The number of local authorities repo has on milli £1 ,000 funding of £750 halved since last year.

“The council is moving towards strategic commissioning and a small grants will programme will be established. There arts in ction redu be at least 30% funding commissioning budget.”

LEVERAGityEarts services have often

Local author external ul in attracting cil money sf es cc su en be coun le the level of l funding. Whi ining, the leve cl de lly ra ne ge is ts em rvices se s for the ar ing the arts se ‘more in nd fu al rn te of ex line – nce our head to be rising, he than out’. rage has financial leve of nt ou am 2009.

• The atically from increased dram data supplied by the erage of An analysis of ows that an av tracted for sh s nt de at respon as w g rnal fundin spending. £6.32 of exte ts ar y it or cal auth each £1 of lo nt increase on o is a significa This is 6:1 rati 09.

20 o reported in the 1.3:1 rati ting high w cost genera

by Arts “Relatively lo re nds leve d in fu … … es om outc the core t far exceeds Developmen uncil for co e th ded by budget provi ery” service deliv

3 STAFFING LEVELS SERVICE SECURITYAND

A professional member of staff or staff team has been at the cor e of local authority arts provision. Wh ile single arts officers are common, in a number of local authorities small teams of up to 10 staff have been developed.

• 44% of respondents we re running their service with a part-time or single arts officer. (part time = 13% , single arts officer 31%).

• 35% of respondents are expecting redundancies in arts or oth er local authority cultural services in the current financial year..

• Over 50% of responden ts to the survey said that their service had been restructured in the last two years.

But many felt this had ma de them slightly less vulnerable to future cut s.

“Members have “non-prio ritised the Arts”, and so the current Arts Offi cer has become a generic Comm unity Development post. The po st will still support arts projects which have community outcomes.”

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4 SERVICE LOCATIONAND RESTRUCTURING Arts services find themselves placed in a wide variety of larger service units which can include, leisure services, education, community services or indeed cultural services usually alongside libraries, museums and sport. Local authorities often restructure their services as a means of achieving cost savings.

• Over 50% of respondents who expressed an opinion said their service had been restructured in the last two years and a further 17% were expecting a restructuring.

• 50% of respondents who expressed an opinion said their service had moved to a new department. 75% of respondents who expressed an opinion said that they felt this had protected their service against cuts.

• 11% of authorities told Arts Development UK that they were considering different mechanisms for delivering their service including contracting the service out using one of a range of models.

“The arts service has moved from being part of a ‘Leisure Development’ team to the ‘Partnership & Community Development’ team. The Leisure Development team merged with the Partnerships team to form the above new team.”

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5 FUNCTIONAND SPECIALISATION Local Authority arts services have historically undertaken a mix of functions including grant funding independent arts organisations, (sometimes co-funding Arts Council clients), supporting access to the arts including developing participative arts projects and raising funds for these and related initiatives.

Cuts in funding seem to be having some impact on the function and service priorities of arts services. There is also evidence, particularly from the anecdotal quotes of a shift in emphasis of service function.

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es have both Local authority arts servic c activities but isti supported traditional art social impacts sed res have increasingly add responded to a and issues. 72 authorities of these question of priorities and

ays been important Partnerships have alw is s services, but there to local authority art are s pe of partnership evidence that the ty changing.

ial impacts • 60% were prioritising soc n, access, esio (cultural and social coh age, tacking ant adv dis diversity, tackling ) iety Soc Big er, ord crime & dis

s e responding show • The data from thos al ern int th wi s hip ers an increase of partn s) ce council servi partnerships (other of around 10% ers rtn pa al and extern over 2008. sa e responding show • The data from thos ry ta lun vo th hips wi 15% fall in partners s. ion at nis ga or sector

lth impacts • 42% were prioritising hea quality of life) ter bet , ing (health & wellbe • Only 12% were prioritising

• A number of authorities reported focussing on social inclusion and community priorities, using the arts to engage rather than running professional arts projects

y to this as an opportunit “I am trying to see of ys erships, wa develop new partn n’t ts. As long as we do en ev w ne working, the ar ye xt ne ts cu of el suffer the same lev through.” provision will come

8 PERFOR A NCE MEASURM E M ENT Some Loca

l authorities have adopted performance measuremen t for culture.

Evidence sugg est as the cu ts bite, so performance mea abandoned an sures are being d the focus is switching to protect as m uch of the se rvice as poss ible.

• Only half of the respondi ng authoritie commented s on performan ce measuremen t. Of these on ly 40% use either quanti tative or qual itative indicators.

“Performance indicators fo r internal reporting are now minimal across all services, for arts number of peo quarterly indicators are: ple accessing advice & guidance serv ices, funds le vered, numbe of people acce r ssing funded programmes and activities ”

ARTS ATTHE HEART

tourism impacts

to state several • Respondents were able priorities from a list.

% increase in • It also shows a 11 th her public bodies wi partnerships with ot bly ta no t os m e lic Po NHS Trusts and the by the quotation ed nc ide ev as – ed cit e above. about reducing crim

• But over one fifth of those expressing an opinion said that income generation, seeking external funding and partnership working was a high priority.

“Immediate priorities are about reducing crime and searching for funds to support projects which do this. Some of these projects are using the arts as a tool but are not specifically about the arts.”

nomic benefit • 61% were prioritising eco e industries, ativ cre of act (economic imp ing, contribution number of jobs, volunteer for money, ue to the local economy, val ge) era lev g regeneration, fundin

PARTNERSHIPS

• On the one hand 28% of those expressing an opinion said that stated that their priorities are to retain /support local projects and organisations including Arts Council funded organisations in their area.

“Instead of focussing on developing specific art-forms my role is focussed on developing communities using arts as a vehicle for this. I believe this makes the arts more holistic to the work of my authority and stronger as a result.”

PRIORITIES

community “Arts projects tend to be nity outcomes. mu com ar cle h focused wit rk on are Nearly all the projects I wo I tap into and ip delivered in partnersh local the oss acr s nda services and age authority” communities “A place of safe and strong y cohesion, nit mu com contribution to people, work ng you for ies ivit positive act ies in priority to engage the communit neighbourhoods”

Conclusions Our survey shows the difficult financial climate that arts services are now experiencing. It also shows the increasingly inventive ways arts officers are adopting to counteract the difficult climate. Of concern is their feedback that they expect things to get worse over the next two years. This will need careful monitoring and lobbying to ensure that valuable local professional arts expertise and support is not lost in its entirety.

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Pete Bryan Administrator, Arts Develoment UK Tel: 01269 824728 Email: artsdevuk@aol.com The full spending report can be found on the Arts Development UK website – www.artsdevelopmentuk.org

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Outside In #2 – Arts Development UK Seminar

Outside In – One year on Arts Development UK National Seminar: Cultural Partnerships & alternative forms of cultural service delivery 18TH JULY 2011 - 9.30AM – 5PM THE BIRMINGHAM & MIDLANDS INSTITUTE, MARGARET ST, BIRMINGHAM B3 3BS Nearly eighteen months ago, nalgao launched the “Outside In” report to a packed seminar in London’s Camden Centre.The report looked at the benefits of and options for contracting out Local Authority Arts services, or indeed entire cultural service units, in order to protect them from anticipated budget cuts.

A year on and the cuts have started.

Evidence from a number of quarters shows that Local Authority spending on the arts is shrinking alarmingly. It also shows that local authority arts officers are levering in substantially more external funding than in the past. Local Authorities are increasingly becoming commissioning agencies rather than direct service providers. So can the arts win a bigger share of commission budgets and how does that relate to arts service provision?

And what about structure? Are Leisure or culture trusts, independent service deliverers with local authority contracts, faring any better than in house departments? Has the pain of contracting out proved worth it now that the local government ‘leisure pound’ is being severely squeezed?

“Outside In – One Year On” will explore these and related issues including cultural partnership working and continuing cultural

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service development. It will consider how local authorities can get responsive delivery systems in place which are fit for task to meet the needs of the crosscutting agenda.

With case studies, keynote presentations, breakout sessions and discussion forums, the seminar will seek scope the future landscape in which we will all work.

Keynote speakers include: • Diana Shelton: Head of Leisure and Tourism at West Oxon DC • Paula Taylor, Arts & Health Officer at NHS Knowsley • David Newborn, Director of Red Rose Chain • Tamar Millen: Foundation for Community Dance • Richard Russell: Director of Strategic Partnerships, ACE • Tim Challens: West Midlands Culture & Sport Improvement Network and others The topics covered will include: • Culture and heath • Children’s services, • Stronger & Safer Communities and • Social care There will be breakout sessions examining, in detail:

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• Cultural Service Delivery • Shared cultural service provision across local authorities • Combined or externalising cultural services with the voluntary or commercial sector • The Development of Independent Cultural Trusts • Development of Cultural Interest Companies The afternoon will look at Cultural commissioning covering the areas of: • Culture & Well-being • Culture & Social Care: • Culture & Children’s Services and • Culture & Stronger & Safer Communities: (Light Night) Full details of the seminar, including a booking form, are available on the Arts Development UK website – www.artsdevelopmentuk.org A seminar report will appear in the next issue of Arts at the Heart magazine.

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cover feature Winds of Change

Re-Landscaping The Arts Glory in the Garden and great art for everyone?

Following substantial client and funding changes announced

by Arts Council England in March, what does the future look like for subsidised arts and culture in England? And what do the Arts Council funding decisions really mean for the shape and nature of England’s subsidised cultural infrastructure?

In 2000, the Guardian newspaper commissioned a series of articles from the intellectual historian Stefan Collini on the state of Britain as seen from a cultural perspective.

Collini provided an adroit commentary on the history and then position of cultural politics in Britain for that milestone year.

Eleven years on, whilst our circumstances are rather different, much of what Collini observed in 2000 seems very pertinent today.The subsidised arts are fuelled by the political environment of the times. The art may be independent, but the sources and levels of funding are the product of a political philosophy.

There have been three watershed moments in British politics in the last 35 years.The election victories of 1979 and 1997 that launched Thatcherism and Blairism, are unquestionably two of these. And the General Election of 2010 is, I suggest the third, even if it is far from clear where it is leading us, and for how long.The first two watersheds have left us with a legacy which the third has had to tackle and which is now setting the framework for the politics and the culture of the future.

There was an inevitable flurry of analysis and newspaper comment just after ACE’s funding decisions were announced. It seemed strong on outrage but rather shallow in terms of analysis.

Arts Council Chair Liz Forgan and CEO Alan Davey were able to express deep regret at having to make such cuts which, they could legitimately say, were enforced on them. And the sympathy was widely shared, Arts Council England had been put in an unenviable position and following a quite lengthy history of selfinflicted public relations disasters, many commentators are agreed that ACE managed a quite difficult situation really rather well.

Different rationales But that is an issue of process. What few, if any, have commented on is the substance of those cuts, except to look at the numbers of Arts Council clients being cut and some of the artform issues. It is a heretical question to ask, but behind the scenes could ACE and its officers have actually welcomed the opportunity to reform its major portfolio, especially in such enforced circumstances, where the blame could be easily passed to the Government?

Two issues are fundamental to a deeper analysis of what has happened.The first is what one believes Arts Council subsidy is for and the second is where the money is actually going.The arts sector has become so obsessed with where the money is going, that in ways it has lost sight of some wider issues which are just as important and which are about the nature of what the sector exists for and what the funding is for.

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cover feature

ACE Funding Review: Some Facts

206 organisations cut from 2012-13

3 further organisations cut by 2014-15 There are at least three very different rationales for delivering the arts, which uneasily co-exist within the sector.These rationales are not about some abstract theory.They are why people get out of bed in the morning and work in the arts sector. The first rationale is an aesthetic one - it’s often called ‘arts for arts sake’. Under this ‘driver’, the aesthetics of the work are more important than anything else and this rationale believes that arts funding is there to preserve and support the aesthetics of the work.The second rationale is a desire to make the world a better place and a belief that directly or indirectly that culture can do that.

It’s a social ‘driver’. Here, what’s more important than the aesthetics is cultural engagement and making a difference in people’s lives.That might be work with young people or with prisoners or with ‘disadvantaged individuals or communities’. Or it might focus on arts in heath or arts education. It is generally process driven rather than outcome driven.The third ‘driver’ is much simpler than the first two. It is to make money.

This driver sits to one side of the Arts Council’s direct remit and probably won’t involve subsidy at all. But a lot of art, some good, some less so, is developed and delivered by people for whom the financial bottom line is what matters most.

I would suggest that for most people working in the arts, one of these three ‘drivers’ is consciously or subconsciously the most important and determines how they operate and the cultural choices they make. Of course there are overlaps and blurs. But as the British Art critic and theorist Herbert Read observed, art is not made by theory but by people, so what drives them is central to what we get.

Fertiliser The choices I have described above mirror a rather wearying series of debates over the last thirty years around what sort of art should be supported with public funding and why. The debate has been labelled in several ways; intrinsic vs instrumental; passive audience vs active engagement. Or in terms of motivation you could label it aesthetic vs social. In many ways the debate is a zero sum game in which no one can win. If this debate has been a battle, then tail end of the Labour Government seemed to signal a bit of a stalemate with on the one hand the McMaster Report, “Supporting Excellence in the Arts - From Measurement to Judgement” and on the other

“Re-landscaping this arts parkland has involved chopping down the dead and dying trees to foster and encourage growth.ACE has also announced plans to plant and tend over 100 new saplings. In order to do that,ACE has also cleared what I will unkindly call ‘the undergrowth’ ”.

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hand the DCMS’s ‘Taking Part survey, the NI11 indicator and the Participation Manifesto focussing on participation as the key performance measure for the arts.

A detailed analysis of Arts Council England’s funding decisions from 2012-13 brings this issue of the type of arts that are funded back to the fore. In trying to understand what ACE has consciously, or possibly slightly unconsciously done, it is easy to get lost in data, and there are some interesting points to be found in a data

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58 Regularly Funded Organisations chose not to apply for NPO status

74% Success rate for RFOs applying for NPO status

542 new applicants for NPO status

110 successful bids

20% Success rate for new bidders

analysis. But before we look at the statistical detail, let me try and explain what I think has recently been decided through a rather more visual and I hope elegant analogy.

Think, if you will, of the funded arts in England as a piece of public parkland. Some of this parkland is quite old. But investment in the last 15 years has allowed areas of new planting and development. Over the years, some of the parkland has been very carefully husbanded and manicured - over-gardened some might say. In contrast over the same time, some parts of the park have been quite neglected, and except for a bit of annual fertiliser these parts have been left in a slightly unruly, natural and organic state.

What Arts Council England has done is to relandscape this parkland and that has involved chopping down what it sees as the dead and dying trees. It has also pollarded some of the larger trees, to foster and encourage the growth

cover feature of other habitat that surrounds them. ACE has also announced plans to plant and tend over 100 new saplings. In order to do that, ACE has also cleared away what I will unkindly but conveniently call ‘the undergrowth’, a subject to which I will return further on.

Cultivated elite That visual analogy gives us a picture, which I am now going to support through explaining the data. Whilst much of the attention since the ‘re-landscaping’ announcement has focussed on the tree-cutting, particularly in terms of the size and the volume of the clearance - 206 living plants, shrubs and trees little or no attention that I can see has been given to the nature of the plants being cleared and what this does for our national cultural habitat.

The shape of the arts in England is of course determined by both the government (the macro view) and by the funders (the micro view).We live in a pluralist world of funding, but one in which the Arts Council decisions are the most visible. From a macro perspective, it took the Labour Government over 10 years to produce anything close to resembling a cultural policy (Creative Britain). It’s questionable whether the Coalition government will come up with anything to replace it, except a call for more philanthropy.

The visible changes are how Arts Council England chooses to spend the subsidy at its disposal.The less visible has been what is happening with Local Authority funding of the arts (though that has now been mapped and is covered elsewhere in this magazine) and also whether the Trust funding sector chooses or is able to increase its funding of the arts. In the absence of that data, it could be argued that the very quantifiable Arts Council funding changes are equivalent to arts funding policy and a substantial portion of a national policy for the arts.

In addition as Stefan Collini observed, the Arts Council and its decisions are important because ACE functions as a kind of microcosm of the relation between politics and culture in Britain.Therefore its funding decisions, however politically neutral and arms length it tries to be, say something about a view, vision and nature of arts and culture within wider society. As Collini neatly put it, in the 1950s, the ‘culture’ fostered by the Arts Council largely corresponded to the traditional tastes of the cultivated elite.Then in the 1960s and 70s, the Arts Council attempted to do right by various

“Looking at the new ‘saplings’ACE has chosen to support, in terms of ethos, location and scale they seem to be more focussed at the aesthetic than the social end of the arts spectrum and in larger urban centres at the expense of rural provision.”

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forms of ‘popular’ culture and finally “it fell in with the prevailing economism of public discourse, treating culture as one of the ‘leisure industries’ which contributed to the GNP [Gross National Product]”.

Lion’s share This sort of analysis is symbiotic.The government sets a philosophical mood and arts funding responds to it supporting or creating a cultural milieu. Looked at it that way it’s not quite so arms length as we’d like to think and it raises some interesting questions about the role of the Arts Council and the decisions it takes.

My analysis of the Arts Council spending plans announced on 30 March is that the story of the funding changes (please note that word ‘changes’ as it’s not all cuts) has not yet been fully told and that my telling of it here is only half of the picture.The other half of course is what is happening with Local Authority funding for the arts.The arts funding picture within the 353 Local Authorities in England is far from detailed and complete and it may also have an as yet unmapped impact on Arts Council decisions as in some places funding

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cover feature

Measuring the Changes How do we measure the state of the subsidised sector from 2012-13 and the changes that are going to be happening?

There are of course quite a number of ways and they include: • The total sum of subsidy available • How much is available to the national portfolio clients • How many organisations have been cut • How many new organisations are being supported • How the changes can be looked at by region and by artform • The reductions in funding to organisations that will continue to be supported • The average grant to subsidised organisations pre- 2012-13 and post 2012-13 • The nature of work undertaken by the organisations which are being cut • The nature of work being undertaken by the new national portfolio organisations and • The location of the work that is subsidised and the number of people it reaches agreements, and organisational viability, require financial contributions from both parties and that is by no means guaranteed.

Analysing the art funding data several things become apparent: 1. First, DCMS figures show that the funding source for Arts Council activities is shifting significantly fromTreasury funding (tax payers) to Lottery funding (ticket buyers) withTreasury funding reducing by £99 million and Lottery funding projected to rise by £81 million over the three years 2012-13 - 2014-15.

2. Funding for Regularly Funded/National Portfolio organisations takes a substantial percentage of the Arts Council’s budget. The funding is set to rise in cash terms over the three years by £17.1 million - not allowing for inflation.

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3. Slightly less money will go to the largest Arts Council clients and the new National Portfolio system will distribute funding slightly wider in terms of organisations.

4. London still takes the lion’s share of National Portfolio funding, with around half of the best funded organisations based in the capital but there is distribution of cash away from London of nearly 10%.

5. In terms of artforms most of the cuts are falling on the visual arts, theatre and “combined arts” organisations who do not deal with a single artform.

6. The least affected artforms are music and literature.

7. In terms of regions, only London bears a significantly higher level of cash cuts than the average.WhilstYorkshire bears a higher than average net change in the number of organisations funded.

8. The Eastern region and East Midlands bear substantially lower than average net cash changes and net organisational losses.

9. However the above figures do not take population levels or subsidy per head into account.

10. The average size of grant is increasing from £411,000 to £478,000 so fewer organisations are being better supported.

11. Smaller population centres have fared far worse than large cities. Two thirds of the cuts affect areas with populations of less than 500,000 with nearly 30% of the cuts affecting areas with populations of less than 100,000.

12. Smaller population centres come out even worse when you look at the net change figures - organisations cut and organisations replacing them. Areas with less than 500,000 population bear 75% of the net changes - ie organisational losses.

Clearing‘the Undergrowth’ Statistics inevitably paint a partial picture. For this research, I looked at the websites of every organisation being cut and every organisation being added to the Arts Council’s NPO roster.

What struck me forcibly was the type and size of organisations being cut.Time and again I found these organisations to be working in arts & health, arts & disability, community arts, cultural diversity - with lots of cuts to carnival organisations. In the same vein, the cuts are falling on arts education bodies, organisations working with children and young people, participative arts organisations and arts and social welfare organising things like arts in prisons projects.There are also significant cuts to “combined arts” clients which often deal with more participative and community activities. Less mainstream artforms have also fared badly with cuts to folk music and jazz and public art all very noticeable. In addition there has been a visible cut to rural touring. In addition, many of the organisations cut were receiving comparatively small grants with 36% receiving grants of less than £50,000 and a further 34% receiving less than £100,000.

Now it is possible that one or more of these organisations was, in one way or another, not meeting performance priorities or targets set out by the Arts Council.They could have submitted poor applications.There is also a belief in some quarters that organisations should continue in perpetuity. But that belief sits at odds with the view that organisations have lifecycles and sometimes they do come to an end.

“Time and again I found the organisations being cut to be working in arts & health, arts & disability, community arts, cultural diversity. In the same vein, the cuts are falling on arts education bodies, organisations working with children and young people, participative arts organisations and arts and social welfare.”

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cover feature Looking at the changes from the perspective of organisational size, ethos and location however suggests a slightly different possibility. I talked earlier about the arts as a piece of parkland and of ‘cultural undergrowth’ in that parkland. It seems to me that part of what has happened is that ACE has consciously or sub-consciously decided to clear quite a bit of that undergrowth.

Compensation Looking at the new ‘saplings’ ACE has chosen to support, in terms of ethos, location and scale they seem to be more focussed at the aesthetic than the social end of the arts spectrum. There also seems to be a move to supporting arts in larger urban centres at the expense of rural provision. And the new organisations seem larger in scale and are definitely better supported than many of those that have been cut.

If you accept this analysis then it says something about the national characteristics of arts funding, arts policy and indeed cultural policy in England. And this is an issue that is obviously important to an organisation like Arts Development UK. It suggests the pendulum is swinging away from participation and back towards artistic performance.

There are also policy and financial decisions yet to be made. Arts Council

Slow ArtsTrain There is a poetic quality to the names some of the organisations whose Arts Council funding is being withdrawn.

Metro-Boulot-Dodo, Dodgy Clutch, Strange Cargo Arts Company, Forkbeard Fantasy... It reminds me of ‘SlowTrain’ a wonderful Flanders & Swann song from 1963 written in lament of Dr Beeching’s railway cuts and closures. “Millers Dale for Tideswell, Kirby Muxloe,Mow Cop and Scholar Green...” intoned Michael Flanders above Donald Swann’s doleful, shunting piano. Substitute these bygone stations with Urban Strawberry Lunch, Kompany Malakhi, Yellow EarthTheatre, Proboscis.... Just as in 1963 a small part of England seems about to be lost.

England has set aside £18 million for touring.

But though we don’t know the detail of how that will be spent, it they have said that this funding is to allow its National Portfolio clients to tour their work. So that would not seem to offer compensation to cuts in rural touring. ACE has also earmarked £10.5 million to support selected NPOs develop their community and education work. So, having opened the doors to a transparent process, ACE now seems to have closed them.

If you are NPO there are further potential funds and if you are not an NPO, you could be excluded.

However, ACE has managed to increase the Grants for the Arts pot by £12 million by barring National Portfolio organisations from applying to it. The cuts to the 206 RFO clients total just under £19.2 million in 201112. The gap between those two figures is not that huge and it does suggest the possibility of some finding continuity if only on a project basis.

Value dimension In the meantime though ACE’s funding choices raise one or two interesting issues.

Although the Big Society has scant credibility in a number of quarters, if the Government continues to push this and seeks its sponsored bodies to do the same, then one can’t help feeling that ACE may have cut some of the organisations best placed to deliver BS-oriented programmes. Secondly, when asked to vote where lottery money should be spent, the arts often come quite low down the public’s list of priorities. The Government-oriented shift from Treasury to Lottery funding for the arts could lead to delicate tensions of class and interest between lottery ticket buyers and lottery funding beneficiaries.

But perhaps most important is the issue of the nature of arts provision and the type of people the arts reach and benefit. What are the implications of the Arts Council’s ‘clearing away the undergrowth’? In the process of its policy of ‘supporting excellence, exceptional talent and successful risk-taking’ has Arts Council England moved funding and opportunities away from the less-advantaged, away from the rural towards the urban and away from processed-based work and work that reaches less well-off groups and communities? This question echoes a wider debate around how public money is used, based on the growing concept of fairness.

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Statistical Limitations There are inevitable statistical limitations in a brief research exercise of this kind. We only have part of the data. We know which new clients the Arts Council will be taking on. We know (thanks to the Guardian newspaper) which organisations ACE is cutting. We do not know which applied to join the National Portfolio and were turned down. The data we have is both complex and limited and could be open to different interpretation in some aspects. We know that an organisation’s work and reach extends beyond the location in which it is based. But it is an indicator and if you are a town of say 50,000 population and the funded arts organisation in your area is cut, that will have a human, financial, social and cultural impact that will not be directly replaced by a service from a neighbouring larger location.

The DCMS definition of culture talks not just of activities and artforms, but of a value dimension that encompasses relationships, shared memories, diverse cultural, faith and historic backgrounds as well as social norms.

Writing ten years ago, Stefan Collini said that in place of a 'cultural policy', “Britain has had a miscellaneous collection of cultural institutions, with varying degrees of status and public support, whose operation has depended upon the shared values, social contacts and tacit agreements among leading members of the social and professional elites.” Let us hope that Arts Council England’s recent decisions sustain those shared values, social contacts and tacit agreements and that from it we get both great art and great art for all.

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Paul Kelly Email: paul.kelly20@virgin.net The extrapolated Arts Council funding data is set out in a series of tables available from the Arts Development UK Website – www.artsdevelopmentuk.org Stephan Collini’s articles cited in this text can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5w5e3dm

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the cultural olympiad

The BEST Is Yet To Come Ruth McKenzie Interview Domestically and globally we’re living in turbulent times which have arisen since the Cultural Olympiad was proposed and you were appointed.What sort of challenges and opportunities has this caused you?

It’s a really tough time. It’s really hard for people.They are losing their jobs.

They are losing programmes that they love. And they are having to make priorities and think in different ways. So it’s enormously humbling and encouraging how many people are prioritising 2012 even in these tough circumstances and I’m hugely grateful for that. I think that they are right and they reason is that 2012 is a window for the world. It’s a time when the whole world looks to us and a time for us to show off our culture and heritage and creative industries at their world beating best. It’s an opportunity we won’t get again in our lifetime.

It’s clear to me that 2012 has an amazing potential legacy; an economic legacy, in cultural tourism, in culture, in creativity and the creative industries, in reaching new markets around the world and in reaching new audiences in the UK and in inviting people from round the world to visit the UK. So that’s three areas of incredible opportunity.

You’ve acknowledged there are difficulties we have locally.There are obviously tensions around the world especially in the Middle East and natural disasters too.You talked a year ago about ‘The Olympic truce’ Is that your agenda, your big idea?

I love the Olympic truce, but it’s not my idea! Back in Ancient Greece in the Olympic Games, all the nation states had an agreed Olympic truce that would allow all the participants to the games to travel safely, participate in the games and travel safely back home again. And of

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the cultural olympiad course in Ancient Greece there were artists as well as sports people at the centre of those games. So in the present day, we still get a United Nations resolution before every Olympic Games calling all nations of the worlds to have an Olympic truce. And one of the inspiring values of the Olympic Games for us and our Festival has been that notion of truce; the notion that you can say to artists,‘the world is listening to you. What do you want to say?’ And you can invite artists who have particular messages about creativity and peace.

We have already announced that we are working with Peace One Day, (www.peaceoneday.org) the charity whose artistically led film campaign created World Peace Day on 21 September every year.We are currently running Film Nation Shorts, a competition for young people to upload short films on the subject of Truce and the winning film will get shown at the O2 on September 21 this year, presented by Jude Law as part of World Peace Day.We also have a whole programme of partnership with Peace One Day.We have also announced we will be doing a big concert with them in Derry/Londonderry in the old Army Barracks – what an iconic place to think about Olympic truce. And of course Derry/Londonderry is a city in the UK that knows more than most about the importance of creativity to secure peace and reconciliation.

We are working very closely with Derry/Londonderry City of Culture and a lot of the programme we are doing with them in 2012 has of course its natural legacy as it is building up to 2013. And that’s a good example of how we can bring with the Cultural Olympiad a lasting legacy and some lasting value.

CULTURAL OLYMPIAD FACTS • Over 14 million people have taken part in Cultural Olympiad events.

sort of once in a lifetime commissions to communities all over the UK that gives that same excitement of being part of the Olympic Games?That’s a lot to ask. But have we caught up? Well, it’s still scary. I’d still love that ticking clock to break for another six months and buy us a bit more time!

Of those 30 commissions how many pre-date you and what have you added into the programme mix? And what’s still to be announced? And what proportion has been announced?

Lots pre-date me. One of the opportunities and challenges that faced me when I came into post a year ago is that a lot of people had already had their ideas and done their programming. So a lot of my curatorial work was inviting the best that already existed either in the Cultural Olympiad programme or outside it, and that has been a very pleasurable curatorial job and a very important one. We said when we announced the 30 cocommissions that we expected the Festival to have 1,000 events.

There’s a lot more to come than so far announced. For example,Tate Modern recently announced that Tino Sehgal, the wonderful artist, will be doing a piece in Summer 2012 in Turbine Hall.The Sadler’s Wells and Barbican just announced the Pina Bausch programme – which is in fact ten productions and a brilliant example of once in a lifetime. So since our announcement in December, "This Progress" at the Guggenheim partners have started to amplify the Museum by Tino Sehgal stories and to add to the programme.

• 155,000 people have attended more than 8,000 workshops.

• Over 30 commissions have been announced.

• The Cultural Olympiad will feature at least 1,000 events.

Let’s come back to practicalities.A year ago when you were interviewed by the Guardian you said,‘we’re later than we should be.’ How much have you managed to catch up?

[Laughs] Well, as you know we managed in December, as we promised, to announce a series of co-commissions - and the postcard by David Hockney announcing them was our first piece of art really – and those I think were quite reassuring for people about the direction of travel.They began to give some people a sense of confidence that we could deliver a festival that could have the sort of commissions and new work that could have the once in a lifetime impact that we are being asked to create. It’s a tall order isn’t it? Can you be part of ‘the greatest show on Earth’ (that’s what the Olympic Games is called), can you deliver the same

What sort of challenges do the cuts that a lot of Local Authorities are making, particularly in London, give you in staging what you want to stage?

Well, we need to recognise the amazing work that a lot of Local Authorities have done on the Cultural Olympiad programme to date.

The Cultural Olympiad has been going almost three years now and over 14 million people have taken part in Cultural Olympiad events. That’s phenomenal. There have been over 67,000 workshops. And the best is yet to come.This is a programme where the achievements, led by Local Authorities have been enormous. So I don’t think one should undermine that. So, for example, thanks to Local Authorities and the hubs in

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the cultural olympiad

SELLING THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD • At least half the programme will go live this Summer.

• Tickets go on sale in October via London 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad website.

• The last tickets go on sale in March-April 2012 – probably tied to the Proms.

London the Big Dance is an amazingly established brand. Thanks to Local Authorities in the Lake District, Lakes Alive, a Cultural Olympiad invention is now an established festival delivering for the communities in the Lake District and also for tourists and generating economic and cultural capital. So a lot of the preparation has been done and the partners are in place. Thanks to the work that was done by the Creative Programmers, by the team at LOCOG, by Local Authorities, the joined up picture that we have, we’re in a good place to deliver in 2012 even though now we all have to tighten our belts.

The Olympic Games andThe Paralympics are without doubt the largest global noncommercial gathering there is. From a cultural perspective is the opportunity about celebrating London? About celebrating London and the UK? Or is it about something bigger than that like cultural interchange? And how’s that reflected in the programme?

We’ve been very clear that whereas the Cultural Olympiad is about developing the skills

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of our community and our talents – it’s the cultural equivalent of us going into the gym and getting fit for 2012. In 2012 we are up there with the best in the world. And of course it’s our job to show that the UK is world leading and for us to win the same number of cultural gold medal equivalents as we win Oscars and as we win actual gold medals in the athletics and the other sports. But if it was a festival only of British artists then no one would be convinced by whether we were the best in the world! We have to show that we are as good and better, that we can best the rest of the world in the digital economy, in the creative industries, in the performing arts, in the visual arts and in culture and heritage. That’s what we have to do. And the Secretary of State has been really clear. His aim is that England which I think is now the sixth most visited tourist destination in the world - that we should, go up to fifth as a result of what happens in 2012. So there’s a challenge.

A number of arts organisations and practitioners are not very comfortable with that idea of competition expressed in that way.

Of course they’re not! But they are when they win Oscars, when they win Grammys, when we win at Sundance when we win prizes at the Venice Film Festival. Of course I’m not talking literally about medals. But I am saying that I believe that our artists and our talents are up there with the best in the world. And that’s what our festival programme has to show. And it has to show that if you want to come and see culture anywhere in the world you should come to the UK.Those are two really important things.

Every project has a legacy. What legacy would you like to see coming out of the Cultural Olympiad?

Well, I’d love to see Olympic Truce becoming culturally a feature of future Olympics. We mentioned the Paralympics - and we invented the Paralympics - I’d love to see disabled and deaf artists having the same transformation as disabled sports people have had thanks to the Paralympics. And we’re already talking about both the Olympic Truce and disabled and deaf artists with Rio 2016 to make sure that as we hand the torch on these continue. We’ve got the largest programme anywhere in the world of commissions for disabled and deaf artists through the Unlimited programme – conceived

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by Bill Morris and his team at LOCOG. Unlimited is a brilliant programme offering disabled and deaf artists a showcase to the world. And that is enormously exciting for all of us. But also if we can’t land a cultural and economic legacy for the people of the UK and for the cultural and creative industries in the UK, we’ve failed.

And is it purely measured through visitor numbers and tourism? Or are there other things as well...

Well, I’m always happy to talk about measurements. I believe in having as few really specific SMART measurements as possible. But I think we have to be able to say that at the end of 2012 and five years later and ten years later what have we achieved? And we have to be able to measure it, And it has to be on that timetable.The trick is to come up with a measurement that can nail the economic and cultural legacy that we’re being asked to deliver. It’s a big responsibility and you only get one chance to get it right. I should add that as well as the responsibility of achieving long lasting legacies, we have got to do a really amazing festival that people enjoy - it all has to be enormous fun.

MARKETING THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD “There will be millions of email addresses on the London 2012 website and we will have the best marketing team in the world selling our Festival and the Cultural Olympiad. How exciting is that?”

The KirstyYoung Question:Of all of these Cultural Olympiad projects in the public domain, which one would you choose to take with you to your Desert Island?

[Laughs] Well, of all the ambitions to change the world I suppose I have to come down to our partnership with Peace One Day to achieve the biggest global truce and cessation of violence in 2012. World peace has to be top of our list of ambitions. Culturally. I think l that Olafur Eliasson, if he can pull off his idea, it is in its ambition also world changing. So, we’re aiming pretty high.

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the cultural olympiad

Cultural Olympiad Programme London 2012 Festival: First Commissions n announced so far Thirty artistic commissions have bee London 2012 Festival as the first tranche of work for the iad.

– a cornerstone of the Cultural Olymp art Many of the commissions involve high lving performance projects and exhibitions invo as such ts artis internationally acclaimed chett, Damon Albarn, David Hockney, Cate Blan m Akra n, Milla Mac s Jame ch, Baus Pina the late Mike and d, Khan, Lucian Freud. Martin Cree of Philip Leigh. They include a new commission Beach, the on ein Einst a, oper Glass’s acclaimed n of uctio prod ’s pany com tre Thea ey the Sydn Klein und s Botho Strauss’s masterpiece Gros and a World Shakespeare Festival.

Five of the commissions have a much more participative dimension or an equalities dimension.

The Biggest Carnival In Britain Keith

Former Cultural Olympiad Chief Executive Carnival Khan is working with the UK Centre for sroad Cros ival Carn The Arts, in Luton to create in place g takin ct proje nal regio a project.This is – and Engl of East the ss acro s five town and Cambridge, Norwich, Southend, Luton and Engl of East Ipswich to encourage al community groups, artists and education and ival Carn in lved invo get to ents lishm estab and s ume cost to experience the parades, the the culture.

All of the groups will come together to in East showcase their costumes and perform .The 2011 of England regional parades in joining project will culminate in all the groups est one bigg the in part take to together in 2012 nal natio Inter n Luto pe Euro in ival Carn day piad Olym ral Carnival - as part of the Cultu celebrations.

River of Music

by River of Music is a four-year project led des inclu h whic us music producers Serio participatory projects all over Britain in July culminating on the eve of the Olympics

ces for 2012 with a weekend of free performan all 205 from s ician mus by le peop over 500,000 mark land Olympic and Paralympic nations at feature sites along the River Thames. It will also Sage the at on Lond ide presentations outs gow.

Gateshead and Celtic Connections in Glas

Africa Express

After travelling through the UK, bringing s, Africa together African and Western musician t yet even s Express will unveil its most ambitiou and ing heel freew a in Summer 2012 bringing Africa inventive character to the 2012 Festival. nture adve ical mus a on g arkin emb Express is e of the unlike anything tried before, taking som lly tota a in s ician world’s most exciting mus new direction.

Unlimited

e Unlimited is the UK’s largest programm led disab by t spor and re celebrating arts, cultu been dy alrea has ing Fund le. peop and deaf awarded to ten commissions for the and programme that encourages collaborations arts ility disab een partnerships betw organisations, disabled and deaf artists, to producers, and mainstream organisations and pic Olym the celebrate the inspiration of never Paralympic Games, and produce work like of d roun nd seco a for ons icati before. Appl er commissions has been sought and furth ral Cultu the by d information will be announce se. cour due in Olympiad team

Poetry Parnassus with Simon Armitage

an British Poet Simon Armitage is leading 2012 the to nse respo ic poet s, ambitiou Olympic Games. Inspired by the Greek and the mountain home of the Lyricist Orpheus es, Mus ic poet the of place mythical dwelling

ARTS ATTHE HEART

Simon Armitage

this unprecedented poetry summit at the of the Southbank Centre invites poets from all in a part take to ns natio participating Olympic te. deba and ces rman perfo ings, festival of read the of part form will s assu Parn ry Poet which London 2012 Cultural Olympiad finale, the in n ratio celeb ral will be the largest cultu ic lymp Para and pic Olym ern mod history of the , 2011 July 22 until now From nts. eme mov members of the public can nominate their favourite poet via the Southbank Centre's nd website. Anyone in the world can recomme try, coun pic Olym any from s poet three up to Simon in order of preference. A panel including final the and tlist Armitage will then shor selection of poets will be announced in spring 2012.

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Further details of the initial 30 London 2012 here: Festival commissions can be downloaded http://tinyurl.com/66p8kbz

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the culture forum

Engaging with Government

Tim Joss, the Culture Forum’s elected chair, tells the Forum’s story and looks back at its final three months.

The Culture Forum was something new. It was the first time that an independent culture think tank had been elected by the sector it served.

The 26 of us knew it as we gathered round a cramped table in Arts & Business’s offices on a hot July day last year.

To get there, we had had to get the votes of our peers and win a seat: why should we be members, what could we contribute, and why should peers vote for us?

Now, around that table, we came from all artforms and heritage, all regions of England, small and large organisations, and practising artists to heads of second tier organisations. In a sector notorious for its atomism and within just four meetings, we had to mould ourselves into an effective team and produce a report.

Excitement, uncertainty and some fear fuelled a special buzz.

Disappointing response Four meetings took us from discussion to a final report. Small groups of members went away to write papers for the next meeting on, for example, the Big Society, collaborations, the danger of Arts Council England inertia and a ‘frozen portfolio’, financial models, local authorities, the Lottery, and measurement of impact. And we were clear.This was proving an excellent initiative of A&B and the National Campaign for the Arts but we were a new independent voice – independent of Government and our creators and not funder-led.

The report appeared in two forms.The first in October 2010 was specifically for the Government.This responded to the nine Treasury questions about which services were essential and which could be cut.The second appeared in January as a contribution to the ongoing debate about the big issues facing the arts and heritage (see box). Our recommendations were directed towards a wide range of players including ourselves as we were keen to run with some of the ideas.

The Government’s response to the first version was disappointing, both from ministers and civil servants.Why was that? One former

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senior DCMS civil servant suggested that the Culture Forum was expecting too much from Government especially at a time when DCMS was implementing a 40% cut in its staffing and overheads and when, in his long Whitehall experience, there was the lowest level of crossdepartmental collaboration.

Return on Investment

The Big Issues FacingArts and Heritage • Making the case for the power of arts and heritage • Contributing to the Big Society and new economic growth • The role of the state • Working with reduced public funds

Nevertheless the Forum is proud of its report. It is a rare expression of practising sector leaders not Government, funders or think tanks. It mixes practical suggestions for fellow sector professionals with a new conception of the state’s role.We continue to have feedback that the ideas are being taken up in different parts of the country and several key recommendations are being implemented by Culture Forum members.

We organised the first meeting between Lord Nat Wei, the Government’s adviser on the Big Society, and the arts and heritage world.

Andrew Barnett, Director of the Gulbenkian Foundation, is driving improvements in the measurement of cultural, social and economic return on investment.The Forum sees it crucial to move from the exception to the norm.

Otherwise arts and heritage will fall behind the rest of the charity sector.

Graham Henderson, Chief Executive of Poet in the City, is working on the proposal for a limited profit arts investment fund. In the social welfare and development sector, this kind of fund has ten years of development behind it including successes such as BridgesVentures andVenturesome. Arts and heritage are lagging behind.

Better outcomes Senior arts fundraisers, Andrew Higgins (Glyndebourne) and Samir Savant (Royal College of Music), are leading on the recommendation to build the necessary skills and capacity for fundraising in arts and heritage.

I am focused on creating the first UK venture philanthropy fund for the sector.Venture

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• Increasing earned income • Developing corporate support and philanthropy philanthropy began in Europe in 2002 and has achieved remarkable success in building the capacity and effectiveness of charities – but not so far in the arts and heritage.

Other ideas are on a longer burn. Most fundamental, and potentially most transforming, is the new distinction between ‘cultural capital’ and ‘public engagement’ and the call for clear policies for the many contexts to which the arts and heritage can contribute.

We have the cultural capital (the assets, capacity, skills, networks and institutions that support the country’s culture) but less developed, and with great potential, is the public’s engagement to achieve better outcomes where people share their daily lives in communities, health, schools, at work, in the criminal justice system, and so on.

Our elected term has almost expired.

This new kind of forum for the arts and heritage sectors – elected, sector-wide, involving practitioners and time-limited – has already proved its worth.What next? Perhaps we can repeat the model but this time focus on a particular issue. Inspired by the appointment of members, democracy could decide that too.

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Tim Joss Director The Rayne Foundation You can download the Culture Forum report from http://tinyurl.com/67cb6jk

the culture forum

THE CULTURE FORUM –

talking to government or talking to ourselves?

Sue Isherwood

Last summer I put myself forward for election to the Culture Forum, a short term ‘think tank” called together by the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) and Arts and Business (A&B). With the support of nalgao members, among others, I was elected and took part in four meetings across the summer and autumn of 2010 and contributed a couple of background papers on cofunding and Strategic Commissioning The idea was to influence thinking across government, both central and local as the Government spending review was being planned. There was representation across art forms and English regions. Two of us elected, myself and David Brownlee, the Chief Executive of Audiences UK, had local government background and experience to feed into the mix.

So what was it like?

Tim Joss of the Rayne Foundation agreed to chair us and did so with flair and purpose. The meetings, lasting no more than two and a half hours, were focussed, civilised and serious. There was a lot of listening, learning and bringing forward of case studies. We all agreed that shroud waving was not sensible and that we needed to demonstrate to government that the sector was both vital to the wellbeing of the nation and able to find ways of operating within a harsh economic climate.

What did we produce?

A report of policy ideas and recommendations (http://tinyurl.com/67cb6jk-) which was presented to ministers within DCMS, but, as so often with documents with arts and culture in the title didn’t get much further, as far as I know. Nothing penetrated into other central government departments, like Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health – or for nalgao/Arts Development UK members, into the Local Government Association

(LGA). Silos are still silos. The report is clearly written and sees two major roles for government - to build cultural capital and to encourage public engagement with arts and heritage.

There is a specific section on local government which points out the importance of local authority support, particularly outside London and the need to protect expertise at local level to preserve cultural distinctiveness and diversity. It recommends that local authorities invest in building community capacity and asks central government to articulate a clear approach to co-funding where organisations have been plurally funded by local authorities and Arts Council England (ACE).

What has happened?

After the meeting at DCMS a group from the Forum also met with Alan Davey, Chief Exec of ACE at the end of February. This led to an agreement to work together on venture philanthropy and spreading fundraising expertise. ACE also agreed to share details of the common position reached with the LGA on co-funding and to work on an impact measurement toolkit for arts organisations. All this to happen after the announcement of the ACE investment review – so basically from May 2011.

How does one intervene effectively?

The Culture Forum has been an interesting exercise to be part of, but I’m not sure how much difference it has or can make. It began to meet soon after the formation of the Coalition in May, but already too late to have influenced major budget decisions. It reached the attention of the DCMS and ACE, but not much further. The most useful thing was to provide space for the sector to articulate its strengths and challenges, but how are we to move beyond talking amongst ourselves? The Forum would welcome feedback from local authority members who have read – and more importantly used the report to support their local planning.

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Sue Isherwood C3 Cultural Consultancy Tel: 01749 871110 / 07919 540803 Email: sue@creative3.co.uk

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the culture forum

ColinTweedy, Chief Executive of Arts & Business explains the rationale Why was the Culture Forum set up?

Arts & Business in association with the National Campaign For the Arts created the Culture Forum in July 2010 in response to George Osborne’s call for leading cultural minds to engage in the big conversation on culture, the public and the private purse. The Culture Forum represented the UK’s cultural sector in the debate on how best to reanimate private sector cultural funding in this period of economic difficulty. The forum was elected from a combined cultural membership of over 1,650 members, who voted for representatives to serve, for a year on a consultative task force, of up to 20 members.

What has it achieved so far?

Personally, I feel that the notion of collaboration came to the fore.

Through this forum there is now a much better understanding of how different parts of the cultural ecology can work together, learn from one another and create growth. This group of cultural thinkers were insightful, knowledgeable and forward looking. The ideas they came up with continue to shape policy and debate.

Is it being wound up?

The Culture Forum was always planned to run for one year and the formal group will finish in July 2011.

Culture’s got ongoing challenges.Doesn’t the Forum have a continuing role to play?

Culture has indeed many challenges going forward and no doubt the individuals who contributed to the debate will continue to be active leaders in their respective fields. Many alliances have been made, expertise and knowledge has been shared and useful channels with the DCMS and the Arts Council England have been forged. It is crucial that we always reassess the way we support the frontline cultural fundraisers and listen to what they need. The recommendations of our Private Sector Policy for the Arts were the first step. This forum, providing the best objective scrutiny of what should be done and why, was the next. As the debate continues all members will show leadership on how to meet these challenges and also showcase the best path to growth to make sure culture and heritage continue to flourish.

•

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the national culture forum

Sue Isherwood

Leading The Way

NCP LLP Class of 2010 at work

The National Culture Forum’s Leading Learning Programme supported 32 senior cultural managers in its second year of operation.

32 people were recruited to the second year of the programme and for 6 people the Leading Learning Programme was the first specifically leadership focussed training they had undertaken since 2004.

Overall participants rated the programme management and quality of learning components highly.

All participants agreed that the programme had enabled them to reflect constructively on their leadership behaviour.

The majority agreed that the programme had opened up new networks and enabled them to develop their leadership skills.

The programme had an impact on participants’ leadership behaviour resulting in increased confidence, deeper understanding of leadership, the application of practical leadership tools and leadership in a political context.

Two thirds of participants (18 people) felt that the programme had equipped them to work better with key politicians in their authorities.

Of the 19 people that responded, 16 had identified a target role or job that was achievable within 5 years, Finally, there has already been a shift in career paths for participants with 13 applying for new posts (2 people reported achieving them) and 9 people reporting that they had broadened and developed their current role.

The one year programme offers them: • 360 degree reports with detailed one to one feedback • Analysis of personal learning styles • 7 days of highly interactive residential work covering strategic leadership, management of change, working in the political context, strategic financial management, scenario planning and leading for communities • Individual mentoring with carefully matched chief executives or directors • Small facilitated action learning sets to develop peer learning networks • A website with news, links and learning materials.

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The National Culture Forum LLP Class of 2010.

For more information about the Leading Learning Programme and masterclasses contact : Editor’s note:The National Culture Forum is not the same as the temporary A&B/NCA Culture Forum.The National Culture Forum was established in 2005 to bring together all the professional bodies representing those working across the cultural services in the public sector and it has an ongoing leadership,co-ordination and training function. More details can be found at:http://tinyurl.com/69a2hmf

Sue Isherwood Director Tel: 01749 871110 Email: leadership@cloa.org.uk

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the Henley music review

BEDFORD BLUES Catherine Rose

Below:The Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra in action

In the early 1990s, I was asked by the National Campaign for the Arts to ring round Britain’s professional orchestras to find out how many of their musicians were past members of county youth orchestras or bands, or had learnt their instrument via their local education authority.This survey was intended to support a debate in the House of Lords.The result was that the majority – my memory hazards about 60% or more overall – were indeed the product of Britain’s youth music culture.

Three years ago, I emailed the same British orchestras for a different reason: to contact former Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra (BCYO) players, in order to invite them to play in a ‘scratch’ professional orchestra for my husband Michael Rose’s 75th birthday concert. He has conducted the BCYO for just short of forty years, and during his time as County Music Inspector built up a system which included five youth orchestras, four bands, a jazz band, two choirs, five Saturday Morning Music Schools and the highly-acclaimed Bedfordshire Youth Opera.

Putting together his birthday-present orchestra was time-consuming but very easy – there are members of the BCYO in almost every professional orchestra and opera company in the UK, and many abroad.

Juvenile Delinquent Yet the whole of Bedfordshire Youth Music is now under threat, occasioned by local authority cuts – in fact the actual organisation itself will cease to exist very shortly. Campaigning against the cuts has revealed a whole ‘community’ of current and ex-Bedfordshire musicians.

Many are working in music as players, conductors, teachers, music therapists and singers (one has just won the Kathleen Ferrier Award).The

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vast majority however are not – and yet the message has come over loud and clear: please do not deprive the young people of today of the experiences and education we received through youth music. One said she would have been a juvenile delinquent had music not saved her; another said “I don’t think there’s a single area of my life that hasn’t been touched and bettered by the experiences I gained as a young musician…

I’m still living out the lessons I learned twenty years ago”.

These examples are all drawn from Bedfordshire as it’s the place I know best (though I myself was a member of the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra), but the picture is being replicated across the UK: cuts are either making music tuition and ensemble work too expensive for families to afford, or actually wiping them out.

Lack of Logic What sticks in so many musicians’ craws is that this is directly contrary to what the Education Secretary Michael Gove and the Culture Minister

“Experience tells us that re-starting services is usually more expensive than the money saved in closing them down.

In the long term, the Coalition Government’s actions will add to the deficit, not help to pay it off. ”

the Henley music review The Standards Fund

The Localism Bill

The Standards Fund is a Department for Education (DfE) scheme which allocates additional money to schools for specific initiatives.These include things like study support, youth services, ethnic minority achievement targets, early years training and Local Education Authority music services. It is intended to make a significant contribution to schools’ development and improvement agenda.

The music services grant is allocated for the quality of the music provision in schools and the DfE says “in most cases the grant [is] to be retained by LEAs for a central music service.The grant must be utilised, to improve the quality of taught music, to protect provision currently offered by LEAs in the field of music services and to further expand the provision to provide opportunities for children to have access to music services.”

The Localism Bill 2010-11 is currently going through Parliament. It will devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities more control over housing and planning decisions. The main measures of the Localism Bill fall under four headings:

(DfE Standards FundWebsite accessed 15 June 2011)

• New freedoms and flexibilities for local government • New rights and powers for communities and individuals • Reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective • Reform to ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally The measures include: • Giving residents the power to instigate local referendums on any local issue and the power to veto excessive council tax increases • Providing new powers to help save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and giving voluntary and community groups the right to challenge local authorities over their services.

The next issue of Arts at the Heart will carry an in-depth feature on the Bill which is expected to become law this Autumn.

Ed Vaizey have been saying. Both are cultured people who value the arts as part of their own lives. Both have welcomed the conclusions of the Henley Review into music education, which they jointly commissioned, and they both approved its recommendation that Standards Fund money should continue for at least a further year.

Yet neither will intervene when local cuts jeopardise the arts and arts education. At the State of the Arts conference in February, Vaizey said: “Local government knows its local people far better than central government and while I might not agree with every decision made by a local authority, I respect their right to make that decision themselves.” In other words, they will not lift a finger to preserve the great work that is already going on, and seem happy to see it lost, damaged or put beyond the reach of ordinary families.

What makes one’s brain hurt is the lack of logic and connection between the words and the actions of our rulers. The cry coming from our services is not ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, but ‘it ain’t broke, so please don’t break it’.

Ed Vaizey has now asked Darren Henley to review cultural education overall, and introduces the associated consultation with the words “Our culture brings audiences from across the world and we are particularly adept at producing world-leading performers and artists. To remain in such a strong position we need to be sure that we are giving children the best start in their cultural education.”

The reasoning behind this new review is unfortunately flawed: it is imagined that systems like those which support music education can be created to support other aspects of cultural education. That might work for dance and drama, but given that the music services are under such threat, how are new infrastructures going to be afforded and

created? And can it work for visual arts, digital arts, and other aspects of cultural education which have never had the place in the curriculum which music has enjoyed? Henley (whose music review was generally well-received) has asked for people’s definition of cultural education, and for examples of research which back up the value of cultural and creative education. Many of us must be feeling intensely frustrated by this: Ken Robinson’s NACCCE report ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (1999) has in many people’s opinion already done the job, while Creative Partnerships and Find Your Talent – now also cut – were already trying to create the reality. The cuts have casually brushed away so much good work, and the new order is now trying to re-create it in their own image.

Those who protest are being labelled ‘deficit deniers’, which is a desperate and shallow insult. We in arts education are as aware of the economic value of creativity and artistic endeavour, as we are of the social and educational value. Destroying existing good practice will cost us dearly, in both money and social capital.

Experience tells us that re-starting services is usually more expensive than the money saved in closing them down. In the long term, the Coalition Government’s actions will add to the deficit, not help to pay it off.

•

Catherine Rose Email: Catherine.rose@talktalkbusiness

Catherine conducts the Bedfordshire County Youth Third Orchestra, and is currently Acting Director of Arts Inform.

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the Henley music review

Top Right: Michael Gove MP. Bottom Right: Darren Henley

DEAFENING Report Darren Henley’s review of Music Education in England

Paul Kelly Whether it’s a school carol service, a community concert, a local rock band developing their craft or a talented young singer preparing to be X Factored, music making by young people is at the core of a community’s cultural life.

So it was good news when last September Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education appointed Classic FM Managing Director Darren Henley to conduct an independent review of music education in England. Henley’s report, published in February arrived at the start of Local Authority budget reductions creating a bizarre juxtaposition of advocacy and practice. On the one hand some local music services were facing the axe (with a notable instance reported in this issue) just as Henley was setting out the future for stability and development.

Darren Henley’s plan for Music Education is not exactly news. But with further local spending cuts anticipated and his subsequent appointment to undertake a similar review of Cultural Education, we at

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Arts at the Heart thought it worth summarising some of his music recommendations. Henley’s commendably succinct plan is, with its 36 recommendations, a deafening report and hopefully a defining one too.

The Government is spending nearly £145 million a year on Music Education in England. His starting point is that there is much good Music Education in England and much to be proud of and to celebrate.

Yet Henley’s research found the provision to be inconsistent. “I was told time and time again”, he said “that Music Education in England was ‘good in places, but distinctly patchy.”

His remedy is far from new and very much ‘of the times’. “Where Music Education is delivered at its best,” he reports, “money from central government and Local Authorities is harnessed together alongside imaginative use of school budgets and exciting collaborations with arts organisations.The best Music Education comes about through partnership.” Working together in partnership, he says, will be absolutely key to developing a vibrant future for Music Education in this country.

the Henley music review

The Benefits of Music Education One of the most heartening things about the report is that it very clearly acknowledges the benefits of music education in an extremely broad and holistic way. And it is not just Henley saying this, but the Government, “Government priorities,” notes Henley,”recognise music as an enriching and valuable academic subject with important areas of knowledge that need be learnt, including how to play an instrument and sing...Secondary benefits of a quality music education are those of increased self esteem and aspirations; improved behaviour and social skills; and improved academic attainment in areas such as numeracy, literacy and language.

There is evidence, he continues, that music and cultural activity can contribute not just education and cultural agendas but also the aspirations for the Big Society. And as expected music is also credited with an economic role, developing a skilled workforce and ensuring that the UK’s creative industries continue to maintain and grow their “pre-eminent position on the international stage, bringing economic benefits for the country as a whole”.

Objectives In conceiving his report, Henley sets a small number of clear objectives including: 1. Outlining a vision for what every child should expect to receive from their Music Education inside and outside the classroom.

Education provided in schools by Local Authority Music Services, Arts Council England client organisations or other recognised music delivery organisations.

• Schools, he says, should provide children with a broad Music Education, which includes performing, composing, listening, reviewing and evaluating • There should be a clear progression route for children after the initial free opportunity for instrumental tuition is made available. This route would be means tested, with parents above an agreed income level expected to fund, or part fund, tuition.

• Arts Council England should fund its client organisations to deliver Music Education programmes in accordance with the National Music Plan. All of these programmes should operate under the same quality framework, inspected by Ofsted.

• Music Education in school and out of school should continue to be funded through a mixed economic model. This should include ring-fenced funding from central government, funding from Arts Council England, funding from Local Authorities, funding from the National Lottery, through fees from parents and from other sources including philanthropy.

• The best model for Music Education includes a combination of classroom teaching, instrumental and vocal music tuition and input from professional musicians. Partnership between organisations is the key to success.

(RECOMMENDATIONS 1, 4 AND 8) Delivering theVision To achieve the above, he proposes a National Music Education Plan which should be the developed by The Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The plan should include the following: • The provision of Music Education should remain a statutory requirement as part of the National Curriculum.

• Schools, Local Authority Music Services, Arts Council England client organisations and other recognised delivery organisations should work together to create Music Education Hubs in each Local Authority area. These Hubs should receive ring-fenced central government funding to deliver Music Education in each area following an open, advertised bidding process.

• Ofsted’s remit should be expanded to include the reviewing of standards in Music

• To deliver the very best rounded Music Education to children, these organisations

2. Developing the concept of a coherent National Plan for Music Education, 3. Considering ways of helping the Music Education workforce to become more effective 4. Helping parents and carers more easily to engage with Music Education in their local area and 5. Examining the next steps for further development

TheVision The vision behind Henley’s report is this: “We want to ensure that the Music Education that every child receives is excellent in every way. And we want to make it possible for every child to have the opportunity to progress through a Music Education system that enables them to achieve their full musical potential.”

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the Henley music review

should come together in partnership. Central government funding would be channelled through one lead organisation, which will in the vast majority of cases be a Local Authority Music Service. It is envisaged that these Music Education Hubs will be far more than simply a loose collective body of music-making organisations.

personally place on delivering an excellent Music Education to children in England.” But he comments later, “there is evidence that this view is not shared in every Local Authority across the country.”

• A review of [the many] charitable organisations working in the Music Education sector should be undertaken with the aim of ensuring that money donated to these charities is being spent in the most efficient and effective way.

(RECOMMENDATIONS 15 – 18 AND 35) Improving Access and Quality

• The Department for Education should ensure that public funds are invested to provide the highest quality Music Education for children and young people efficiently and with the greatest accountability for the money spent.

(RECOMMENDATIONS 9 – 15) The Challenges Funding of Music Education, says Henley, is not simple, with money coming from a variety of disparate sources. Local Authorities and Head Teachers, he acknowledges, have a particularly important role to play in supporting the development of Music Education in their schools.

Henley is fully aware of the potential for Local Authority cuts to inflict fatal damage on the brief he has been given by Michael Gove.

“Without central government funds being ring-fenced, I have serious concerns about the future of Music Education. Given the financial pressures on both Local Authorities and individual schools, it is important that the money intended for Music Education is actually spent on Music Education.”

Henley’s says of his discussions with Michael Gove and Ed Vaizey, “I have been particularly encouraged by how receptive they have been to new ideas. I have also been struck by the high value which they both

Henley sets some clear and commendable targets for improving delivery on the ground which can only be of benefit to local artistic communities. These include: • All primary schools should have access to a specialist music teacher.

Making Delivery possible Henley makes it clear from the outset that his research was not budget driven.This, he says, “This has enabled me to make recommendations based on need, rather than as a financial accounting exercise.” But he is “mindful of the requirement for careful management of public funds in these financially straitened times.”This leads to some recommendations including: • All partner organisations working together in Music Education Hubs should be encouraged to make back office cost savings.

• The current ad hoc purchase of musical instruments should be reoplaced with a centralised national purchasing system.

• Youth Music’s administrative cost base should be reviewed by the DfE, DCMS and ACE and it should operate “under a set of tightly targeted objectives, defined and monitored” by its sponsoring bodies.

• Secondary school music teachers should be allowed the time to work closely with their local Music Education Hubs and feeder primaries.

• A new qualification should be developed for music educators, which would professionalise and acknowledge their role in and out of school.

(RECOMMENDATIONS 22-24) The first of these ought to create new opportunities for local artists.1 The second should free up publicly funded music expertise currently restricted to school premises and make it more widely available in the community. The third will enhance and acknowledge skills in a similar way to Arts Development UK’s emerging professional accreditation scheme.

1

Musicians are artists.

Where the Money for Music Education Comes From £m

%

Local Authorities

£82.5

57.0%

DfE Music Instrument Fund

£10.0

6.9%

From DfE

Sing Up - National Singing programme

£10.0

6.9%

DfE Music & Dance Scheme

£16.0

11.0%

Music spend

DfE Continuing Professional Development programme

£1.0

0.7%

for music teachers

In Harmony projects

£1.0

0.7%

Music Partnership Projects

£0.5

0.3%

Small projects

£0.5

0.3%

DfE National Youth Music Organisations

£0.5

0.4%

Youth Music for National Youth Music Organisations

£0.4

0.3%

ACE for National Youth Music Organisations

£0.1

0.1%

Local Authorities

£22.3

15.4%

Total

£144.9

100.0%

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Presumably 2010-11 figures

the Henley music review

The Government’s Response to Henley The Government has welcomed Darren Henley’s report. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education expressed the coalition government’s commitment to Music Education, saying that “..every child should receive a strong, knowledge based cultural education and should have the opportunity to learn and play a musical instrument and to sing.” He has also pledged to end the ‘musical divide’ between those wealthier children with access to great musical education and children in disadvantaged areas.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: “Darren Henley has done a fantastic job helping us realise our goal of making sure that every child can experience the joy of music...There’s no question that learning about music offers huge rewards, unlocking a lifetime of cultural pleasure and teaching vital life skills too.”

Henley’s Report and Policy Problems When it comes to culture, the Coalition Government has not had a terribly good press since coming to power. It is associated more with cuts than creativity. In complete contrast, Darren Henley’s report, and the Government’s response to it, gives an altogether different impression. Henley reports that both Michael Gove and Ed Vaizey have shown interest and understanding. Gove has continued funding Music Education in 2011-12 with £82.5 million committed. And there is a clear signal that Government will seek to deliver some or all of Henley’s recommendations, both through their written response and in appointing Darren Henley to undertake a new and wider piece of research into Cultural Education.

So, if this the case why are Local Authorities being allowed to close down or reduce funding to local music services? Such apparent contradictions and some of the recommendations in Henley’s report flag up

some significant incompatibilities between ideology, policy and practice that are also affecting the NHS reforms and are going to make the passage and implementation of the Localism Bill very interesting.

Current Conservative ideology revolves around decentralising power and allowing local people to decide. It sounds commendable in principle. But there is a rather laissez faire aspect to it and it threatens the fragmentation of common standards across the nation and the introduction of a form of Post Code lottery based on what local people (or more probably local activists) decide. The Henley report, in complete contrast, advocates a national plan for music with universal quality standards and the Secretary of State for Education seems to be backing this. It will be very interesting to see how this sits with the Localism Bill which challenges the principles of centralism and allows local people to challenge local spending decisions.

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On a more practical level, the Henley report offers local arts and cultural practitioners some really strong ammunition for sustaining and developing important local cultural services and some good partnership opportunities too. Let’s hope that Henley’s work on the broader brief of Cultural Education is as clear and concise and gets a similar Government welcome.

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Paul Kelly Cultural Futures Tel: 01202 385585 Email: artsatheart@gmail.com The full Henley report on Music Education in England can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/682jeuf The Government’s reponse to it can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/5ucmnzg Arts at the Heart will be examining the Localism Bill in depth in its next issue

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conference report

New Beginnings in Brighton Paul Kelly

o’s last ever Six months on, and nalga nding) in bra t conference (under tha ost a distant alm ms see ve Brighton and Ho s distance can be memory. Yet sometime detail and getting useful in filtering out the to the essence. had been reLast December’s conference October slot and it was scheduled from its usual pregnant as delegates a sort of pregnant event; s on budgets and new awaited anticipated bad coming months, and the r ove e spending to emerg asion for the birth of a pregnant as it was the occ of which anon. new organisation – more ring touchstones. rea Conferences can be ssu n some in the past, This one, whilst smaller tha aplenty. It was good to had these characteristics ll (squeaky floors!). We be back in Hove Town Ha rs with nothing ake heard from eminent spe er known speakers, less and say terribly much to t. Ed Vaizey, Minister for full of wisdom and insigh

speech in which he the Arts graced us with a arts officers for their thanked local government that was new. hard work, but said little ns offered a sio ses The Open Forum and the potential for es iliti sib pos kaleidoscope of ates had the chance organisational chaos. Deleg topics old and new for countless breakouts on tinuing professional con and including leadership stress and outsourcing development, coping with t as the conversation your assets. Sometimes jus ward would scuttle in ste was getting interesting a to wind up. and give us five minutes study tour offered the nce fere con The annual hton’s best cultural chance to see some of Brig and Basement Art rica facilities - The Dome, Fab ee. thr but e productions to nam me chance to catch There was also the welco ke new ones. Trade up with old friends and ma and leaflets galore. n stands offered informatio ever popular and Rick Bond’s surgeries were

All Conference photos in this section were taken by Colin Barker

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conference report

seemingly never-ending (he could teach the NHS a thing or two). And resident writer, Rowena Easton and photographer, Colin Barker, were ever-present but never intrusive.

But you certainly couldn’t miss the gem-like performance theatre pieces by Comic Character Creations, which gently mocked the arts and its managers with a quiet and witty authority.

The conference AGM, usually the dullest and most routine part of the event was, this year, the most complex and significant, as in the splendidly atmospheric basement that is Komedia, delegates sought to negotiate constitutional clauses and sub clauses (and it being December almost Santa clauses) and through this bid farewell to the old and usher in the new. There was a growing sense of incomprehension as we sought to follow changes, amendments, addendums and elections. But this was achieved with some astute questioning from the floor and clear answers from the officers. Elections were

followed by elation and constitutional complexity was neatly packed away and followed by a cabaret floor show with music and improvised comedy whose hilarity had us rolling around.

First constitution, then comedy. I am still trying to work out which was the sublime and which the ridiculous. “Peel your grizzlies” say my scrawled notes. It probably made sense at the time.

So, a big nalgao thank you to the Brighton City Council culture team - Paula Murray, Donna Close and colleagues - for hosting the last ever nalgao conference with both style and substance.

Walking back to the conference hotel that Monday night after the constitutional complexities, that hilarious cabaret and a good buffet, I chanced across a small bar packed to the rafters with people spilling out into the street. Inside it was snug and a fight to get to the bar. A jazz trio of sax, bass and guitar, riffed efficiently through some classic

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or other. Brighton’s Monday nights, I mused, seem like other cities’ weekends.

Another year, another conference but also, truly, the end of an era. nalgao’s years deserve a proper memorial. And thus in the spirit of Private Eye’s legendary poet-in-residence EJ Thribb (17½), So Farewell then, nalgao.

Your proper name The National Association of Local Government Arts Officers Was always an impossible mouthful.

And welcome, Arts Development UK, We’ll have to learn how To make that less so.

Keith’s mum says We could do it in Blackpool.

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Paul Kelly Editor Email: artsatheart@gmail.com

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conference report

Finding the Light In Dark Times Lorna Brown

Editor’s note:This is an edited version of Lorna Brown’s Conference Speech last December. Obviously there have been quite a number of developments since then, but its content and comment are still useful and relevant.

To quote the opening lines of a current popular film, ‘these are dark times – there’s no denying’. But dark though the times are, this is not time to sit back and hope all will be well. We have to face an unprecedented situation in which the matter of survival is for many a real concern.

A 30% cut to local authority budgets coupled with a similar amount to Arts Council England means a double whammy for the arts. As we have seen, we have a Secretary of State who was first to offer up swingeing cuts for his own department and we have a minister who commenting on the likely effect to the arts from local authority budget cuts replied it is for local areas to

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“ These are different times and the scale and speed of the cuts is creating wrongheaded and shortsighted disruption which is troubling many who day-to-day are required not to take a political stance”

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Summer 2011

make their own priorities while the government will continue to fund the arts through ACE which provides support to Regularly Funded Organisations. It is enough to make the most determined faint hearted.

After all, despite a perception of the past years as a golden age for the arts – we have already lost 45 arts services in the past 5 years, some to re-organisation, some simply due to budget cuts.

It is unrealistic to expect any change of heart from a government set on an ideological path to shrink the state in which the fiscal is the rationale more than the prime driver.

As local authority employees we are required to be apolitical – some of us in

conference report politically restricted posts. Many of us have spent lifetimes working for administrations we did not vote for – that is after all democracy. We find a way in our working lives to balance one set of political beliefs with those of our lords and masters. They may – and do – ignore our professional advice; that is their prerogative. We sometimes groan as the political machinery turns in ways we find strange – when for instance youth arts is suddenly out of favour, or even when a politician’s personal enthusiasm suddenly creates an unexpected opportunity. We are adept at adjusting when the internal politics brings about yet another shift in perspective or priorities.

That is the nature of the job.

But these are different times and the scale and speed of the cuts is creating panic. And panic is causing sheer wrongheaded, short-sighted disruption which is troubling many who day-to-day are required not to take a political stance.

How can government claim unlocking social mobility is at the heart of its agenda – giving everyone the skills to fulfil their potential and growing skills and

“ Lobbying in the arts so often centres on the usual suspects and with over half ofACE funding going to the capital,the power of the cultural great and good to influence remains formidable” productivity to enable the country to meet the needs of a globally competitive economy?

Research has found that success in a creative or cultural career was best achieved by those with access to the social networks that are simply not available to young people from less well off backgrounds.

And yet, Creativity, Culture and Education (Creative Partnerships as was) has had its funding slashed, and with it exposure to the arts for poorer children. As CCE’s warns, ‘If you do nothing as a government (to redress this inequality) then rich people will get these jobs’. And while the student grants issue has politicised a new generation of activists, has anyone noticed that humanity

subjects at university will in future receive NO public funding? This is not a government that inspires with its support and understanding of the arts.

As councils are busy just now setting their budgets, we see those once sacrosanct cultural icons, libraries, set for closure, day services for the elderly under threat and provision for children in need cut. In these times we expect of course to take our share of the pain. But how many like Somerset will cut ALL arts spending, or like Suffolk, propose to outsource all of their services?

Dark times indeed – but if the picture I paint is a gloomy one, it is also far better to light a candle than rail at the dark. There is opposition, although lobbying in the arts so often centres on the usual suspects and with over half of ACE funding going to the capital, the power of the cultural great and good to influence remains formidable. At local level and for local services the future is not so much with government, nor indeed with ACE but with us arts and cultural services officers.

As arts officers we have a distinct advantage over our council colleagues – we have pretty much always lived life on the edge.Yes I grant there are big council arts services that have had a stability most of us can only dream of, but the majority are well used to adapting to changing circumstances, well able to present the right argument at the right time to the right person and to find creative solutions to the everyday obstacles that get in our way.

In the arts we are used to embracing change and we are used to taking the opportunities that come our way.

One of those is the new Local Enterprise Partnerships – LEPS. Twenty-four of these have been given the go ahead to progress their plans. DCMS has noticed that cultural sectors are poorly represented. We at least have a toehold here, demonstrating how the cultural sector can support economic growth.

There will however be many changes, and the financial climate is a very different one from the one we have become used to.

At present, nalgao’s membership remains strong and numbers of associate members have been growing. But nalgao also need to change, to adapt to the different world we find ourselves in and – most importantly – to continue our aim to make absolutely sure that nalgao is the leading body that raises the profile and reputation of the vital locally focused work of its members.

We want nalgao to strengthen its influence with policy makers and funders and to have a key role in training, developing and representing our profession.

ARTS ATTHE HEART

So our first change is to our regional trustees – those tireless souls who are nalgao in the regions – to become regional co-ordinators. This will release them to use their precious time, voluntary time let’s not forget, in making sure nalgao works for its members in the regions as best it can.

We have been developing a new framework for professional development; this move is one step in implementing that.

It does mean that regional co-ordinators will no longer be trustees – this will relieve them of an administrative burden but does not mean a reduction in the links between the membership and those who look after the business end of the organisation.

What were quarterly nalgao trustee meetings will become national meetings, with an emphasis on regional delivery. The board of trustees will retain five members as well as the officers, who will bring a regional perspective and will be the first point of contact regionally. These are sensible changes to our governance that will make us more effective.

The rather more fundamental change was an agreement to open up membership to a

“ Our aim is to make absolutely sure that this organisation is the leading body that raises the profile and reputation of the vital locally-focused work of its members”

wider group of people on an equal footing.

Whether you are a freelance arts manager, a health worker interested in what the arts can do for you, a director of cultural services in a big authority or a part-time arts officer in a rural district, nalgao will be the place you can turn to for support, information and professional development. And to achieve this we will be re-launching as Arts Development UK. These are difficult and challenging times – there is so much we still can’t be certain of. The trick is to find open ways forward that allow swift and flexible responses. We believe we have done just that for nalgao. Our future is Arts Development UK.

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conference report

unities, Rt Hon Ed Vaizey, Minister for Comm Culture and the Creative Industries

y t ie c o S ig B e h T Arts and h c e e p S e c n re fe n o C e – Keynot Ed Vaizey’s speech.

Editor’s note: This is an edited verson of s Development UK website.

The full version can be found on the Art

a Minister in the Coalition Government it’s impossible to have any conversation with anyone without mentioning the Big Society. I’m sure you will all agree with me, the arts already are the embodiment of the Big Society. There are over 50,000 well organised voluntary cultural groups across the country that bring together people with shared interests – book clubs, drama clubs, pottery courses etc etc ‘Our Creative Talent’ calculated that almost 6 million people are involved in community arts groups and a further 3.5 million people volunteered as My passion is culture.When I took on this job in opposition, I asked extras or helpers. So this is the Big Society in action.

David Cameron whether I could have it. It’s a job I’ve always wanted I don’t think the arts sector needs to desperately adapt to bring itself into in politics. I am absolutely delighted to have got it albeit in very line with government thinking. It just needs to shout a little louder about different circumstances to how I perhaps envisaged it. what it already does and help bring government thinking along with it.

Culture has moved up the government agenda in the last three or four Everyone involved in the arts at a local level has something important to years in a way that is very significant. If I had my way I’d write the arts a teach other sectors about bringing together determined, motivated people blank cheque. I don’t think the arts are subsidy junkies or are living off the ,for the benefit of their community. largesse of the state. Neither Jeremy Hunt nor I came into government We mustn’t lose sight of why we do what we do. All art is about wanting to reduce arts spending, but our hands were tied. We had to experience and people having those experiences are audiences and negotiate with the Treasury the best deal we felt we could get. participants. We make no apologies for seeking reductions in backroom The part of the debate that is always overlooked is that we made an staff and administration if that frees up resources to enable more people to immediate commitment to increase the amount experience the power of culture. of money going into the arts from the Lottery.

As you know the government has made it a We have a certain amount of control over priority to look at and increase philanthropy. We DCMS andACE -The where Arts Council spending is prioritised. But we don’t see this as a substitute for central or local Unexplored Relationship don’t have any control over where local government support. We understand the concern government spending goes. We have come in that fundraising is much more challenging with a strong view on what we call localism – on outside of London. This will be reflected in our EdVaizey’s speech was followed by a devolving power and decision making down to fundraising proposals when they are released. number of questions.The most interesting local authorities.

We’ll be looking at opportunities for matching exchange came in response to a question While I might raise the odd eyebrow on some and the use of technology to raise small sums from Paula Murray, Head of Culture and decisions taken by certain councils on arts from individuals.

Economy at Brighton & Hove Council, who funding, I absolutely support in principle the right There is a mixed funding economy. Even where perceptively asked the Minister what he of those councils to take those decisions. There local authorities are reducing funding – all is not thought the emerging role for the DCMS are plenty of councils up and down the country doom and gloom. We can look at imaginative and was in coming years. In a lengthy reply, that ‘get’ culture and understand it not just in innovative solutions, particularly in reducing back Vaizey said,“The key debate is the terms of their local area but as important to office costs to protect the front line. I hope our relationship between DCMS and Arts attracting investment and tourism. initiatives on philanthropy will support work in Council which is a debate that has never We shouldn’t let ourselves be consumed by the regions. really happened over 18 years since the talk of cuts. It’s importance that we turn our Finally, the reason that I wanted to come down creation of a Ministry of state.” The full focus, with the budgets that we are given, in person and speak to you is to say thank you to reply can be found on Arts Development towards what we can continue to do well. all the local government arts officers from all over UK’s website - www.artsdevelopmentuk.org I am delighted to see that this year’s the country who do such valuable work for the conference is called The Arts in The Big Society. As arts in Britain. Thank you.

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conference report

Positioning the arts in the new political and financial landscape MartynAllison Editor’s note:Martyn gave a typically robust, well researched and keynote presentation on the challenges facing Local Authority cultural services.This report is a brief digest of some of the key facts in his Powerpoint presentation.

The politically tectonic plates have moved and the world is changing.

As a result we have to deal with:

Less resources • The public sector could be 20-30% smaller in financial terms by 2014 • A greater focus required on better productivity Localism and big society • Rolling back the state and removing the ‘middle men’ • Devolution to councils Devolution to people • Sector led improvement • Local partnerships and community budgets • Delivering better outcomes more efficiently • Accountability to local communities not central government

Some New Opportunities • Community budgets • Transfer of public health to councils • Huge pressures on social care to deliver more independent living and personalisation • School budgets more focused on standards not outcomes But… Some Old Problems • Poor health & health inequality • Older people wanting to be independent longer • Better outcomes for children & young people • Fear of crime & anti social behaviour • Community tensions • Jobs & wealth creation

The challenges & opportunities for the sector Reducing budgets

The Budget position: Councils are facing: • 28% reduction in council budgets over 4 years (7% a year but front loaded) • 45% cut in capital Culture is facing: • Arts Council budget reduced by 29%.

• MLA disappearing with the Renaissance in the Regions programme being reduced by around 15% over four years • Visit Britain budgets reduced by 34% • English Heritage budgets reduced by 32% • Funding for the Creative Partnerships programme will end • DCMS funding from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) will end

The Landscape Is Changing CPA/CAA & audit commission

“Armchair inspectors”

National Indicators

Transparency Framework/Efficiency Benchmarks

Local Area Agreements

Community budgets (Place based budgeting/Total place)

NDPB funding & support

MLA/Arts Council

Local Government Improvement & Development

????

Increasing income through more participation

Need to reduce costs and increase productivity New ways of delivering services Working across service & administrative boundaries New income streams through commissioning Different opportunities for the third sector

The challenges & opportunities for the sector #2 Less national policy, advocacy & support leadership

Greater opportunity for local political and managerial

Future role and capacity of NDPBs uncertain

Opportunity to pool budgets and work collaboratively through Community budgets

Future of national data uncertain

Positioning the sector as a major contributor to delivering priority outcomes through commissioning: • Health improvement • Independent living for older and vulnerable people • Children and young people • Reducing crime & anti social behaviour • Improving the economy

Future of national research & evidence uncertain Less national and regional support for improvement

Martyn Allison has just stepped down as National Advisor For Cultural Services.We thank him for his tireless, insightful campaigning work over the years. Lorna Brown, Chair, Arts Development UK ARTS ATTHE HEART

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conference report Open Forum session on

The role of arts development officers in the arts and health agenda Headline conclusions:

• Arts Development Officers (ADOs) are unfamiliar with principles and timetables of GP commissioning, which will take over in about 18 months.

• This is time to engage • Arts strength is to develop stronger sense of self in individuals, recognised as key part of personal health, physical and mental.

Barriers:

• Difficult for small arts groups to have capacity for tendering • Need for external support and consortia

Examples of good practice put forward by delegates: • Suffolk County Council Dance on Prescription programme has led to engagement with GPs, and further access for wellbeing programmes • Voluntary Arts has done some work on linking artforms to different treatments for medical conditions • Tune into Health – advocacy group for music activity • North Warwickshire 18 month Pilot programme commissioned by County Council, working with GP, Hospital, Wellbeing centre and to be evaluated by Nottingham Trent University – managed by Cultural Consortium.

What canArts Development Officers do?

• Put together package in collaboration with GP champions, including tasters • Use their local knowledge of arts agencies to broker opportunities (eg Bristol’s Wellbeing Choir) • Support training and supervision for artists to work in health settings.

•

This is an edited set of notes from this session.

The full un-edited set, compiled by Tim Harris of Cultural Consortium can be found in the ‘Resources section of the website – www.artsdevelopmentuk.org.

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conference report Open Forum session on

The BIG Society Presentation by Robin Simpson,Chief Executive,VoluntaryArts Robin Simpson introduced the Big Society and outlined typical Big Society responses:

Society, Cabinet Office who, in November 2010 said that, The Office for Civil Society is leading on four Big Society initiatives:

1. Nobody seems to know what it actually is 2. It’s just a cynical ploy to pass blame for the cuts 3.We’re doing it already

• National Citizen Service – a programme for 16 year-olds, getting young people who don’t mix to do so – pilots will take place in summer 2011 involving 10,000 young people

He then outlined what a number of experts have recently said their understanding of The Big Society is. (See table on following page for a digest of this).

Robin elaborated on the detail, saying, so far the Government’s Big Society agenda consists of three main themes:

• Community Organisers – people who bring together different groups in a community, getting people together to discuss a particular issue – the Office for Civil Society will set up a training programme for 5,000 community organisers

1. Localism – driving power from central Government to individuals, neighbourhoods and local councils – local people getting a greater say in local decisions (The localism and decentralisation bill expected in November 2010 – introduced 13 December 2010 - Ed)

• Community First Fund – a small grants fund focussed on areas with low social capital – a successor to the Grassroots Grants scheme which has given out 20,000 grants including many to arts and culture groups

2. Rights – including the right to buy community assets, the right to challenge local government and the right to run local services (a greater role for voluntary and community organisations) 3. Support for voluntary action – individuals and communities coming together to find solutions to the problems they face, initiatives to encourage people to give more time (every adult should volunteer in their community), National Citizen Service for 16-year-olds, initiatives to encourage philanthropy, the Big Society Bank, encouraging more private investment into the voluntary sector, support for grassroots organisations to be effective, making it easier to set up and run voluntary and community organisations (eg Lord Hodgson’s Reducing Red Tape taskforce) He reported on a speech by John Knights, Policy Manager- Volunteering, Office for Civil

people’s confidence and capability at grassroots level, strengthening local networks.

• Cutting red tape – including Lord Hodgson’s Reducing Red Tape Task Force and the review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme.

• The Supporting a Stronger Civil Society consultation.

• The £100 million Transition Fund for voluntary and community sector organisations affected by spending cuts that was announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

• A Green Paper consultation on the giving of time and money Robin Simpson noted that Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society said that there has been a fair amount of confusion and cynicism about the Government’s Big Society agenda but that the Government is very serious about it. Big Society is not a Government programme, said Hurd, but Government has an active role to play.

• A strand of money for volunteering infrastructure and a matched fund for volunteering.

Robin stressed Nick Hurd’s comment that,

The Government’s green paper consultation on the giving of time and money was issued on 29 December and, as Robin anticipated, contains a number of Big Society initiatives which are being co-ordinated by the Office for Civil Society, including: • The Community First Fund – a small grants fund for neighbourhood groups, focused on areas with low social capital.

• Community Organisers – training 5,000 new community organisers to build

ARTS ATTHE HEART

• A National Citizen Service – connecting young people with their ability to make a contribution to the community. This will bring together 16year olds from different backgrounds through residential, outward-bound events.

The young people will then be encouraged to use the skills they have already got in their communities, structuring and delivering their own programmes of community action.

“Anyone who thinks they are already delivering the Big Society has not understood the level of change that is coming at a local level. The measures being proposed in the Localism Bill being brought to Parliament by Greg Clark will lead to a situation where will need to be many more debates at local level about what the priorities are. The sector can’t be complacent about this. Voice is going to be very important – and particularly important on behalf of those who don’t have a voice.”

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conference report What IsThe Big Society? - What Policy MakersThink EXPERT

THREE THINGS THEY THINK THE BIG SOCIETY IS

Lord Wei, former Government Adviser for Big Society 6 June 2010

2

People able to contribute more effectively through a stronger social sector

3

People better able to shape governmental policy and delivery

Connecting communities

2

Place and identity

3

Terminology (“volunteering”, “community groups” etc)

1

Harnessing new network technologies and creative media

2

Getting people to come together locally in groups

3

The role of groups within communities

1

Public sector reform what the state can do for us

2

Community empowerment - what we can do for ourselves

3

Philanthropic action what we can do for others

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations Birmingham, 14 October 2010

1

Is less seen as a programme for Government but rather it should be about the relationship between citizens and the state

2

Is a rebalancing between what citizens do, what the state does and what the market does

3

Is about meeting the major challenges facing society - an active civil society is part of the solution.

Belinda Pratten, Head of Policy, National Council for Voluntary Organisations 14 October 2010

1

More engaged citizens

2

More social action

3

More people doing things for themselves

1

Devolving real power to communities (Greg Clark is preparing a localism bill)

2

Public service reform (decentralising services)

3

Encouraging and supporting people who want to make a bigger contribution

1

People more involved in their communities

Paul Twivy, Chief Executive, Big Society Network London, 16 August 2010

1

Steve Moore, Director, Big Society Network London, 21 September 2010

Bert Provan, Deputy Director, Local Government and Renewal, Communities and Local Government London, 21 September 2010

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society London, 16 November 2010

Before inviting discussion, Robin concluded by pointing out Voluntary Arts’ vision, mission and aims which are: VAN’s vision: An empowered, participative, fulfilled and healthy civil society.

VAN’s mission: Promoting practical participation in the arts and crafts.

VAN’s aims: 1. More people participating in the arts 2. More sustainable, self-organised, voluntary arts groups 3. Voluntary arts groups and individual participants connecting to their communities.

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Robin Simpson Chief Executive Voluntary Arts Tel: 01525 288067 Email: robin@voluntaryarts.org, www.voluntaryarts.org The Government’s Green Paper on giving can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/34zw5sl Arts at the Heart will carry a detailed analysis of the Localism Bill (or Act) in its next issue.

conference report Open Forum session on

Outsourcing Your Assets The purpose of the discussions was for participants to share and explore the pressures, downsides and upsides of the current wave of Local Authority restructuring.

As one participant nicely summed it up, “How can we create structures that allow us to be fleet of foot?”

Existing delivery structures and current activity within local authorities represented in the room - extract: • One community group is going to take over delivery of a service and is having to change from a lobbying organisation to a delivery organisation: not easy.

• One in-house service isn’t being cut yet, but they have been given income targets.

• Another is a self-contained/self-funding unit within a county council, applying for Arts Council funding.

• One Local Authority (LA) has just announced internally that it is going to set up a Community Interest Company and transfer the team and services to it. There is no sense that they have really looked at all the options – it feels like a quick fix.The team is still finding out what it might mean.

Benefits to outsourcing (as raised by participants) More cost effective and fit for purpose (perhaps) • Within LAs, the costs of the business functions often get charged to departmental budgets. The functions are expensive, slow and not properly fit to support the front-line delivery.

• Enables organisation to be more ‘fleet of foot’ Opportunities for other funding sources • Outsourced organisations (depending on their status) are more likely to be able to access funding from a diverse range of sources trusts/foundations/sponsorship – particularly if the brand is strong

Moderated by Nick Dodds, Nigel Hinds and Becky Schutt of FEI

Benefits to retaining the delivery model (as raised by participants)

influencers: much less obvious than a building-based service.

Shift to commercial ethos • Arts programmes that have been outsourced can become more commercially driven, and then they lose the quality of how they engage the community.

(Some of the) Opportunities Partnerships between individuals, departments/units, councils and organisations • Cost savings can be achieved by joining two units (e.g. neighbouring Arts Centre and Civic Theatre).

Maintaining vision / strategy / impact / understanding of best -value • Retaining delivery within the LA allows the effective use of historical relationships (e.g. with police, etc) to make ambitious things possible.

• Many people in the group are looking at increased partnership working, fostering consortia, etc.

• Outsourced agencies may be unable to identify value for money/best value – who you outsource to is essential.

• Cross-departmental collaborations can be helped by new people coming in with shared interests and compatible personalities.

More cost effective (perhaps) • Contracting out is not a panacea that will solve all problems.

• We are looking at fostering alliances of cultural organisations to protect the services.

• You need a procurement function that supports your front-line delivery.

•We are looking at possibly sharing services with other councils.

Past examples • The experience with social housing company Connaught teaches us that moving to separate governance is not always the sustainable option.

• There may be opportunities for some arts services teams to bid to provide services in other boroughs that have cut their in-house teams.

(Some of the) Challenges facing LA’s particularly in times of change/structure • We are working to “unsilo” the LA silos.

• What we might lose in the current process of change could be irreplaceable.

Life after a Local Authority?

• There is an opportunity for us as arts workers to get together and see how we can work together, support each other, to pick up programmes and projects that may otherwise be lost.

• The change processes can have very little transparency, and be supported by very limited communication: very hard to manage/deal with.

• Pressure to increase income: we have to retain clarity about what you can and cannot charge for.

• It is hard to promote the value of arts development to members and other

ARTS ATTHE HEART

Transitional funding?

• There may be possibilities to argue for small pots of ‘transitional funding’ from your LA, to help LA departments and staff assess the best way forward and put in place new ways of working.

This is an edited set of notes from this session.

The full un-edited set, compiled by Nick Dodds of FEI Consulting can be found in the ‘Resources’ section of the website – www.artsdevelopmentuk.org

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Arts Development UK reports

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Thinking Equality

JennyWilliams

With little fanfare and piecemeal delivery, it may be understandable that there has been little coverage of the Equality Act. However, fanfare or not The Equality Act 2010 is statute having weathered a backdrop of economic hardship, cuts and a change in Government.

The Equality Act 2010 has taken four years of extensive consultation and a further two years of winding its way through Parliament to make the statute books. Much of the new legislation was brought into effect on 1st October 2010 with most of the remainder on 5th April 2011.

Whilst there are new provisions in the Act, the central aim of this legislation is to simplify, ‘harmonise’ and strengthen the existing anti-discrimination laws. This has been a major undertaking in itself, as there were nine pieces of primary and 100 pieces of secondary anti-discrimination legislation formed over the past 35 years. The intention is that the Equality Act will enable us all to understand easier, and then implement, measures that combat discrimination.

A very positive part of its message is that it is here to protect everyone, and in it we are introduced to nine ‘protected characteristics’ of which at least one, we can all identify: • Age • Disability • Gender reassignment • Marriage and civil partnership • Pregnancy and maternity • Race

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• Religion and belief • Sex • Sexual orientation This one Act ‘harmonises’ across the previously separate laws. For example, it is hard to believe that the previous Disability Discrimination Act did not cover indirect discrimination, whereas race laws did. This process of ‘harmonisation’ aims to provide a level playing field across all of the relevant ‘protected characteristics’.

So what is new? There are several new areas in the Act, including a ruling on disability by association, which provides protection to people who might experience discrimination as a result of their association with a disabled person – particularly relevant to carers for example. There are changes in legal definitions with regard to disability and with regard to gender reassignment. The Act offers further clarity to breastfeeding mothers. It offers greater power to employers around positive action. It makes changes that render pay secrecy clauses as unenforceable.

It also bans questions relating to health and disability in pre-employment questionnaires.

As well as this, the Public Sector Duty relating to the Act came into force on 5th April 2011, requiring public bodies (including schools) to pay ‘due regard’ to three main aims: • To eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation; • To advance equality of opportunity and • To foster good relations

Arts Development UK Magazine

Summer 2011

Under this Duty, public bodies are now required to publish ‘equality objectives’ and details of how they have complied with the aims - a first for schools. This will mean that interested parties and members of the public will be encouraged to look at the published information and hold public bodies to account if they are not performing. It is worth noting, that some of the guidance around the collection of information, recommends that public bodies take time to consult, engage and involve with stakeholders representative of the protected characteristics in order to ensure that, ‘people with the protected characteristics set out in the Act should not be discriminated against when using any service provided publicly or privately, whether that service is for payment or not’. 1 There is still more legislation likely to follow, as areas like age discrimination are subject to further consultation as is the proposed third party harassment laws, the latter of which would impose ‘liability on employers for harassment of their employees by their parties over whom they have no direct control’. 2 So how will the Equality Act impact the arts sector? Drawing upon previous track records with regard changes in equality law, the sector can be slow to respond to change and is yet to take a role in leading the public debate. Since the introduction of compulsory diversity plans in 2003, arts diversity has been largely focused on delivering projects to diverse communities. This has resulted in an overall incoherent strategy for arts diversity, delivered through short term community

Arts Development UK reports

The OnesThat GotAway

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A number of areas have been dropped from the Act, most notably the Socio-Economic duty. This would have placed a new duty on public bodies, including central government and local authorities, to consider the impact their strategic decisions would have on narrowing socio-economic inequalities. Other areas scrapped include gender pay gap reporting and dual discrimination.

Dual discrimination is an interesting area, and as its name suggests would have given new protection to those facing discrimination on the combination of two protected characteristics for example, an older woman.

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outreach, participation projects, one-off education workshops and so on.

Whether this approach will work in the new post-recession climate, remains to be seen. Danny Dorling, a leading researcher on inequality suggests that “the greater the crash the longer it takes to take stock of the implications”. He goes on to comment that post the 1929 crash “it was finally realized, by around 1933, that much had changed forever”. 3 As we come out of this recession, society and our sector will be changed and changed forever. In equality and diversity the shift has already happened. The new Equality Act is here. Arts Council England too, are encouraging new conversations around diversity in the arts having published “Beyond Cultural Diversity: The Case for Creativity’’. In this series of academic papers, ACE invites the sector to “take the debate about diversity and the arts to a new and different level.” 4 Perhaps this ‘new and different level’ 5 is simply about articulating the vision for equality in the arts in the public realm. In the past few years, health inequality, financial and social exclusion have all entered our national consciousness, and to a greater extent the

public dialogue has enabled us to understand how inequality in these areas, benefits no one. I wonder if we are able to start the conversations around cultural equality, what this looks like and how access to culture for everyone, benefits all of society.

Recently, there has been research to support the view that narrowing inequality gaps is good for all of society. Most prominently, The Spirit Level, described by The Sunday Times as “a book with a big idea, big enough to change political thinking …” 6 In it, the authors assert that greater equality makes for stronger societies. There is compelling evidence that unequal societies are more likely to have higher rates of negative social issues ranging from poorer health, higher crime rates, lower social capital, lower levels of trust and low community collaboration.

The authors go on to write that “we are the first generation to have to find new answers to the questions of how we can make further improvement to the real quality of human life”. 7 In my opinion, the arts are well placed to be at the heart of these questions and to take a lead in the public discourse on the positive

outcomes of equality in the arts – greater community cohesion, more community trust, collaboration, social wellbeing and happiness.

However, we can go further than this, and begin the public discourse on cultural equality, articulate to our communities why culture matters to society, and how we benefit. Perhaps 21st Century arts diversity policy, is less about delivering projects to our communities, and more about an intellectual exchange with our communities - a cultural campaign if you like, that seeks to narrow the inequalities gap between those who have access to arts and culture, and those that do not.

In conclusion, let’s consider Arts Council England’s Arts for Everyone manifesto. I would go further by adding Arts for Everyone is Good for Everyone.

•

JennyWilliams Take The Space Breaking down barriers, building bridges, promoting our inter-connectivity.

Email: Jenny@takethespace.com www.takethespace.com

Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice – Services, Public Functions and Associations. ref: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx Race and Repercussions of Recession by Danny Dorling, Runnymede Bulletin No 360 Dec 2009 4 Preface,Tony Panayiotou, Director of Diversity Arts Council England Pub Beyond cultural Diversity:The Case for Creativity, A Third Text Report Compiled by Richard Appignanesi 5 Preface,Tony Panayiotou, Director of Diversity Arts Council England Pub Beyond cultural Diversity:The Case for Creativity, A Third Text Report Compiled by Richard Appignanesi Published by Third Text Publications 2010 6 Review John Carey, Sunday Times http://bigthink.com/katepickett 7 The Spirit Level:Why Equality is Better for Everyone By Richard Wilkinson, and Kate Pickett Pub by Penguin Books Ltd, 2010 1 2 3

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Arts Development UK reports

Good Collaborations Clare Cooper

“Good collaboration amplifies strength but poor collaboration is worse than no collaboration at all.”1 Morten Hansen Efficiencies and/or cost savings are usually the goals most cited for collaboration, especially since the 2008 global financial collapse. But more profound and, perhaps in the longer term, more consequential value can emerge through the shared learning of good collaboration.

This brings about trust that leads to deeper relationship and exchange of ideas and new combinations of energy that help incubate new knowledge and responses.

Missions Models Money (MMM)’s 2005-2007 action research programme2 revealed that, whilst artists have a proud and promiscuous history of collaborating across every imaginable boundary, arts and cultural organisations have too often tended to work in isolation or in competition. As a result, there is significant unrealised potential for arts and cultural organisations to leverage their own talents and those of other organisations by working together on developing mergers, back office consolidations and joint ventures.

The over-extended and under-capitalised nature of the sector, “with too many organisations trying to do more things than they can possibly do well, with both human and financial resources too thinly spread.”3 suggests that releasing this potential is a priority. But whilst some arts organisations have shown an interest in developing collaborative working practices around back office functions and in programme areas such as education and learning, experience has been limited and there has been little shared learning of current practice.

Six powerful stories Against this backdrop, the fourth phase of MMM’s work4 which ran from 2008 – 2010 included a set of collaborative working pilots, through which the insights gleaned from its earlier research findings could be further explored. Armed with varying degrees of experience in collaborative working, six groups of arts and cultural organisations5 in Scotland and the North East of England embarked on a two-year journey with MMM.Their joint destination was to reach a point where they could tell six powerful stories of successful collaboration, to give route-maps and courage to other creative practitioners and organisations and, as importantly, offer reflections and guidance to public and private funders in order to encourage them to invest more widely in collaborative working practices.

Despite early cynicism and scepticism from some quarters, MMM was fortunate to secure support for the pilots from a group of early adopters from the public and private funding community.6 The role of funders –

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encouraging and supporting collaborations, consolidations, mergers and other long-term cooperative activities in order to enable the creation of ‘more great art for everyone’ – is vital, and a guide has been especially written by MMM with them in mind.7

Bootcamps The extensive literature that exists on the practice of collaboration in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors tends to reflect on three recurring themes.

Firstly, good collaboration is hard and when it works it amplifies strength, but poor collaboration is worse than no collaboration at all8.

Secondly, good collaboration often requires competencies, qualities and attributes (CQAs) that are not commonly observed in many executive leaders, (although they may be nascent rather than absent), but without these, they will not learn how to develop the systemic thinking they need to tackle the increasingly complex problems they face9.

Thirdly, knowing how to evaluate opportunities for collaboration, spot the barriers to collaboration and tailor collaboration solutions are prerequisites for building the capacity for resilience.

Observations and reflections from pilot participants and recommendations made in the wider literature of non-profit collaboration10 offer a clear set of interventions that funders could consider in order to encourage and support collaborative working. All of these offer the opportunity for funders to take a leadership role in enabling new ways of thinking and new ways of doing which will evolve the way creative practice is valued, organised and financed.

Connecting potential collaborators As well as financial resources, funders have significant ‘convening power’ that can be marshalled to catalyse collaborative working. Creating opportunities for individuals and organisations to meet and explore new collaboration ideas through ‘bootcamps’ or other more traditional kinds of seminar and conference-style events can rapidly build new communities of interest and networks around areas of common interest or concern. Such events could be organised to enable participants to identify for themselves a possible focus for a collaboration, for example through ‘open space’ approaches, or be structured to attract those interested in something very specific, such as fundraising in a particular locality, or something universally relevant such as resource scarcity and climate change.

Arts Development UK reports Funding the pilots Support for the pilots was enabled by a partnership of three funders,The Northern Rock Foundation, Arts Council England and the then Scottish Arts Council.

Similar funder collaboratives are being set up in America with the aim of helping not for profits develop shared back-office professional functions, such as financial oversight, joint purchasing agreements, partnerships or joint ventures in shared enterprises, and, where appropriate, full mergers of established organisations.

More funding partnerships of this kind in the UK would help fuel more collaborative endeavours.

Comments from the Front Line

Creating Holistic Competencies

As two pilot participants remarked:

MMM’s ‘People Theme’ research proposes that the concept of skills is a limited one, and suggests the adoption of a more holistic concept – that of competencies, qualities and attributes. In management theory,‘competency’ is understood as a capability that goes beyond knowledge skills and abilities into values, motivation and characteristics, and should lead to superior performance in the 21st century environment. Many of those involved in MMM’s research in the early stages had a much more limited understanding of the term and had negative responses to it as a dry impersonal managerial concept.To counter this, MMM included the terms ‘qualities’ and ‘attributes’, which places further emphasis on the holistic breadth of ways of being and doing.

“We are always collaborating, bringing either individual creative people together or collaborating with other organisations, and in the last 12 months we have had half a dozen collaborations on different scales… there is an awful lot of knowhow there that could be harnessed”, and “The message for funders that I would give is to fund the points of collaboration that already exist or emerge, rather than putting in place a structure, that you hope will deliver that… if they work harder at seeking out at what points of intersection there already are and directing their funding to that, I think that would be a cost effective way of encouraging more collaboration.”

Building on existing assets Funders could identify where collaborative working is already happening well or beginning to emerge, and provide support to enable it to grow further or faster.They could incentivise knowledge transfer by financing peer-led knowledge networks that enable organisation leaders experienced in collaborative working to share best practice with others starting out.This would help to avoid the ‘re-inventing the wheel’ syndrome, and at the same time build the field in ways that make it easier for this way of working to become more mainstream.

Supporting the costs of technical assistance (TA) Funders need to be creative and flexible in how they approach, allocate and distribute grants to support the true costs of collaboration, especially the different kinds of TA needed at different stages, which will be unique to each collaboration. MMM offered each pilot £50,000 to use in whatever way was appropriate to develop the early stage of their collaboration. It was not directive in how the money should be spent, nor in which TA provider was hired or at what cost. It used its network to help identify potential suppliers of TA where it could and advised, if asked, on commissioning documents and briefs.This supportive but unobtrusive role was appreciated by pilot participants and helped to create an ethos of mutual problem solving.

Releasing technical assistance supports three stages:

Technical assistance offers an emphasis on supporting stages two and three and could encourage groups to ensure that the right levels of commitment to the shared vision are present and able to drive the collaboration forward. However, it is important that funders have a realistic expectation of the pace at which the collaboration can move forward.

MMM would advocate that funders reflect on the learning from the pilot projects and critique their own CQAs to collaborate, both with their peers in the public and private funding community and with others, including those they fund. MMM’s 2007 provocation ‘The Art of Living’11 proposed a variety of collaborative responses that public and private funders could make to tackling the arts and cultural sectors endemic over-extension and undercapitalisation.These continue to be in urgent need of response, even more so in the light of current operating environment. Collaborative strategies by funders prioritising the building of financial resilience in the arts and cultural sector at this time for example could have significant impact on the sector’s ability to survive and thrive in the short term and could effect change much more quickly than individual funders working alone.12

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Clare Cooper Co-Founder and Co-Director of MMM All the materials from the MMM collaborative working pilots, including the guide for funders can be accessed here: www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/enabling-effective-collaboration/

• Evaluating opportunities for collaboration • Spotting barriers to collaboration and • Tailoring solutions to tear down the barriers to collaborating

Hansen, M.T. (2009) ‘Collaboration’, Harvard Business School Press Mission Models Money (2007) Towards a healthy ecology of arts and culture 3 Ellis, A. (2004) New ways of sustaining the arts in the UK, Mission, Models & Money 4 See preface, About MMM in www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/docs/Fuelling_the_Necessary_Revolution.pdf 5 See Appendix 3 in www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/docs/Fuelling_the_Necessary_Revolution.pdf for details of the groups 6 See Appendix 1 in www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/docs/Fuelling_the_Necessary_Revolution.pdf7 Ellis, A. (2004) New ways of sustaining the arts in the UK, Mission, Models & Money 7 www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/docs/Fuelling_the_Necessary_Revolution.pdf 8 Hansen, M.T. (2009) ‘Collaboration’, Harvard Business School Publishing 9 Senge, P. et al (2008) The Necessary Revolution, Nicholas Brearley Publishing 10 Especially www.lapiana.org/downloads/RealCollaboration.PDF and www.barrfoundation.org/usr_doc/Nonprofit-Nonprofit_Collaboration_in_Boston_-_Barr_Foundation__November_2006_.pdf 11 www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/papers/the-art-of-living/ 12 See MMM’s Capital Matters research and recommendations for more detail on this 13 nonprofitfinancefund.org/announcements/2010/catalyst-fund-created-support-collaboration-shared-ventures-among-npos 1 2

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Arts Development UK reports

O T T U C CORE! THE

rts on the o p e r e n r o h Jessica T ts made by u c g in d n u f arts y Council t n u o C t e s r Some

100% arts funding cuts.That was the firm message from Somerset County Council (SCC) and despite our best efforts, we could not make them budge on that figure.

Thousands of people signed a petition to ask SCC to re-think their budget proposal.

Hundreds also attended the council meetings and gathered outside with their banners, drawing attention to the protest.

The direct grants that came from SCC’s allocated arts budget of nearly £160,000 supported various local arts groups in the area. The funding cuts began taking effect from April 2011 and coincided with Arts Council England’s funding announcements on the 30th of March.

Who can say what the future of the arts in Somerset will be? We can only imagine.

However, a handful of arts groups are losing out on large sums of money as a result of these cuts and we may soon begin to see a

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sharp shift in arts provision in Somerset.

Robert Miles is the director of the Brewhouse in Taunton. I asked him who he thought might be hit hardest by these spending cuts? He said that the two main groups to suffer would be the local community and artists.

In this together The community will lose out on creative opportunities, and if we weaken the progression routes for artists, they miss out on the chance to benefit. “It is important that arts organisations are there to nurture new talent and engage with the community”, he said.

In 2009, SCC and Somerset Arts Promoters asked Peter Boyden to produce an in-depth report on future scenarios for the arts in Somerset. He wrote that 10% cuts to funding would be painful but probably manageable,

Arts Development UK reports

20% would be trickier and any more than 30% would undermine the stability of the existing professional arts infrastructure.

He said that the “critical mass” on which the sector depends could diminish to the point at which it unravels. In cutting 100% of arts funding, the council appear to be ignoring the suggestions of a report they commissioned.

SCC has promised to make large cutbacks in many areas - buses, libraries, recycling services, and council staff are all to suffer in some way. They are proposing to reduce the council employee numbers by hundreds.

That’s a lot of local people who are going to be joining the long list of those searching for jobs.

The protests have shown that many people are not happy about the arts cuts but we have to accept them and move on. When you look at the bigger picture, the arts are not the number one priority and it is right that we should lose out if the remaining money is going to support important local services.

However, I am worried about how this is going to affect Somerset in the long run. It has taken a long time for some very hardworking people to build up these fantastic creative resources and all their hard work could very quickly come crashing down around them like a house of cards In cutting 100% of its arts funding, it’s almost as if SCC is sending out the message that they do not value the arts, which could potentially discourage artists from wanting to live in our county.

“In cutting 100% of its arts funding, SCC could discourage artists from wanting to live in our county”

Moving forward Organisations are going to need to make hard decisions about their own objectives.

This may mean changing to keep up with the times such as we see now with nalgao’s recent own re-branding to Arts Development UK. Mission statements may need to be re-written.

With reduced financial support, artists will find themselves thinking more creatively about how they engage with audiences and present their work. I spoke to local artist, Martin Joiner recently about a free exhibition he held in Appledore in 2009. He invested a lot of his own time and money in producing a professional and elaborate multi-screen installation that ran for a week and attracted about 150 visitors. He then wrote a poem on the same subject as the installation and performed this at a couple of open mic nights to about 90 people.

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Does more money make better art? No! As Martin Joiner told me “The human in you should concentrate hard to remember the reason you became an artist in the first place: to communicate your point to people”.

But we mustn’t forget that many of our country’s great artists, writers and performers started their careers at local subsidised venues before moving onto considerable success in the big cities and abroad. This initial investment can put large sums of money back into our national economy in the long term. I believe that Somerset has produced some great artists and dedicated arts-workers and will continue to do so.

The arts and creative industries are a key part of our emotional legacy. They say how we feel about the world and our lives at that point in history. I am apprehensive about what the future holds, but also interested in seeing what art will come out of this and what we will be saying about this difficult period in years to come. I have faith that the creative talent in our county will not be stifled by lack of funding.

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Jessica Thorne Front of House Duty Manager The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton Email: jthorne@hotmail.co.uk You can read Martin Joiner’s blog online at www.martinjoiner.co.uk

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case studies Twenty Four Houred Thetford, 2011, Photo Š Ultimate Holding Company

Thetford Arts Projects Sam Dawson

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An exciting programme of new artworks called Thetford Art Projects came to Thetford town during March 2011.

Working in collaboration with artists, curator Deborah Smith invited them to respond to the specific characteristics of this Norfolk market town aiming to capture the diversity of the people who live there by exploring concepts of place, history and community.

Commissioned by Breckland Council and funded by the Breckland Partnership through Migration Impact Funding, the projects aimed to capture the essence of Thetford and its people at a point in time, before the town moves forward again through another period of significant change. Thetford is a designated

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growth point, in which investment will see a regenerated and vibrant town centre; transport and estate improvements. This includes 5,000 new homes by 2026 and 5,000 new jobs created by 2021.

The arts projects included Twenty-Four Houred Thetford by internationally renowned artist and collective Jai Redman and Ultimate Holding Company from the UK, and The Thetford Travelling Menagerie by the Canadian based collective Andrew Hunter and Lisa Hirmer from DodoLab.

Twenty-Four Houred Thetford The first project of the series, Twenty-Four Houred Thetford by Jai Redman and Ultimate Holding Company, is a unique portrait of Thetford town created by the people of Thetford. The focus was Thetford town itself, its landmarks, people, happenings, historical past and unique present. The result was a unique digital portrait of the town over a 24hour period on the 4 and 5 March 2011.

case studies Following a project launching peal of bells from the town’s St Peter’s Church, residents and workers in the town started to create their own images and recordings that captured a moment in time. And every school child’s dream came true as classes stopped early at 12.24pm precisely to allow every pupil to spend 24 minutes creating a small piece of work for the project. Children from Thetford Music Project's Singing Group made a recording of The Ballad of Tom Paine, a song written for the 2009 Paine Bicentenary Celebrations by song leader John Weeks. The Teenage History Club at Ancient House Museum created a board game based on their favourite incidents in Thetford’s past, with the group inviting visitors to play.

Overall during the marathon event, over 2,000 photographs, poetry, recordings, drawing and objects were created and donated by the artists and the people of Thetford, with a selection incorporated into a digital portrait of the town.

The Thetford Travelling Menagerie For the second project of the series, DodoLab presented The Thetford Travelling Menagerie. The project used stories and images of local animals (past and present, real and imagined) to inspire people in the community to share their perceptions of Thetford today.

The Travelling Thetford Menagerie, 2011, Installation at Ancient House. Photo © DodoLab

The Travelling Thetford Menagerie, 2011, Series of banners along Thetford High Street. Photo © DodoLab

In the lonely ruins of the old Warren Lodge, a giant white rabbit with flaming eyes lies in wait for unwary poachers – or so it is said!

DodoLab’s stories and images of animals were offered to trigger memories and tales, a menagerie of beasts to conjure up stories of Thetford, its history of change and its current state of flux. What belongs, what’s been lost, what keeps people away, and what draws them in? What can we learn and share about migration, displacement, settlement and change from the creatures and natural world around us?

During the week 21 - 26 March, DodoLab’s work went on view at the Ancient House Museum (including specially made knitted animals by Ancient House’s Knit and Natter group), Thetford Library and a series of banners with graphic animal imagery along the High Street. The artists invited people who lived or worked in Thetford to join them on market day to share their stories and ideas about Thetford through playful hands-on activities. They were designated a badge of an animal that best summed up their feelings, ideas and desires of Thetford. They were also given a memento of a limited edition The Thetford Travelling Menagerie booklet.

Thetford Art Projects captures a moment in time, in a town about to undergo further change and expansion. Through initially spending time in Thetford researching their projects artists listened to tales of past and present and developed projects that captured the complexity of the town and the diversity of people, celebrating the present town of Thetford.

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Sam Dawson Arts Development Officer, Breckland Council Tel: 01362 656 870 Email: sam.dawson@breckland.gov.uk

The Migration Impacts Fund was established in February 2008 for two years to assist Local authorities to promote innovative ways of managing human migration pressures and support their local communities.

Local authorities and schools, colleges, police and the NHS were all eligible to receive funding.The £50 million scheme was scrapped in August 2010 following the General Election.

Further information: Twenty Four Houred Thetford can be viewed at www.thetford24.org.uk The Thetford Travelling Menagerie bookleteer is available at http://dodolab.ca/archive/travelling-menagerie/ The Thetford Travelling Menagerie final findings is available from Sam Dawson, email address above.

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case studies

Barcelona

& BACK AGAIN:

An Arts Officer’s Tale Michelle Moubarak and Mitch Robertson As our cultural landscape is transforming it is more important than ever to search out best practice and employ creative solutions to preserve the development of culture and the arts.With this in mind we set off to find out how our European colleagues are dealing with these changes and to hear about the latest craze in the attempt to build a more sustainable future for our creative practitioners: Creative Tourism.

Rather predictably and like many before us the first thing we did upon touching down in Barcelona was head straight for Park Güell part of the ‘Works of Antoni Gaudi’ UNESCO World Heritage site. Awash with colour and creativity the gardens were beautifully presented and welcoming to both visitor and resident alike. Free to explore the collection of fantastical architecture and intricate design we found ourselves musing on the similarities and differences to our hometown of Canterbury and our own UNESCO sites- an idea that we would revisit numerous times through out our trip.

Authenticity On the 9th December 2010 the Creative Tourism Network met for the first time in Barcelona. Housed in Gaudi’s iconic La Pedrera building delegates from across the world gathered to discuss and debate the concept and opportunities presented by Creative Tourism initiatives. Over 20 different countries were represented including Russia, America, and New Zealand as well as local authority officials from Barcelona, Paris and Rome.The questions on everybody’s lips - What is ‘Creative Tourism’ and how can it work for us?

Not to be confused with Cultural tourism, creative tourism promotes and celebrates the unique experience of the individual. At its best the creative tourist should be able to

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Below: Gaudi’s La Pedrera

participate in an authentic creative experience defined by the region in which the activity is taking place. Authenticity, in this context, is found through the work of the creative practitioner and firmly places the emphasis on the unique interaction between local artists and paying visitors. Building and expanding on the notion of ‘Artist Retreats’ the creative tourism concept aims to offer a range of opportunities from one off workshops to residential courses.

MovieWalks Over the course of our trip we had the opportunity to speak to people from a variety of different sectors from tourism to academia, creative industries to local government each bringing a different perspective to the discussions. Questions began to emerge around ‘top down’ versus ‘bottom up’ approaches and it soon became clear that the truly successful projects require a collaborative approach with equal investment of time and resources from both creative practitioners and local officials.

One such example is the ‘Barcelona Movie Walks’.

Specialist tours of the city are themed around particular films or directors that have used the city as a backdrop for their creativity. Led by creatives the tourist is given a

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case studies unique insight in to the logistics as well as having the opportunity to see hidden gems and relive moments from the films.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to speak as part of one of the panel discussions and share the work that we were engaged with in Canterbury and to talk about our role as Arts Officers. It soon transpired that the work we were doing and indeed that is being Gaudí's multicolored mosaic dragon fountain

carried out by Arts Officers across the UK was in fact often the missing link in the chain of fledgling creative initiatives that struggled with combining creative working practice with legislation and commercial enterprise.

Like all good research our trip was filled in equal measure with unexpected revelations and affirmations about the work that we are doing. We were particularly struck by how neatly we had slipped into the role of cultural tourist at the outset of our trip.

Following passively in the footsteps of countless visitors to the city and comparing one world heritage site with another.

We were inspired by the opportunities that creative tourism represented for our creative practitioners from individual artists to established arts organisations. But mostly we were excited by what

this kind of activity could do to enhance the way the arts are viewed and valued as part of place making agendas.

We set off looking for answers that we didn’t know we already had, what we didn’t know was the question.

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Michelle Moubarak Cultural and Creative Development Manager Canterbury City Council Tel: 01227 862 267 Email:michelle.moubarak@canterbury.gov.uk Mitch Robertson Cultural and Creative Development Officer Canterbury City Council Tel: 01227 862 405 Email: mitch.robertson@canterbury.gov.uk The Barcelona movie walks can be found at: www.bcnmovie.com

Top left: Colonnaded pathway at Park Güell. Top right:The entrance to the Park

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Outside In – One year on Arts Development UK National Seminar: Cultural Partnerships & alternative forms of cultural service delivery 18th July 2011 - 9.30am - 5pm The Birmingham & Midlands Institute, Margaret St, Birmingham B3 3BS

Arts Development UKAnnual Conference 13th to 14th October 2011 The Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Details from Arts Development UK Tel: 01269 824728 Email: artsdevuk@aol.com The next issue of Arts at the Heart will be out in December 2011.

Copy deadline for the next issue is Monday 24 October 2011.

If you would like to write an article for the next issue, please talk to our Editor, Paul Kelly Tel: 01202 385585 or email: artsatheart@gmail.com

www.artsdevelopmentuk.org

If you would like information about nalgao, please contact: Pete Bryan, Arts Development UK Administrator Tel: 01269 824728 or email: artsdevuk@aol.com