Galway City Arts Strategy

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May 2015

Introduction This strategic vision for the arts proposes contexts, values, and actions for the development of Galway City Council's Arts Office for the years 2015-2017 . Following on from the work initiated by Confidence in the Arts, the preceding strategy, in the development of policies which offer clarity in decision making processes this mechanism will recalibrate where necessary how the City Council will work best within the diverse and manifold communities of the city.

In the lifetime of Confidence in the Arts the Galway City Arts Office worked as a partner in the film consortium that successfully bid on behalf of the City Council for UNESCO City of Film Status.

This major designation brings Galway into the international Creative Cities network. The designation poses challenges and offers enormous opportunities across profound cultural issues of vision, concept and engagement.

Created during the several years of challenging funding narratives for the arts, locally and nationally, the previous strategy called for the new age of austerity to be taken as an opportunity to advocate for the arts and prepare for the longer-term. That process continues. Current financial and social challenges renew and re-amplify the call for continued value to be placed on the arts within the City Council and across its various stakeholders as Galway's infrastructural and resource provision seeks to develop in line with other cities in Ireland. The last strategy advocated for the arts in their Contribution to the quality of city life. That work continues with this new strategy.

The City Council will take a leadership role in creating a secure grounding for outward looking arts policies. We reaffirm that the Council is best placed in opportunities and responsibilities to work towards raising the status and value of the arts within the city. The new strategy outlines a proactive approach to the artistic needs of the city's creative population and the communities and citizens who drive the arts. It addresses its responsibilities to its communities Through key structural supports and sets out a strategic approach. Support, well directed active engagement and long-term advocacy are required also from the Council's stakeholders, clients, communities and the executive and elected members in understanding, refining and delivering on the Council's role in actively leading arts development of Galway City.

The intention of the last strategy was that the Arts Office should enter a focused research period to develop a preparedness for a planned use of the resources and physical infrastructure required particularly in the area of visual arts, music and dance. Emerging from the challenging climate of austerity this work continues in the awareness that access to such resources will increase and strengthen the inclusion of communities in arts participation whilst developing the quality and quantity of arts audiences.

As in the previous strategy, it is an intention that the work of the Arts Office should focus on partnerships and developing project frameworks between local and national stakeholders. Key projects will be framed by detailed briefing documents and work plans. To assist the City Council, projects will continue to engage with or be advised by independent peer expertise in the relevant artforms. Following the European norm of best practice it is recommended that peer panels of experts in the profession exclusively make all competitive funding decisions.

Key values and actions highlight the development and consolidation needs of the Arts Service.

Provision for initiatives that support innovation of artists, organisations and existing resources are also referenced as priorities. Prepared in accordance with the requirement of the 2003 Arts Act this strategic arts strategy will inform the development of Galway City Council's Arts Office for the period 2015 to 2019.

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The Council Context As contemporary art practice welcomes collaborative partnerships where artists lead creative initiatives with communities in neighbourhood contexts the challenge for Galway City Council is to provide meaningful access to creativity, to provide the investment in artists, communities and infrastructure that this city requires and deserves, an investment that will safeguard Galway's miraculous world reputation as an international city of culture.

Galway City Council works to lead, develop and enhance the social, cultural and economic life within its remit. Galway City Council services support the public through diverse and multi-faceted actions that plan for, safeguard and nurture the citizens at work and play. Investment in the arts is critical to the social, economic and cultural development of the city and can be seen as crucial within the art of city-building, as manifest in the broad, multi-layered social and economic impact of a city council engaged meaningfully in the arts.

As the cornerstone of the smart economy, at the heart of entrepreneurial and innovative thinking, the arts contribute significantly to Galway's intellectual, cultural and social life, providing a unique and iconic profile for an innovative and vibrant creative city. The arts and cultural tourism combined are major employers contributing significantly to Galway's economy.

Enhancing the quality of life of all citizens the arts in Galway flower out of our social ecology, our creative environment; they inspire community understanding, engender pride of place and people and promote a genuine sense of collective achievement amongst Galwegians, the matchless 'feelgood factor' of a creative city Evolving local authority community and neighbourhood-focused structures allow for more calibrated participation in strategic planning and policy formulation and allow for more effective, integrated planning for the arts into the overall framework of Galway City administration..

The Arts Office The primary vehicle for delivering the actions in this strategy will be the Arts Office of Galway City Council. The Arts Officer is the City Council's expert, and project leader in the areas of contemporary creative activity.

The Arts Office of Galway City Council was established in 1990, originally as part of a joint initiative with Galway County Council, and since 2001 as a stand-alone for Galway City Council.

Utilising a policy-led, research-based, aesthetics-oriented curatorial approach the City Arts Office is an informed, artist-centred, strategically designed service with a commitment to long-term investment in the vision and creativity of the citizens of Galway.

In the planning and delivery of a meaningful arts service, Galway City Council draws on the skills and resources of all its departments and links with partner organisations within the city, throughout the state and internationally, endeavouring to ensure that the arts are strategically and imaginatively integrated into the implementation of the city planning and provision for the lives of all its citizens.

The focus of Confidence in the Arts, was on six areas: people and places, place of the arts, creative practitioners, public art, information and new media and better ways of working

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The 2010 – 2013 Strategy was widely welcomed and remains the foundation for attaining stated objectives; accordingly it is integrated into this new strategy. Galway City Council's Arts Strategy 2015-2019 will build on the recognised achievements of the previous strategy; acknowledging that there is work still to be done the City Arts Office will continue to work towards its aims in a newly calibrated and constructed strategy that will provide a sure path forward for future investment by Galway City Council in the arts Vision Statement The core objective of this strategy and the primary function of the Galway City Arts Office is to enable the citizens of Galway to engage in high quality arts experiences; to stimulate and support standards of excellence and innovation among artists in their practice; to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Galway, and all who visit and work here through meaningful access to creativity.

Guiding Principles The arts are supported through strategic partnerships, and will be developed by focused direct provision through the City Arts Office, working within the Council's economic, cultural and social policies.

Galway City Council recognises the intrinsic value of the arts for the citizen, the community and for society.

Galway City Council views artists as valued members of our community.

Galway City Council acknowledges and asserts its leadership role in the long-term support of the living arts, the work of contemporary artists, their right to fair payment for work and their intellectual and artistic freedom.

Galway City Council supports excellence, achieved, potential or emerging, in the work of artists and arts organisations Meaningful arts access for all citizens is a sine qua non of the City Arts Office, both for active participation and receptive audience engagement. Creative and artistic expression are fostered through participative engagement, as citizens and communities develop their own skills and learn to appreciate and value the artistic work of others.

Galway City Council encourages access to the arts within an inclusive society that develops audiences for future creative activities.

Galway City Arts Office encourages and works towards diversity of practice within and across art forms. We support diversity of arts practices amongst the individual artists, arts organisations and communities that form a vital role in the life of the city.

Encouragement of diversity will include the diversity of contexts, ecology and participation that constitute public engagement involving social and cultural diversity.

Arts development is achieved through working strategically in partnership with individuals, groups and organisations and local and national agencies in the professional, voluntary and amateur sectors. Such collaboration fosters an environment of empowerment, sustainability and accountability and the further integration of arts and culture into the social, economic and cultural life of the City.

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Excellence, innovation, integrity, accountability, transparency and value for money will guide processes and practices in the strategic selection of projects and allocation of resources.

Galway City Council will continue to engage in dialogue with the arts sector and partner with public agencies and other organisations for the benefit of the arts and the wider public good Strategic Objectives An analysis of the current position regarding the arts in Galway indicates that the Galway City Arts Strategy should continue to focus on the six specific areas outlined in Confidence in the Arts i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

People and Places Place of the arts Creative practitioners Public Art Information and New Media Better ways of working

(i) People and Places Context and Values A diverse population mix of Irish citizens, recent Irish nationals and non-Irish nationals make up the special and important qualities that constitute Galway's communities. It is this unique conjunction of local, indigenous and emerging cultures embedded in the life of the city that gives such a characteristic vibrancy to the arts in Galway.

A unique quality of the city is the importance of the Irish language, especially in cultural areas of literature, theatre, film, music and song and traditional and contemporary dance.

The direct arts programme, projects, groups and organisations supported by the Arts Act grants should support artistic merit and diversity across participants and artforms. They should celebrate difference, stimulate public interest in awareness of the arts, promote knowledge, appreciation and the practice of the arts or improve standards in the arts.

The Arts Strategy will take a developmental approach, to prioritise groups and artists whose work reflects national best practice policies including social inclusion and child and animal protection guidelines.

The City Council continues to recognise, encourage and support the important contribution of voluntary groups and amateur arts.

The arts budget is limited and challenged in adequately meeting the needs of its professional organisations. Where the arts are engaged in the Council's mechanisms of community development (for example social cohesion, estate management etc.) the expertise of the Arts Office may be drawn on and funding should be made available through the relevant departments.

Galway is a bilingual city; the Irish language is an important and highly valued aspect of the city's creative identity. The strategy acknowledges and supports the role of Irish language arts in Galway, and its central role in maintaining the unique character of the City for those who live, visit and invest here.

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Actions The City Council's arts work within community contexts – group or neighbourhood – will reflect good practices and professionalism. It will prioritise work that supports sustainability, knowledge and skills exchange.

The City Council will offer strategic and defined strands of funding, giving clients clarity in the grant-making process.

The City Council will continue to utilise an Arts Working Group that outlines policy directions, clearly articulating funding decisions and rationales.

The City Council will continue to prioritise people, events and organisations that effectively use their resources and are working to maintain employment levels.

Arts Office collaborative projects, such as outreach and residency programmes, will support reflective learning, exchange and engagement with communities.

The Arts Office will programme, co-ordinate, encourage and mentor the development of community and collaborative arts practices to facilitate sharing of skills and resources and advocate access to new sources of funding.

The Arts Strategy will support the provision of professional development mechanisms to communities and groups working with artists.

The Arts Office will continue to carry on its work through both Irish and English and will continue to facilitate and encourage the use of Irish within the arts in Galway. (ii) Place of the Arts Context and Values In the last number of years advances have been made in the provision of cultural infrastructure in Galway including the purchase and refurbishment of Nun's Island Theatre, and its adjoining house(?) the continuing work on the Picture Palace and grant aid towards the upgrading of Druid Theatre and the reconstruction of Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe. However, there are deficits in the city's arts infrastructure, with particular necessity for provision of dance, music and visual arts.

There is also potential for viable rehearsal space and the need for storage space for the city's arts companies including office and workshop space. There is potential and necessity for artists' rooms in various artforms, for residencies and international exchanges, and a clear case can be made for municipally created and managed artists' studios.

The Arts Office will be included in planning reviews of capital development and cultural infrastructure. The City Council will also advocate for the arts within its own property portfolio and in the wider context of public private partnerships and for arts facilities within community buildings as appropriate, based on research and consultation with relevant stakeholders. It will support artist led initiatives that are active in the city and encourage the development of ground-up approach to the use of its city spaces.

Actions The City Arts Office will be included ex officio in planning processes. Capital planning for the city

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will be culture proofed, as a matter of course, by the Arts Office.

We will continue the Council's waiver of rates for buildings used for non-commercial arts, following best practice in nurturing creativity..

We will encourage and facilitate the use of 'slack spaces' - the generic term for long-term unoccupied properties, spaces and premises – for creative and performative arts purposes.

We will seek to provide more workspaces for artists in the city, including studio spaces and rehearsal, construction and storage facilities for the professional and voluntary sector.

City facilities, such as community centres and libraries will continue to be proofed for their suitability for arts use based on identified local needs The management of city facilities such as community centres will be required to develop their own culture strategies with particular emphasis on proactively fostering creativity in their buildings.

Research, such as needs audit and analysis should be commissioned as a case-making or feasibility tool for infrastructural development (iii) Creative Practitioners Context and Values Galway City Council values the important work of individual artists and artist collectives together with the contribution of the wider Galway community in the forging of Galway's reputation as a city of creativity. A balance must be reached between funding historically important cultural organisations and encouraging individual voices that may only become significant a generation from now. Working tosupport individual artists creates opportunity. The City Council's endorsement and support can elevate the potential status of a practice and can also offer access and exchange within communities.

The life and work of creative practitioners is challenging: incomes are generated from a range of sources and there is little stability available to individuals over the course of a career. Artists require access to networks, information, spaces and plans to create, meet, plan and reflect.

Actions Over the life of this Strategy Galway City Council will continue to empower and encourage artists, arts organisations and communities to contribute to the artistic life of Galway City and beyond.

Galway City Council will provide opportunities for audiences and individuals to engage – as creators, producers, performers - in high quality arts experience.

The professional arts enterprises indigenous to Galway City add significantly to the cultural life of the west of Ireland. At once partners with and clients of the City, these professional arts organisations will continue to receive City Council support.

The City Council will work to improve the living and working conditions of artists resident in Galway City.

The City Council will consult widely and consistently with the creative sector. We will trust artists.

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We will encourage artists to be bold and brave. We will value and encourage artistic independence and autonomy The amateur and voluntary arts community offers a substantial range and quality of work.

Participants facilitate the continuance and reworking of tradition and aspire to the growth of skills.

Galway City Council will continue to enable these groups in their development.

Through funding selected Galway based arts organisations, arts groups and artists of stipulated standard and quality the City Council will thereby assist stakeholders in gaining additional funding from other sources.

We will cultivate a dynamic and experimental environment that stimulates variety and excellence and provides opportunities to engage, question and explore.

Recognising that the arts are part of a vast continuum of human knowledge and endeavour Galway City Council will examine and engage with appropriate areas in the arts and cultural field beyond our immediate responsibilities.

Galway City Council will stimulate and support standards of excellence in the arts in Galway City.

Galway City Council will identify, promote and share models of best practice and high standards among artists, arts organisations and communities.

We will support the making and presenting of work by artists and provide quality professional development opportunities.

Galway City Council Arts Office will endeavour to become the trusted interface between the arts community and the local authority, proactively advocating and negotiating their various positions.

We will continue to develop links and diverse manifestations of partnership between Galway City Council, The Arts Council and other cultural agencies, - local, national and international – to strengthen the professional arts community in Galway City.

We will develop partnerships, policies and programmes that ensure the development of and investment in the arts in Galway City.

We will continue to advocate for the arts and ensure the arts agenda is integrated within policy development in Galway City Council and in local and national agencies.

We will strengthen the relationships historically developed by the Arts Office and as necessary reimagine and recalibrate creative and innovative processes to sustain and develop such partnerships whilst utilising collaborative arts structures already in place to establish new relationships We will continue to develop linkages with the third level institutions based in Galway (including GMIT and NUI Galway) We will encourage partnership and engagement with national resource agencies in relation to arts provision for coherence of planning and provision.

We will develop a joint programme with the Westside Arts Festival, embracing youth and adult creativity.

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We will create a community and youth theatre programme in the North East Ward of Galway City We will establish a citywide arts innovation fund offering practitioners and communities the opportunity to collaborate on new creative and imaginative projects.

Artists are valued members of our community who add value to a community in their work as creators, mentors and educators. Galway City Council will Implement programme structures through which professional artists can be fairly paid to work in a youth, community, educational, health, public art and other relevant contexts facilitating creative expression.

We will continue to provide professional development supports and networking opportunities to artists, arts organisations, relevant resource agencies and health and educational organisations.

We will continue to invest in emerging artist opportunities and improve and develop the individual artist bursary programme. Including the provision of specialist awards.

Models of best practice will be adopted when Galway City Council engages and collaborates with artists e.g. in contract agreements, commission agreements, copyright and peer selection processes.

Subscribing to the international norm of peer assessment all grant-aid decisions for artist and arts organisation funding will be made by a panel composed of peer arts practitioners. (iv) Public Art Context and Values Public Art involves works of art in any medium created by artists in response to engagement with the psychologies, contexts and liminalities of environment including physical, social, historical, cultural, built, natural and community locales. Galway City Council will benefit significantly from a consistent new policy that takes risks, breaks new ground and challenges perceptions about what defines public art practice. Galway City Council's Public Art Policy must act as a strategic tool for long term planning and delivery within this context.

Galway City Council recognises the unique opportunity that the Per Cent for Art Scheme offers in commissioning new artworks. The City Council subscribes to the terms, aspirations and guidelines of the current scheme, and will endeavour to promote excellence and innovation in the field of public art. Galway City Council will move away from geographical based commissioning and develop a city-wide programmatic approach; through the pooling of funds and the development of 3 key strands of commissioning.

Action Public Art Policy Working Group The Public Art Policy Working Group will assist and advise on public art policy, taking cognisance of any changes to the Current National Guidelines on the Per Cent for Art Scheme.

The Public Art Policy Working Group will provide assistance on the evaluation of public art commissions.

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A new programmatic direction in a new Public Art strategy for Galway will be instituted by the Arts Office within the lifetime of this strategy and will set out a city wide approach to public art commissions in Galway, adopting a number of key aims and strategies in developing innovation and supporting artistic practice through its commissioning strands. (v) Information and New Media Context and Values The web continues to offer a space to create, exchange learn and engage with the arts. There are numerous sophisticated and shifting hierarchies of arts activities in Galway City that may not be apparent particularly to those creating or engaging with arts on a sporadic basis. Improved exchange opportunities benefit the city and reflect a wider cultural shift towards web based arts practices, which offer user-driven content for a wide range of people.

Access to media and communications platforms support grassroots experimentation and innovation in the area of sound, film, and manifold interdisciplinary practices. This can also be utilised to develop audiences for professional and voluntary organisations promoting activities such as classes, exhibitions, recitals, gigs, events, reading and performing opportunities in the city.

A centralised virtual space for those promoting engagement with events or artforms will be developed over the term of the strategy.

The city's leading venues and arts organisations offer a complexity, variety and depth to their work that should also be shared or accessed more easily from a centralised web-space. The City Council appreciates that not everyone has access to web-based information and will ensure that all information is available through Public Libraries, and publicised through local radio and local press.

The intention is that the project represents end users, current activities and brings together a range of users to platform the arts in Galway City, promoting, highlighting and also mapping activity, directly from those working or interested in the arts and offering points of access for a range of people.

An emphasis should be placed on the potential of pooling and sharing resources and expertise.

Driven by a specialised technical working group, who represent a range of interests in the city, a working group with both general and specialised knowledge should outline content areas, editorial direction, site policy and management.

Actions Create a regular Galway City Arts newsletter in partnership with the City Council's media staff.

The City Council will seek the advice of the relevant key stakeholders, in developing an information service.

The main aims of this initiative will be: be: * To offer a wider public access to information about arts news and events * Promote engagement of volunteers in the arts

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* Promote the arts in Galway internationally * Create a place for exchange and share material resources * Develop a culture of critique and comment * Highlight a range of opportunities and points of participation * Offer a place to archive and document arts projects of note * Create information flow * Support art works created for dissemination on the web, such as short-film, music, visual arts and writing and virtual projects * Support ever growing number of participatory users to engage with interactive opportunities, to create independent content * Plan for the maintenance and further development of the project over a long-term period and plan for the financial resourcing of the project (vi) Better Ways of Working Context and Values Currently the Arts Office is working within limited financial and human resources for a city of its size. Therefore maximum effect and financial return must be achieved from City Council's existing assets. This strategy offers the Office an opportunity to redefine and reimagine itself. Moving from programmatic and one-off approaches, to working in line with the city's lead artists and organisations, utilising its position and cultural capital to act as a broker, facilitator and principal actor in drawing resources, communities and energies together. An aim of the strategy is to secure the status of the arts throughout the council structures and to formalise the Arts Office's role as an advocate for the arts within the City Council and its stakeholders.

The City Council acknowledges the financial demands made on the Arts Office, and will support arts advocacy across key departments for deeper organisation approach to planning for the arts in Galway City. The strategy aims to enable the Office to develop a dynamic and coherent leadership role within the City Council and the city. The Arts Office needs to engage with appropriate external agencies and develop cultures of regular arts research and enquiry to support its planning and policy development on a rolling basis.

Actions To acknowledge the financial limitations of the Arts Office and work to redress this as financial climates improve.

Advocate for the importance of the arts and their integration in planning and delivery of capital projects and support their inclusion across Council services.

Provide for upskilling of staff at Arts Officer level and beyond.

Include a wider range of expertise in the decision making consultation processes

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Continue to formalise its relationships with stakeholders Develop a culture of research Develop long-term projects with key stakeholders; establishing deeper legacies for mutual financial support particularly in the areas of priority Key areas for development – contexts This arts strategy identifies key areas for development. Through continued investment in and steadfast advancement of these key arts contexts, the strategic objectives of the Galway City Council Arts Strategy 2015-2019 will be achieved.

Arts and Young People Galway City Arts Office will create a Galway City Youth Arts Programme Galway City Arts Office Youth Arts participation programme will reimagine current relationships and create new partnerships (and in particular will work with Galway Arts Centre, Red Bird Youth Collective, Galway Youth Theatre, Galway Youth Arts Alliance and Westside Arts Festival). The programme will feature contemporary models of best practice, experienced in a safe environment.

The Arts Office will facilitate access to the arts for young people by encouraging their meaningful participation in the creative arts, both within and outside the school environment.

The Arts Office will offer programmes for professional artists to work in educational and community youth projects, facilitating participants' creative expression whilst engaging with contemporary models of best practice..

Galway City Council youth participation schemes will encourage young people to discover their creative and performative potential, developing pathways towards creative careers in the arts as an achievable option, whilst developing future audiences. .

Galway City Arts Office will create a new youth and community theatre programme in the North East Ward of Galway City.

Arts and Health / Arts and Disability Working within the two disciplines of Arts and Health and Arts and Disability as distinct areas aligned with national practice it is intended that the Arts Office of Galway City Council will create, continue (as appropriate) and develop its Arts and Health and Arts and Disability Programme strands to work in partnership with Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust, Galway Arts Centre's Burning Bright Programme, Arts Disability Ireland and other relevant agencies..

Socially Engaged Art / Collaborative Practice Through socially engaged arts, Galway City Arts Office will maximise the creative collisions of art production and capacity building and ensure real quality and value in their operation.

By bringing arts to people who may only have had limited participation opportunities the projects complement and enhance the social inclusion role of Galway City Council.

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Galway City Council will: Encourage participation, and the development of audiences, from all groups and all backgrounds in all art forms created, produced and presented in the City communities.

Develop work with community groups who would like to engage meaningfully with professional artists Encourage and engage with organisations with a social inclusion role advising and assisting on strategies and programmes where the arts can contribute to inclusion and access without compromise of standards.

Create a new funding strand of Socially Engaged Art Municipal Art Collection Galway City Council will established a revised Municipal Art Collection to: Recognise the importance of the individual creative artist in society Support emerging Galway artists.

Provide increased public access to the visual arts.

Provide an opportunity for the public and staff who use City Hall to enjoy works of art of a high standard; Make artworks available on loan to appropriate institutions (e.g. schools, and colleges community facilities, other cultural partners) Over the decades Galway Corporation and City Council have intermittently assembled an informal city collection of varying artistic ambition. The Arts Office in City Hall will provide a base for a new approach in the provision of arts in the public arena. In particular, an education and outreach strategy will be devised and implemented to develop the public's awareness of the collection and facilitate access.

The Arts Office will resume its discontinued purchase programme for the Municipal Art Collection.

Advice and Advocacy The Arts Office will continue to provide expert advice across a wide range of arts and cultural issues. The Arts Office will engage in an open dialogue with the arts community, Council members, Galway City Council staff, local and national resource agencies and the general public. Through this dialogue we will underline the many ways in which the arts have created and continue to create quantifiable and unquantifiable value and joy.

Implementation, Resourcing & Delivery The Arts Office will be directly responsible for implementing, managing and delivering this strategy.

Necessary resources required to realise this strategy will include:

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* Specialised arts and administrative staff * Appropriate levels of funding from Galway City Council, enhanced by funding sourced from strategic partners.

The implementation of the new Arts strategy must take into account the capacity of the Galway City Arts Office and of its financial and other resources.

Monitoring and Evaluation The Arts Office commits to continuing review of direction, purpose, practice and process. We will monitor and evaluate all elements of the implementation of its arts strategy, ensuring openness and transparency in the Office provision.

This will be achieved through * Regular meetings between the Arts Officer and the Director of Services, through reporting to the Economic and Cultural Development Strategic Policy Committee and through working with the City Council. * The Arts Office's internal monitoring and examination of activities. * Galway City Council's Annual Report. * Evaluation of activities based on pre-determined criteria. * Where appropriate, independent advisors will provide critical review.