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Over the last ten years, the arts have undergone a major revolution. They are recognised as being of undeniable intrinsic value, but it's also accepted that they have a role to play in regenerating deprived communities, the development of life long learning, and the shaping of new technologies. A series of publications produced by the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) in partnership with broadcast and business organisations has helped contribute to a climate where the arts are now being debated at the highest level: in our National Assembly. They include The Economic Impact of the Arts and Cultural Industries in Wales (1998) and The Arts Work (1999). One of the first tasks the National Assembly set itself was holding a wide ranging review of cultural policy, an action supported by ACW. We are now in a position to debate how we can develop still further Wales' rich and diverse plural culture. ACW has long recognised that progress is to be made through cross-sector partnerships that provide opportunities for developing artistic innovation, as well as maximising opportunities for participation for all people with an interest in the arts. We recognise the need to draw new maps to oversee the delivery of such objectives, set out in a clear framework drawn up by the National Assembly for Wales. One of the models supported by many in the sector is a Minister for Culture, however, that is not really the issue. What ACW is actively working towards are ways forward in an era when public funding is limited for all sectors. This makes it all the more important for all related agencies to work in close partnership to support wider cultural issues. Cross-sector partnerships have brought the arts into the public domain in surprising and effective ways. Cultural investment has frequently been used to reposition a city's image - the opening of the Tate Modern being the most recent example - but it also has a far-reaching impact on local communities. Over the next few years, the town of Porth is set to see its economic fortunes blossom with the refurbishment of the derelict Corona factory into a massive studio complex by Avanti Productions. Rhondda Cynon Taff's Economic Development Unit has worked alongside the company, which produces programmes for Sony Music, Virgin and BBC Wales amongst others, to invest in a new-look Pop Factory. The initiative will also provide training and service provision for the local community. The map makers of the future are going to have be realistic in their aims for funding the arts. We are experiencing a far reaching shake-up of our public sector services. Education, health and the social services are being challenged to find new ways of working to meet the costs of society's changing needs. Why should the arts be immune from this challenge? If art is central to each of these sectors, then artists too can embark on the search for new, effective - and adventurous - methods of delivery. The role ACW has adopted is in line with that being discussed by policy planners in Europe today. Francois Matarasso and Charles Landry argue that: "Recognition of the developmental role and social contribution of culture is both timely and important. It will not only enable the cultural sector to play a more central role in the lives of many millions of people; it will also help the sector itself to express its value in the context of the major social, economic and political issues of the coming century." (1) My argument is that ACW has helped set the agenda, because it is now a strategic body and no longer a direct provision body. History has led us here. Originally, ACW was a sub-committee of the Arts Council of England. We inherited an agenda that was more or less focused on a rather narrow definition of the arts. However, ACW pursued a path that redefined that concept; it recognised the value not only of professional arts, but also of community arts, voluntary arts and arts in education, and aimed for equality of esteem in all spheres. This approach was highlighted in the Rowntree Report on the "Culture Makes Communities" conference held last year in Swansea. In Wales we had already seen the rewards of this principle in the success of initiatives such as the Penrhys Partnership in helping the economic and social regeneration of a community. The Penrhys Partnership brought together international business leaders and local residents and its aim was to find imaginative solutions to social problems, including the setting up of the pioneering ACW funded Canolfan Rhys Arts Centre which runs a programme of events supported by resident artists. We also have firm evidence, in rural and urban areas, of the value of projects managed and pursued by people on a voluntary basis in creating community cohesion and active citizenship as well as in confidence building and raising employment or training prospects. In 1994, ACW became responsible for the distribution of Lottery funds. This was another route to spearhead change: we devised a strategy that saw more funding channelled to grassroots projects. The prestigious projects might have won the headlines, but away from the spotlight, many local communities found their lives transformed by ACW grants that enabled them to set up everything from carnivals to mobile animation production units to youth theatre performances. Developing the infrastructure for the arts was also prioritised, for example the major refurbishment and extension of Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the forthcoming Newport Theatre and Arts Centre. Theatre Brycheiniog is an example of the hugely successful new theatre buildings funded by ACW and partners. The Stwit in Rhosllanerchrhugog, St Donats Arts Centre, The Institute in Cwmaman and Seindorf Arian Deiniolen are examples of major refurbishments of arts initiatives which will offer opportunities for genuine access to the arts for many thousands of people in Wales. Aberystwyth Arts Centre is now able to build on its earlier success, which saw a 40% increase in participation through its Community Arts and Education programme before building work began, as well as an exciting international programme featuring collaborations between the Centre for Performance Research and Victoria Theatre, Ghent, and with Solo, the major regional arts centre in Indonesia. The key words for the map makers of the future are collaboration and partnership. As the definition of the arts expands to include developments in video, film, fashion, design, popular music and digital arts, so ACW finds itself under increasing pressure to fund an ever broader church. ACW cannot continue to fund everything, however, without injections of additional revenue on top of our annual grant from the National Assembly. It must look at news ways of raising that additional revenue for the arts: identifying those funding partners is crucial. ACW can open up opportunities for development, in much the same way that local government has done over the past five years. If we look at the areas earmarked for Objective One funding, we can see new partnerships being set up with a view to investing in 'home-grown' initiatives, many of them built around the quality, originality and technical innovation of the arts and cultural industries. Creative partnerships set up between economic development units, tourism officers and local authority planners are focusing on strategies that will increase the numbers of small to medium businesses, a key target of Objective One. ACW is actively promoting the inclusion of arts and cultural industries within these local action plans. If the boundaries of local government can be revolutionised, then so can the traditional tensions between commerce and culture. Arts & Business (formerly the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts) recognises the potential that can be generated from bedding the arts more deeply into individual businesses. It has recently launched its 'New Partners' investment scheme, focusing on the development of new, sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts. Its pioneering project draws together the new Cardiff-based company Art-efact.com, an internet gallery business, and Earthfall, a BAFTA Cymru award winning dance theatre performance company. New Partners is interested in developing its relationships with dot.com companies prioritising long-lasting initiatives, rather than quick cash returns. ACW can develop this kind of strategic thinking that recognises the fast-moving world of new technologies and how they can best serve our artists and arts organisations and provide a platform not only for culture enterprise but also for training opportunities, and creating access to the arts in new ways for new audiences. Whilst this is a route for future expansion, ACW has already been active in setting up its own ground breaking partnerships - collaborations that have often been influential with other policy makers. Wales Arts International was set up in 1997 to raise the profile of the arts from Wales. It is a unique partnership forged between the ACW and the British Council in Wales with a view to promoting artists and arts from Wales within the international community. It has recently embarked on a new three-year commitment supported by ACW and The British Council to give further support to international initiatives in the arts and to work in partnership with the National Assembly's International Relations Coordinating Group. The setting up of the National Youth Arts In Wales is another initiative that has received investment from ACW in the form of a Lottery award. It is a joint venture run by the Welsh Joint Education Committee and the Welsh Amateur Music Federation and meets the objectives outlined in The Arts and Young People in Wales report, an ACW publication outlining proposals for the first ever national framework for developing policy in Wales for the arts and young people. This ground-breaking initiative again illustrates the confidence and creativity of our artistic community. The map for the future, whatever the administrative structures set up to deliver it, must reflect the uniqueness on all levels of the arts in Wales as an essential and integral part of the culture of Wales, an approach that puts us ahead of the game compared with many of our European partners. 1. Balancing act: 21 strategic dilemmas in cultural policy. Joanna Weston Chief Executive Arts Council of Wales |
| Arts Council of Wales web site: www.ccc-acw.org.uk |
| Jo Weston e-mail: |
Thursday, June 29, 2000 |
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