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THE thorny issue of arts funding has again come to the fore recently after the Centre for Visual Arts in Cardiff announced it was to close its doors. Joanna Weston, chief executive of the Arts Council of Wales, gives her view on how arts in Wales can develop in the future. OVER the past 10 years, the arts have undergone a revolution. They are of undeniable intrinsic value, but it is 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 and its partners has helped contribute to a climate where the arts are now being debated at the highest level in Wales - the National Assembly. They include The Economic Impact of the Arts and Cultural Industries in Wales (1998) and The Arts Work (1999). 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 Great Britain. We inherited an agenda that was focused on a narrow definition of the arts. However, ACW 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. When the Assembly Post-16 Education and Training Committee report is published we will be on the brink of implementing an independent cultural policy, responsive to the needs and aspirations of people in Wales, rather than the “old” model inherited from the Arts Council of GB. This approach was highlighted in the Rowntree Report on the “Culture Makes Communities” conference held last year in Swansea, which commends Wales for being in the forefront of the UK in its support for community-based arts initiatives. In Wales we had already seen the rewards of this principle in the success of initiatives such as the Penrhys Partnership in Rhondda, in helping the economic and social regeneration of a community. The Penrhys Partnership brought together business leaders and residents to find solutions to social problems, such as setting up the ACW-funded Canolfan Rhys Arts Centre which runs a programme of events supported by resident artists. We also have evidence of the value of projects managed and pursued by people in creating community cohesion and active citizenship, as well as raising employment or training prospects. We are now in a position to debate how we can further develop Wales’s rich and diverse culture. ACW recognises progress is made through cross-sector partnerships. We recognise the need to draw new maps to oversee objectives set by the Assembly. What ACW is working towards is ways forward in an era when public funding is limited for all sectors. This makes it all the more important for all agencies to work in partnership. Local delivery through contact with local concerns need to be strengthened for these partnerships to be productive. If ACW needs to change the way it works at local level this will help to provide support and recognition where it is needed. The map makers of the future must be ambitious in their aims for funding the arts. Stagnation for funding of the arts has been detrimental. To reverse the trend we need at least £6m over three years. The role ACW has adopted is in line with that of policy planners in Europe today. 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 many local communities found their lives transformed by ACW grants that helped fund everything from carnivals to mobile animation units to youth theatre performances. The recent difficulties of the Centre for Visual Arts have been a matter for public debate. We remain optimistic that a positive solution can be found, and one which responds to the calls for support of a vibrant focus for the visual arts in Cardiff. Other capital developments have been less controversial but should not be forgotten. For example, the refurbishment of Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the forthcoming Newport Theatre and Arts Centre. Theatr Brycheiniog is a successful new theatre funded by ACW and partners. The Stwt 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 access to the arts. Aberystwyth Arts Centre is now able to build on its earlier success, which saw a 40 per cent increase in participation through its Community Arts and Education programme before building work began. The key words for the map makers of the future are collaboration and partnership. As the definition of the arts expands to include video, film, fashion, design, pop and digital arts, so ACW comes under 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 Assembly. It must look at new ways of raising additional revenue for the arts: identifying 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. 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. ACW promotes the inclusion of arts and cultural industries within these plans. If the boundaries of local government can be revolutionised, then so can the traditional tensions between commerce and culture. Arts & Business recognises the potential of bedding the arts more deeply into individual businesses. It has recently launched its “New Part-ners” 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. ACW can develop this kind of strategic thinking that recognises new technologies and how they can best serve arts organisations and provide a platform for culture enterprises and training opportunities, thereby creating access to the arts. 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. |
| Western Mail web site: www.icwales.com |
| Jo Weston e-mail: |
Tuesday, August 22, 2000 |
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