I value the arts

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MANIFESTO

We believe that great art needs great audiences, and that's why our Manifesto outlines our key messages for funders, policy-makers and the sector in England and the evidence behind those views. You can download our Manifesto here.

The honesty and realistic approach of GGA staff supported me to refocus where needed and the team was passionate about our project. It really felt like a strong example of joint working as opposed to a contractual arrangement. (GGA is) an extremely professional and committed team, who were effective and focused with their time and resources and generous with their open approach and communication

Kevin Harrison, Sense Scotland

Culture Change Reflections

28th January 2011

Spent the day at the MMM and CLP Culture Change Conference. An interesting day. A few reflections:

Technology and London. Ed Vaizey got lots of angry tweets about giving too many London-centric examples of good practice in his speech that largely focused on the arts and technology. My guess is this reflects the fact that it will have been written by London-based Civil Servants. The DCMS lacks regional intelligence because it lacks a meaningful regional structure. ACE currently has a structure that can meaningfully engage and learn from good practice throughout the country. It would be a crime to lose it.

This was the first time I have heard a funder state publicly that the biggest potential for new money for arts organisations will be from earned income, not from grants, gifts or sponsorship. Audiences UK has been saying this for some time.  The Minister also stated that, in his view, there is no inherent conflict between better art and more entrepreneurial activity. We’d agree with that too.

It was also heartening to hear a Government Minister talk about the need to focus on growing audiences and sharing good practice. I hope this will mean sustained investment in the current infrastructure rather than inventing new wheels.

Alan Davey shared his observation that Whitehall has never seemed so fragmented and there was a call for a cross-departmental task force for the Creative Industries.  

And an alarming number of female arts leaders also confessed to crushes on senior Tory politicians.

These are interesting times.

David Brownlee, Chief Executive, Audiences UK

 

Comments

  1. Author
    maurice davies (museums association)
    Permanent link
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    Date
    28th January 2011
    Comment
    What struck me about the conference was that while Ed Vaizey talked about audiences, many other speakers rather forgot about them. It may be that everyone in the arts automatically thinks about audiences all the time. But I'm worried that too many people care more about 'making great art' than enagaging a wide audience

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