ACE releases outdoor arts plan

Outdoor arts events which link to “emerging agendas in society”, such as climate change, and companies which forge UK and international collaborations are among the investment priorities identified by Arts Council England (ACE) in ‘Landscapes: outdoor arts development plan 2008–2011’, published this month. ACE defines outdoor arts as “accessible, time-limited performance and installation work that happens in outdoor locations in the community”, encompassing both innovative and traditional forms such as carnival and street theatre. The work ranges “from light entertainment to more sophisticated work”, emphasises participation and interaction, and is often ticketless.

‘Landscapes’ cites local authorities as major potential partners, and also points to the “opportunity for British artists to deliver a range of high quality outdoor arts activity across all scales throughout the Cultural Olympiad 2008–2012 and other major national sporting and cultural events”. ACE plans to invest in the long-term sustainability of the sector, including research, advocacy campaigns to raise the profile and status of outdoor art, and the establishment of a working group to “to oversee the finessing, implementation and evaluation of this plan”. Barbara Matthews, ACE Director of Theatre, told AP that the plan will be guided by ACE’s theatre team, in collaboration with colleagues from other artforms. The delivery of the plan will also involve other organisations active in the sector, such as the Independent Street Arts Network (ISAN), which is a Regularly Funded Organisation whose funding has been increased from £30,000 in 2007/08 to £90,000 in 2008/09 and will rise to nearly £95,000 in 2010/11. [[ACE plans to invest in the long-term sustainability of the sector]]

Concerning funding, Matthews said “we will spend appropriate proportions [of funding] on this work. All of this sits within the overarching ACE priorities and investment criteria and will be subject to the normal funding processes.” Addressing the fears among some theatre practitioners that funding could be directed away from text-based theatre, she added that the plan would support “spending the money we do spend more wisely, and being more coherent about it. It’s not about taking money from one sector and giving it to another, it’s about working to make better use of the money and resources we have and trying to leverage additional money.”

Projects such as The Sultan’s Elephant (London 2006) and the annual Luton Carnival have had a strong impact on audiences, but other outdoor and street art events have attracted criticism concerning their depth and quality. Matthews pointed to the importance of carnival and other outdoors artforms in developing community participation, and said that there is “a joint desire to increase the standard of the work” and that “the real desire is to increase sustainability across the board – more longer-lasting projects as well as more frequent events”.