Artists call for ACE to take more risks and better defend regions

Arts Council England (ACE) is too risk averse, too focused on numbers and is not doing enough to advocate for the arts on a national or regional level, according to arts workers in the North East.

“We want Arts Council to challenge itself to be different, to take more risks, be more collaborative, to represent its sector and to be braver and bolder in challenging the Government’s thinking on arts and culture,” they say.

“And we want Arts Council to listen to the artists, organisations, cultural instigators and advocates in each region and not lump everyone into the ‘North’.”

Combined response

Their views are represented by What Next? Newcastle Gateshead in a co-ordinated response to a policy consultation on ACE’s strategic plans for 2020-2030. The detailed and candid response has been published on the What Next? NG Facebook page.

It has emerged following a 12-week consultation on ACE’s plans for the coming decade, coordinated on behalf of the Arts Council and attended by a range of stakeholders including universities, local authorities, National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs), emerging artists and others involved in the arts who have little contact with ACE.

Contributors to the What Next? NG response also expressed concern about current funding models, saying they do not necessarily work in the interest of economically challenged populations with increasing pressure on limited disposable income.

Noting that ticket sales, often supported by an older generation, are key elements of the arts economy, the comments warns that “keeping buildings afloat may become a priority over supporting smaller organisations to flourish”.

“There is a danger that access to arts and culture becomes more dependent on economic benefit and not less,” it adds.

Data fixation

The respondents questioned ACE’s approach to data collection, and whether this has become more important than the art within Arts Council’s funding policies and processes. They stress there is a need for more dialogue and discussion between the Arts Council and the sector as to the purpose of data collection and how it should be done – and that ACE needs to be stronger on assessing applications for small Lottery grants on criteria related to quality, experimentation and art.

Advocacy

Whilst the respondents welcomed the high profile of the Creative Industries Federation – the advocacy body which regularly comments on Government policy for the sector – they expressed concerns that the organisation “did not adequately represent the range of arts and cultural organisations”, particularly in the North East.

The respondents also said there was a perception that ACE had deferred advocacy to the Federation, which was having “a negative effect on arts and culture particularly at non-funded, small organisation, individual artist level”.

Similarly, they felt ACE should be re-structured to work in partnership with the national devolution agenda if it is to defend the arts sector in the North East. They called for “regional budgets, regional leadership, regional officers with a wider interest and understanding of the sector from grassroots to large NPOs, working more strategically rather than reactionary”.

More widely, the document stresses ACE could lead better on giving arts and culture the same high profile as sport – with suggestions that this could happen through a promotional film, broadcast on national TV, representing the range of festivals going on around the country.