As part of the recent No Boundaries conference in York and Bristol, Arts Council England made two major presentations about regional investment in the arts and the ‘wider benefits’ of arts and culture to society. Chris Bailey was in York and assesses the significance of the ACE reports.
What does 2014 have in store in terms of conferences and events, art fairs and festivals? We take a month-by-month look at what the year has to offer.
This year’s Arts Development UK national conference took a food-related approach to professional development, networking and debate. Steffan Jones-Hughes donned a hairnet, plastic gloves and apron to join the lively conversations in the conference’s World Cafe, where a menu of playful ingredients from artists in residence SSoCial kept the conversations on track.
A new centre for contemporary art and learning has just opened in a landmark heritage building in Leeds. Tina Jackson paid a visit to The Tetley’s opening weekend to find a “buzzing and inclusive event” that pitched agitprop public discussion and an artist’s open studio alongside a selection of curated artefacts from the the building’s former life as a brewery, and provided a fascinating perspective on the relationship between art and labour.
Arts Council England’s update of its 10-year ‘strategic framework’ makes for sober and serious reading. But while there are no dramatic changes in its ambitions and priorities, Mark Robinson finds a worrying lack of solutions for cash-strapped artists and no recognition of the regional imbalance in arts funding.
Creative workers are seen as paid hobbyists rather than as professionals with valuable labour power, says Dave O’Brien.
West Bromwich arts centre to cease current activities on 30 November.
Mark Ravenhill’s recent speech at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe sounded the death knell for state subsidy of the arts. Scottish Review editor Kenneth Roy takes the playwright’s views – and their misrepresentation in the right-wing press – to task.
A just announced interim plan from the Scottish arts funding body reveals that artform reviews will underpin the development of a longer-term plan for 2014-17.
“Art is not just about the money,” says Shadow Culture Secretary Harriet Harman in Commons debate on the arts and creative industries in the UK.
As the University of South Wales closes its BA Fine Art degree course for good, Gordon Dalton gets in a Newport state of mind as he visits the students’ final show and surveys the city’s battered and bruised cultural landscape.
The What Next? conference in London on 29 April brought together some 650 arts professionals as part of a new movement to reassert the value of the arts in society. Kwong Lee, Director of Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, shares his thoughts on the day.
As the debate continues around Margaret Thatcher’s legacy ahead of her all-but state funeral, one thing is sure – the influence of her actions and ideas continues to be felt across the UK. Formed in the midst of her first term, a-n is no exception. Here, Director Susan Jones remembers the dawn of Thatcherism and trawls the a-n archive for pertinent references to the Iron Lady and her policies.
A new research study identifies how visual arts courses are addressing graduate employability and preparing students for life after art school.
A new body of research published by the Baring Foundation examines the importance of working with elderly people, particularly in relation to artists’ practices.
a-n is providing vital Go and see bursaries to artists, supporting professional development and networking at the Venice Biennale 2013.
As Creative Scotland’s open session events on the organisation’s future gather momentum, Edinburgh-based photographer and educator Johnny Gailey assesses what’s wrong at the core of its remit and makes a case for true artistic independence.
Last week, Newcastle City Council passed a 100% cut to its arts budget while at the same time agreeing to contribute £600,000 to a new fund for culture. Alison Clark-Jenkins, a regional director for Arts Council England, reveals the behind-the-scenes battle that led to the fund’s creation.
Kevin Harrison, Director of Stirling arts agency Artlink Central, responds to Stirling Council’s recent decision to close The Changing Room, the city’s only contemporary art gallery.
Liverpool’s pioneering media arts centre is staging a special birthday event this weekend to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its Wood Street building.
The Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon & Prize is ‘an exclusive club that will bring together the UK’s foremost creative influencers with a philanthropic goal at its heart’. Chair Rosy Greenlees and inaugural members Claire Coles and Claire Brewster discuss the project.
Newcastle City Council announced last week that it will set up a new ‘arts investment fund’ to replace revenue support it was planning to cut entirely under draft budget proposals. We speak to one organisation likely to be affected by the decision to gauge reaction in the city.
Newport City Council’s plans to scrap the temporary exhibitions programme at Newport Museum and Art Gallery are facing vocal, and high profile, opposition.
While Harriet Harman’s comments have put Newcastle’s cuts to the arts back on the radar, in the North East of Scotland Moray Council is also about to vote to cut its entire arts budget. And while the figures are much smaller, the impact locally could be just as devastating.
Museums Sheffield has been battered by cuts, with its grant income reduced by 37 per cent since 2008 and a further 10 per cent reduction recently announced. We talk to its Chief Executive about new plans to plug the funding gap.
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