The Public, West Bromwich’s multi-purpose arts centre and gallery, is to close following Sandwell Council’s decision not to extend its current agreement with the trust that runs the centre.
The decision ends the project’s chequered history – it opened two years late and in a scaled-back form, having entered administration a few months before its original opening date in 2006. In 2009, Arts Council England (ACE) withdrew regular funding because parts of the building – including an interactive gallery – were incomplete. ACE then agreed a £3m grant in an attempt to open the finished building that was finally completed in 2010. Since then, however, visitor numbers have grown dramatically with 380,000 people visiting the building in 2012-13.
In an announcement on The Public’s website the leader of Sandwell Council Darren Cooper said:
“We rescued The Public after the project went into administration some years ago, setting up Sandwell Arts Trust to make sure the building was finished and to run activities there. The Trust has done a great job and has contributed to the regeneration of West Bromwich. It’s not been an easy decision to make. But the fact of the matter is the council can’t continue to subsidise The Public. The overall cost to the council is currently about £30,000 a week.”
The Public’s visual arts programme has successfully mixed exhibitions by emerging artists and those based in region with artists of international repute – currently including Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, Hew Locke, Tracey Emin and Doug Fishbone.
Sandwell Arts Trust Chief Executive Paul Slater said:
“We are very disappointed that financial circumstances have resulted in the council making this decision. I thank all our employees for their hard work and dedication over the last few years, and all our visitors and tenants for their support.”
Darren Cooper added: “We have listened to people who’ve campaigned to keep The Public as an arts centre. And in the talks we are having, we are looking at keeping some arts provision there, as well as looking for alternative venues in West Bromwich for entertainment. We have to find a viable, long-term future for The Public which is not dependent on council taxpayers’ cash every year.”
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