Proposals by Lincolnshire County Council to turn the Usher Gallery into an events and wedding venue are attracting widespread opposition, including from Lincoln City Council.
More News in Brief: New £150,000 grant to ‘embolden’ museums goes to Manchester’s Whitworth and Van Abbemuseum; Sheela Gowda awarded 2019 Maria Lassnig Prize; Culture ministers from 16 German states agree to repatriate artefacts looted in colonial era.
More News In Brief: Maryland Institute College of Art apologises for racist past; Hertfordshire County Council reveals plans to auction 90% of the works in its collection.
Other News In Brief: Arts Council England may extend Artsmark award to include early years sector, incorporating professional development and networking opportunities; former Tate Modern head Chris Dercon to head up the Grand Palais, Paris.
Arts professionals and organisations have criticised Bath Council’s decision to close its Arts Development service in order to save £78,000, part of a programme of cuts designed to save £16m by 2020. A silent protest is planned for 31 October.
Cultural spend has been reallocated or cut to zero at four more councils this year, and some local authorities are turning a profit through culture and heritage.
Arts Professional’s Christy Romer reports.
Save Hertfordshire’s Public Art Collection states that it has until the end of March to stop Hertfordshire Council selling or disposing of 91% of the county’s public art collection – more than 1650 artworks.
Bournemouth-based artist Stuart Semple is aiming to raise awareness of ‘hostile designs’ after he succeeded in getting his local council to remove retrofitted bars from town-centre benches that prevented homeless people from sleeping on them.
News briefing with national and international stories, including: Court rules dealer of works stolen by Jasper Johns’ assistant can be charged with racketeering; Manchester Art Gallery puts Pre-Raphaelite painting back on display after outcry; Cornelia Parker’s general election artworks unveiled.
The gallery’s chair of trustees, David Dimbleby, says the cuts will jeopardise the future of the organisation which is based in a purpose-built building that opened in 2009.
The latest in a series of papers commissioned by a-n, providing detailed data on the amount, context and nature of employment for visual artists.
The online survey of arts workers reveals the strain local authority cuts are putting on the sector, with community arts groups facing the biggest threat.
The UK’s independent lobbying organisation for the arts, which relies on donations from the public to make its campaigns happen, has launched a new Supporters Scheme with five different tiers available.
Ferens Art Gallery in Hull has reopened after a £5.2 million refurbishment largely funded by Hull City Council. But while the local authority should be commended for its commitment to culture, Sheila McGregor argues that the blame for council cuts in towns and cities across the UK needs to be forcefully directed at Westminster politicians rather than hapless local representatives.
For Cardiff-based, Iraqi-born artist Rabab Ghazoul it’s been a busy year of campaigning against local arts funding cuts and exhibiting internationally. She looks back on a “heartening” and “confusing” year.
2016 started well for The New Art Gallery Walsall, but as it draws to a close the venue is fighting for survival in the face of proposed local council funding cuts. The Black Country gallery’s director reflects on “a funny old year”.
A weekly briefing featuring national and international art news, including: Anish Kapoor banned from using world’s most glittery glitter, the second ACE diversity report, and Gdansk community mural cut up and put on sale by British art dealer.
Newcastle-based artist Kathryn Hodgkinson believes that the city council’s planning decisions are having a detrimental effect on the area’s creative community. In the wake of the recent decision to demolish the creative space Uptin House to make way for ‘yet another block of student flats’, she argues that local authorities need to embrace the true value of artists.
The New Art Gallery Walsall remains under threat of closure but gallery director Stephen Snoddy has vowed to fight hard to keep it open. Chris Sharratt argues it’s a battle that can’t be lost.
Unions including UNISON, UNITE, the PCS and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain organise national march in London starting from the British Library and ending with a rally outside the National Gallery.
As the New Art Gallery Walsall, opened in 2000 and home to the Garman Ryan Collection of over 300 Jacob Epstein sculptures, is threatened with closure, the artist Bob and Roberta Smith expresses his dismay at its possible demise.
Darren Henley uses speech in Sunderland to discuss what the EU referendum result might mean for artists and arts organisations in the north of England and across the UK.
In a speech to launch a new report, Funding Arts and Culture in an Age of Austerity, Arts Council England chair Sir Peter Bazalgette has been outlining how local authorities can work with ACE to develop new ways to support the arts and culture sector.
Culture minister Ed Vaizey has announced the publication of The Culture White Paper, the first government white paper on culture in England for over 50 years.
The People’s Market in Wrexham town centre will be transformed into a new arts and cultural hub for Oriel Wrecsam gallery following major capital grants from the Arts Council of Wales, Wrexham Council and the Welsh government.
