Now that National Portfolio bids have been submitted, Three Johns and Shelagh give some advice to Arts Council England.
On 17 March the bids went in: les jeux sont faits; rien ne va plus. Arts leaders all over the country finally got some sleep, and then turned their attention back to running their organisations. Over at Arts Council England (ACE), staff were preparing for weeks of reading, sifting, and judging dozens of national portfolio organisation (NPO) funding applications.
ACE has a difficult job. While its own budget and staff have been cut, rumour has it that most organisations have asked for increases of around ten per cent. Greedy or what? Unrealistic certainly. On top of that, ACE is under pressure from the regions, who have cried foul, and from London, where much of the growth is.
Then they face some tough questions, the answers to which will send out powerful signals. Should they reward those local authorities that have continued to support the arts, or do they try to shore things up in places where local authorities have made cuts? Should they give to those magnificent cultural palaces that they brought into being through the lottery – or is it time for some of them to stand on their own feet a bit more? And how can they support new and invigorating companies without endangering the regular clients... Keep reading on a-n
On 17 March the bids went in: les jeux sont faits; rien ne va plus. Arts leaders all over the country finally got some sleep, and then turned their attention back to running their organisations. Over at Arts Council England (ACE), staff were preparing for weeks of reading, sifting, and judging dozens of national portfolio organisation (NPO) funding applications.
ACE has a difficult job. While its own budget and staff have been cut, rumour has it that most organisations have asked for increases of around ten per cent. Greedy or what? Unrealistic certainly. On top of that, ACE is under pressure from the regions, who have cried foul, and from London, where much of the growth is.
Then they face some tough questions, the answers to which will send out powerful signals. Should they reward those local authorities that have continued to support the arts, or do they try to shore things up in places where local authorities have made cuts? Should they give to those magnificent cultural palaces that they brought into being through the lottery – or is it time for some of them to stand on their own feet a bit more? And how can they support new and invigorating companies without endangering the regular clients... Keep reading on a-n