News

Ballet Cymru is offering support to children and young people living with juvenile arthritis as part of a creative collaboration launched with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, funded by Arts Council Wales.

Dr Joanne May, a consultant at the Children's Hospital for Wales, who initiated the Dance to Move partnership, said: "We aim to deliver holistic care, but time in clinics is limited, which often means the focus is on condition management and treatment.

"Early on, we recognised that creative interventions would benefit children not only because dance elements would support movement, but also because they provided an opportunity to build confidence and support the wellbeing of children and their families."

The programme provides an immersive experience for children and families by offering dance, drawing, costume design and storytelling.

The UK’s largest indoor arena has postponed launch events with Peter Kay, due to be held this week, after work on its power supply fell “a few days behind schedule”.

"It is critical to ensure we have a consistent total power supply to our fully electric sustainable venue, the completion of which is a few days behind," a statement from Co-Op Live Arena said.

"Rescheduling gives us the extra time we need to continue testing thoroughly."

Kay's performances at the 23,500-capacity venue have been rescheduled to 29 and 30 April.

Kay said: "I'm truly gutted, as I know how disappointing this will be for everyone with tickets - but obviously, it's a brand-new venue, and it's important that everything is finished and safe for full-capacity audiences."

Co-op Live was forced to cancel tickets for 7,000 attendees to a Rick Astley test concert last week after problems with its power supply affected fire safety and the arena’s emergency services communication system. Invite-only ticket holders were only notified of the capacity change a few hours before the scheduled start time.

The £365m venue, backed by City Football Group, Oakview Music Group and minor partners including Harry Styles, Gaiety and SJM, has already attracted controversy ahead of its opening following a licensing dispute with rival 21,000-capacity AO Arena. 

Music Venue Trust has also campaigned to have the arena donate £1 of every ticket as a “grassroots levy” to fund local independent venues.

An MP has spoken in Parliament about concerns over a shortage of "essential" studio and exhibition spaces for artists in Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable.

Andrew Selous, South West Bedfordshire MP, told Ministers: “Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable and many other parts of my constituency are blessed with an abundance of artists, painters, sculptors and others, but they have very few places where they can create their work and even fewer places in which to exhibit. They need more studio space and more workspaces.

"Providing such spaces should be essential – it aids economic activity, increases footfall and increases wellbeing.”

Julia Lopez, Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, replied: "The Government are committed to encouraging local authorities and property owners to make spaces available for cultural activities.

"Arts Council England is already supporting artists’ spaces through funding and brokering partnerships. 

“As I say, we support creative industries primarily through Arts Council England, which has initiatives that look at workspaces. I encourage organisations in his constituency and community to make applications for grants, because there are specific funds available.

An Edinburgh-based writing showcase and networking event says it is closing for the foreseeable future after missing out on Creative Scotland project funding.

Page2Stage had previously received Creative Scotland Open Fund grants of almost £7,500 and £19,000 in 2022 and 2023.

Its funding bid for 2024 has been rejected twice, meaning it cannot apply again, as per Creative Scotland’s funding guidelines.

The funder says it is currently only able to support 30% of Open Fund applications, despite 75% being recommended for funding. 

“Difficult decisions are being made on a daily basis,” Creative Scotland said in a statement, adding that “demand is increasing while the funding available to us is not”.

Page2Stage Producer Michelle McKay told The Stage that despite the closure, the event is regrouping and looking at what other funding is available: “We are not giving up because we absolutely believe in what we do,” McKay said.

Arts leaders and politicians in Ireland have criticised Arts and Media Minister Catherine Martin for taking over four months to appoint a Chair to the Arts Council.

Her department recently confirmed that there are currently 17 vacancies on boards of national cultural institutions across Ireland, including the role of Chair at the Arts Council - An Chomhairle Ealaíon - which has been empty since Kevin Rafter's departure, announced on 1 December last year.

The Fianna Fáil TD (a member of the lower house of the Irish Parliament) told the Irish Mail on Sunday: "This delay is most regrettable. It creates the impression that arts and culture are some sort of decorous side issue to be left on the political sideline to be waved at. This is a substantial budget which needs to be supervised appropriately."

"The arts play a key role in building wellbeing in communities, in tourism and in job creation. It is not politically wise or responsible to leave the sector without leadership," added the Cavan-Monaghan TD.

Niamh Smyth, head of the Oireachtas Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, said that cultural bodies and arts organisations “are becoming gravely concerned over the long delay in appointing a new chair”.

Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield previously raised the issue last month, saying: “It is now March 2024, and there is no chairperson of the Arts Council, a state agency with a budget of €130m."

Middlesborough Council has decided against selling artwork from its £32.5m collection to help avoid bankruptcy after research into the legalities of the process concluded it could result in the "threat of significant legal challenges".

Director of Regeneration Richard Horniman said it could also affect future grant funding for the town.

Horniman told councillors: “Following some joint work between ourselves and Mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), it is clear that the ownership of the artworks is legally open to interpretation and therefore a challenge.

"For example, the LS Lowry painting was donated by the artist to the council for the people of Middlesbrough."

“The council technically own [the Lowry painting] but wouldn’t be able to try and sell it without the threat of significant legal challenge.

"Recent examples have shown it is very easy to prevent such sales and cause huge reputational damage in the process.”

Middlesbrough Council is one of at least 19 local authorities to receive exceptional financial support from the government, to help it avoid effective bankruptcy.

A spokesperson for ACE told the BBC that although they understood the financial difficulties faced by local authorities, selling off art should not be used to cover short-term gaps in funding as it would “erode the long-held and hard-won trust that the public have in museums and will cause irreversible damage to the UK’s cultural inheritance.”