Major grants to support diversity drive in visual arts

16 Nov 2020

Three organisations will share £1.27m in grants from Freelands Foundation to respond to the lack of diversity within the UK art sector. Iniva in London, Nottingham-based New Art Exchange and Create London will use the grants to build on their work removing barriers to access to the visual arts through anti-racist education.

The grants have been made as part of the delivery of the Foundation’s multi-year, multi-strand diversity action plan, targeted at addressing long-standing racial inequalities in the visual arts. This includes an immediate commitment of £3m of which the new grants form a part.

Beyond this, 15% of all future grants will go to initiatives with targets to promote racial inclusion. The strategy also includes the commission of a public research project examining Black and ethnic minority access to visual arts.

Sonita Alleyne, currently Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, will join the Foundation’s main Advisory Committee and has been appointed to chair a new Diversity Action Group. This will comprise a committee of high-profile Black and ethnic minority academics, artists, educators and curators who will oversee the whole programme, including the funding, new partnerships and research.

The founder and chair of the Freelands Foundation is Elisabeth Murdoch, a member of Arts Council England’s National Council. She described the programme as attempting to turn “the tide of racial inequality in art” and “achieve a cultural sector that truly reflects the richness and diversity of 21st Century Britain.”

Call for Government to 'respect' embattled museums' independence

16 Nov 2020

A national arts charity has criticised threats to revoke funding to museums, saying 60% already fear they won't survive the pandemic.

Scotland embarks on reopening plans for events

13 Nov 2020

A £2.75m Events Recovery Fund, backed by the Scottish Government, is aimed at helping organisers meet the extra reopening costs of staging events safely and rebuilding confidence among attenders. The money will support community events as well as events supporting tourism and the visitor economy. Those eligible for support range from sports fixtures to outdoor festivals, as well as “hybrid events” which will allow people to attend virtually or in person.

In a blueprint planning for the reopening of the sector, tourism agency VisitScotland is developing a route map for the next six months which will cover every genre of the events industry. They have rejected further pilot events to avoid unnecessary delays in recovery efforts, saying "...we will return to normality at some point, but if we don’t plan for it in advance we won’t be ready.”

Amazon celebrates the dedication of dancers in Christmas advert

13 Nov 2020

Global online retailer Amazon has chosen the plight of the arts to be at the heart of its first ever “emotional Christmas blockbuster” advertising campaign, similar to those presented annually by retailers such as John Lewis and Sainsbury’s. ‘The Show Must Go on’ advert follows the training of a ballet dancer in lockdown who is preparing for a performance, capturing the dedication and expertise that lies behind the production.

Local people revive bid to restore Gloucester theatre

13 Nov 2020

Plans to restore a derelict theatre in Gloucester have been revived after an initial offer by Gloucester Arts Council for a 99-year lease on the building fell through. A fresh offer has been made, with a view to developing the theatre, selling shares in it to the people of Gloucester, and building an arts centre next door. The 1923 Picturedrome, which originally opened as a cinema with 600 seats, was last used in 2014 and is “close to not being retrievable” unless restoration work begins soon.

Latest BBC commissioning round targets disabled artists

13 Nov 2020

BBC Arts is marking the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Disability Discrimination Act into law with a new commissioning strand to celebrate the work of disabled artists.

D/deaf, neurodivergent and disabled professional artists are being invited to apply to produce new video or audio works as part of its Culture in Quarantine initiative, which aims to support artists and keep the arts in the homes of the public during lockdown.

This builds on an earlier Culture in Quarantine commissioning round launched in April  by BBC Arts and Arts Council England, which saw 25 artists give a creative response to the challenges of lockdown. These included artist, curator and producer, Cathy Mager, whose film ‘Sign Night’ which explored British Sign Language culture.

This time all four UK arts councils and the UK Disability Arts Alliance are involved in the commissioning strand, which will provide support from digital production specialists for ten new works to be hosted across BBC platforms.

 

Online events must be accessible to deaf audiences, charity urges

12 Nov 2020

Online arts events must be made accessible to deaf and hearing impaired audiences as the second lockdown continues, a charity has urged.

Stagetext provides captioning and live subtitling in theatres and other cultural venues. It says it is concerned for the mental health of 12 million d/Deaf and hard of hearing Britons after figures released in the summer showed these communities were 45% more likely to feel lonely.

Stagetext has seen a 110% increase for subtitled events since April but says more must be done during these challenging times.

About 18% of UK adults have hearing loss, yet fewer than 1% are fluent in British Sign Language.

"We take for granted that most of us are able to enjoy incredible performances and exhibitions, even during a lockdown," Stagetext Chief Executive Melanie Sharpe commented.

East London culture hub forced to move as council changes building's use

12 Nov 2020

Stratford Circus Arts Centre will leave its home of nearly a decade later this month after losing a long-running battle against Newham Council.

The local authority decided in February to change the use of the centre's building to expand a 'youth zone' as part of a 2018 pledge to double its youth offer.

Stratford Circus, "after a period of reflection and transition", plans to offer more participatory and community activities with the support of Arts Council England.

Interim CEO Lucy Atkinson said it was "bittersweet" to leave its site.

"We have enjoyed creating many wonderful memories at Stratford Circus Arts Centre and were devastated to have to lose staff through this process. 2020 has been an immensely difficult year for our sector, with many more challenges ahead.

"I am so pleased we have found a way of being able to continue our work in the future and we will explore what this will look like over the coming few months with our audiences, customers, companies, promoters and artists."

Donations to performing arts fall from post-Covid peak, survey shows

12 Nov 2020

Philanthropic giving to performing arts organisations has dropped off since a spike in April, new survey data suggests.

Regular research by TRG Arts has revealed a higher level of donations early in the pandemic when organisations were encouraging ticket holders to forgo refunds for cancelled events.

74% of all money gifted to the 47 UK organisations surveyed from the beginning of 2020 came from 'super active' customers - those who had patronised the organisation at least 10 times.

The number and value of donations from these patrons dropped sharply since June, falling by 47%.

Outdoor art gallery will become home to outsider art

12 Nov 2020

A structure earmarked for demolition by Thanet council is to be turned into an outdoor art gallery and museum by The Stretch charity, which delivers arts projects with prisoners, ex-prisoners, homeless people, mental health groups and young people in care. Last year the Save the Newgate Gap Shelter campaign in Margate succeeded with its expression of interest for the community asset transfer of the shelter, and plans are now progressing for it to become what is described as the first national museum for ‘outsider art’. The rebuilding will include an outsider arts trail, workshops and exhibitions.

Arts workers' skills bolstered frontline Covid responses

12 Nov 2020

Creativity, compassion, collaboration and a tendency towards efficiency meant arts workers were highly responsive in a time of crisis, councils say.

Neil Mendoza praises Government's emergency funding response

11 Nov 2020

The Cultural Recovery Commissioner advised organisations to "stop asking for stuff; tell us what you can do to help".

New National Centre to promote knowledge sharing between arts and higher education

11 Nov 2020

Research England will bankroll the partnership between four regional universities and The Culture Capital Exchange following a successful pilot project.

Arts Council England freezes £223k grant over fraud allegations

Close of up a hand on DJ decks
11 Nov 2020

The funder refuses to say how many other grants are under investigation amid complaints it awarded Cultural Recovery Fund money to a dormant venue.

Digital revolution ends 131 years of exam tradition for music students

11 Nov 2020

A new music exam that focuses on students’ performance, lets them choose what to play and is 100% assessed online via video recordings has outstripped all expectations after almost 15,000 students - triple the expected number - signed up.

Examining board ABRSM introduced remote assessment after 131 years running traditional exams, and says the take-up of the new Performance Grade “points to a permanent post COVID-19 shift in UK music learning”.

ABRSM has been working on digital resources and opportunities for a long time, but has accelerated its efforts due to the pandemic. A survey showed that 87% of music teaching had moved online within weeks of lockdown taking effect.

Digital sheet music downloads and an online platform, Play On, will be available to support learners both during and beyond lockdown.

DCMS Committee launches inquiry into music festivals

11 Nov 2020

A new inquiry has been launched to consider Government policy that supports the survival and return of music festivals in 2021.

The DCMS Committee has put out a call for evidence amid concerns the majority of festivals face "real risks surrounding their future viability," Chair Julian Knight MP said.

Festivals are theoretically able to take place provided they comply with Covid-safe guidelines, but social distancing requirements and uncertainty about the changing public health situation make planning such events nearly impossible.

"We have so many legendary festivals that have given the UK a worldwide reputation – it would be devastating if they were unable to come back with a bang, or if smaller festivals that underpin the talent pipeline disappear entirely," Knight said.

"We want to hear from festival staff as they face huge pressures, fans who’ve missed out, as well as musicians on the contribution that festivals make to our culture and economy."

The committee recently launched a separate investigation into the impact of streaming on the sustainability of the music industry.

£10.7m arts and culture funding for Wales

10 Nov 2020

New bids for funding won't be accepted as the Welsh Government prioritises existing applications.

Cuts “will cripple the arts and humanities at Roehampton” say staff and students

06 Nov 2020

The University of Roehampton has announced plans to cut £3.2m from the budgets of the schools of Arts and Humanities. Significant redundancies are expected in Drama, Theatre and Performance, and Dance.

An international coalition of dance, performance and theatre associations has condemned what the University is calling a ‘rebalancing’ exercise, describing the plans as “ideological in nature, pandering to the current government’s short-sighted bias against the arts and humanities and instrumentalisation of higher education”.

Roehampton attracts around 60% of its performing arts students from Black or other minority ethnic background and the group, is calling on the University to preserve and support its work in these areas amid concerns that the proposed cuts will “further exacerbate the exclusion of traditionally under-represented individuals in the arts and creative industries.”

A Change.org petition has been set up on behalf of students, staff, alumni and members of the wider community, asking Vice-Chancellor Jean-Noël Ezingeard to “work with us to find another way forward.”

EXCLUSIVE: Due diligence checks on emergency grants were automated

05 Nov 2020

New software that assesses thousands of applications at once gave Arts Council England funding applicants a red, amber or green rating based on their risk of fraud or financial failure.

Scotland sees female representation in theatre soar 

05 Nov 2020

Women artistic directors remain seriously underrepresented in Scotland’s highest funded companies despite great strides towards parity overall. 

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