Arts funding

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has been shut down with immediate effect after the charity that runs it, the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), announced it had ceased trading and called in administrators.

In a statement CMI said the decision was taken as a result of the "perfect storm" of sharply rising costs, in particular energy costs, alongside reduced trade due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. 

CMI said that even with the recently announced energy price cap for businesses, its energy costs were likely to rise by approximately £200,000 over the next 12 months, and with the price cap only in place for six months, planning beyond March 2023 was "highly uncertain".

"The combination, and scale, of these challenges is unprecedented and means that there was no option but to take immediate action," the statement said.

As a result, Filmhouse Cinema and Café Bar in Edinburgh, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Belmont Filmhouse have all ceased trading immediately with administrators appointed for all entities.

Two arts commentators have published a booklet calling for Arts Council England (ACE) to be abolished, claiming its 'left-wing, woke agenda' is failing to support 'art of real consequence'.

The Telegraph reports that artist and art historian Alexander Adams and David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw magazine, call the funding body’s priorities "political, not artistic" and “hostile to the taste and values of the majority population”.

“Good artists have given up patience because they have been shut out of the system for not conforming to ACE’s left-wing agenda. So, ACE has become an obstacle to the arts in this country," Adams told the newspaper. 

In response, ACE said: “The public want high-quality, world-leading art and we want to ensure that people across the country, wherever they live, have the opportunity to see and engage with brilliant work, from fantastic opera and ballet to fascinating museum collections and world-leading theatre productions."

The UK government is to invest a £60m underspend from the Birmingham 2022 budget to increase access to culture and sport across the West Midlands.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will work with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council to build on the success of the Commonwealth Games and help more people engage with culture and sport in the region.

The Games were accompanied by a six-month Birmingham 2022 Festival which included visual art, theatre, performance and community events.

The £60m will support ambitions for future major events.

Funding will also be allocated to boost inward business investment and tourism in the West Midlands.

Coventry Council is set to loan £1m to the Trust behind the City of Culture bid so that legacy projects can go ahead. 

Coventry City of Culture Trust (CCCT) has asked the council for the money saying it is facing some short-term cashflow issues, the Coventry Telegraph reports. 

Although Coventry's stint as City of Culture ended in May, the Trust wants to invest more than £5m in creative and cultural programmes in the city until March 2024, but has had to review its budget due to short-term cashflow concerns.

Council officers are recommending the council lends the money on a commercial basis, meaning that it will be repaid in full with interest, so that legacy projects aren't cut short and to avoid damage to the Trust's reputation.

Supporters of a planned redevelopment of a theatre in Lancashire have vowed to push ahead with the project after Arts Council England rejected an application for £5m in funding.

The Blackpool Gazette reports that the money was intended to redevelop and modernise Lowther Pavilion Theatre in Lytham as well as its surrounding gardens

Fylde Council has pledged its continued support for the theatre after receiving notification that the bid to round three of Arts Council England’s Cultural Development Fund has been unsuccessful.

Officials at the theatre have said that fundraising efforts will continue.

Arts organisations in Wales working on projects that deliver health and wellbeing benefits are invited to apply for grants of between £500 and £50,000.

The Arts Council of Wales’ Arts, Health and Wellbeing National Lottery funding programme supports high-quality creative projects focused on mental health, health inequalities, physical health and wellbeing and staff wellbeing.

The latest round of funding is open to partnership applications from arts organisations working with health organisations to deliver joint projects. 

Applications should represent a consortium of organisations and artists, one of which will act as the primary applicant and accountable body, the organisation has said.

The deadline to apply is 5 October.