Visible and viable: why a Cultural Quarter makes sense

Swindon’s cultural facilities
07 Apr 2021

Swindon's new Cultural Quarter - an £80m development by Swindon Council - will be the first thing visitors see when they step off the train. Sam Rackham explains why it will be worth every penny.

The public art of placemaking

Mary Woolf artist with boundary line sign
07 Apr 2021

Public art can connect us to the places, landscapes and buildings where we live. Lindsey Hebden explains what that means in practice for young people in the Lakes and Dales.

People need places (and vice versa)

31 Mar 2021

Caitlin Warfield writes that the future of culture and business in urban centres depends on their ability to work together.

Compact to secure Liverpool as 'UK's second City of Culture'

23 Mar 2021

Liverpool has a new five-year strategy to reboot the region by building a more inclusive coalition from its creative workforce, which is now believed to be twice as large as official figures suggest.

Coventry 2021 will be 'a return to live'

02 Mar 2021

The UK City of Culture year will press ahead with a full calendar of festivals and events from May 15 - two days before the Government's 'no earlier than' date for live shows.

Let’s move beyond the spin

Hull City Hall illuminated with the word 'Hull'
24 Feb 2021

Hull’s leaders want to build a ‘collective legacy’ for its City of Culture year. Victoria Bissett and Michael Howcroft say their success depends on rebuilding trust amid a culture of anger, secrecy and fear.

Surrey venues draw sightseers, spending and social benefits, study finds

23 Feb 2021

New research shows 70% of visitors to Surrey arts venues would not have come into town - and spent an extra £40 on average - if it weren't for those institutions.

National Collections Centre planned for Coventry

17 Feb 2021

Arts Council England will relocate its 8,000-piece collection to a former IKEA store in an effort to create a legacy for Coventry City of Culture.

The creative industries aren’t closed

A woman in a red top and jeans dancing outside with ballet shoes in her hand
26 Jan 2021

Louise Blackwell says creative practitioners have been at the forefront of place-based recovery. Their strategy? Come together, listen and take action.

Fear and hope for local authority venues post-Covid

26 Jan 2021

Trusts and companies operating council venues are folding under financial pressure. Can cash-strapped local authorities retain - even improve - provision under the circumstances?

Medway eyes international recognition with new cultural strategy

25 Jan 2021

The "ambitious and forward-thinking" document will be the cornerstone of a bid for UK City of Culture 2025.

We’re nothing without our people

Two young people blowing bubbles into a camera
19 Jan 2021

A UK City of Culture bid won’t succeed unless it’s authentic, writes Richard Dunbar.

Legacy as a collective act

07 Jan 2021

How will Hull face the future following its triumph as UK City of Culture? Lee Corner and Stephen Munn reflect on the legacy of 2017 in a year of unprecedented turmoil.

Strategy to put Gloucester 'on the cultural map'

16 Dec 2020

Signature events, including a potential UK City of Culture bid, will "signal the cultural regeneration of Gloucester".

New horizons

Candle with a brown card label saying hope attached, christmas decorations in the background
16 Dec 2020

As we say good riddance to 2020, Liz Hill takes a glass-half-full look at progress in the cultural sector this year, and what the year ahead might hold.

'We are sorry': charity admits history of racism in arts activities

15 Dec 2020

Westway Trust says it "has been, and remains, institutionally racist" following decades of allegations.

Scottish organisations call for Culture Act

09 Dec 2020

An eight-point manifesto asks campaigning parties to commit to a National Arts Force and new Office for Cultural Exchange ahead of the country's election.

York aims for World Heritage status in 2025

03 Dec 2020

A new cultural strategy demonstrates York's commitment to redress the effects of Covid-19 by embedding culture in the city's physical and professional infrastructure, its architects say.

2023 Borough of Culture to go ahead despite council's financial woes

19 Nov 2020

Croydon is still developing the cultural showcase despite an order against non-essential spending, a review over alleged financial mismanagement, and a £67m deficit.

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.

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