Live music royalties yet to recover

a band plays to a live audience
27 Apr 2022

While concert revenues and artists payments decline, PRS for Music records substantial growth from online royalties. 

Threads connecting costumes to communities

Costume Day 20 August 2021
19 Apr 2022

A project on the history of costume making has created meaningful new relationships with communities outside the theatre walls, write Emma Gibbons and Tara Johnston-Comerford.

Sector must 'do less' to protect freelancers

19 Apr 2022

The danger of burnout is growing as arts and culture become increasingly central to regeneration agendas.

Composer development scheme goes live

19 Apr 2022

A composer development initiative for PRS for Music members is now open.

Inspired by the work of American minimalist composer Philip Glass, the scheme is targeted at emerging composers in the early stage of their career.

Applicants are encouraged to respond to his body of work, and a theme of "refraction" by submitting two contrasting, original electronic compositions.

Four composers will be commissioned by Glass’ publisher, Dunvagen Music Publishers, to write an original composition using Philip Glass source material, to be released as a digital EP by Orange Mountain Music.

Entries must be submitted by May 13.
 

Performers need protections from AI abuse

19 Apr 2022

Performers are increasingly losing their jobs, faces and voices to artificial intelligence, a new report claims. What can be done about it?

Fostering creative talent

12 Apr 2022

In October 2020, then Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden distanced himself from an advert encouraging people in the arts to retrain in cybersecurity. Patrick McCrae reflects on how much has since changed.

Union deals secure better rights for theatre pros

King's Head Theatre in Islington, London
06 Apr 2022

Performers and stage managers can expect a better work-life balance, whilst playwrights get more control over digital reproduction.

Ireland launches Basic Income for the Arts

06 Apr 2022

Up to 2,000 artists will be supported for three years, reflecting a sea change in how arts workers are valued.

Helpline to stamp out harassment in music industry 

28 Mar 2022

The service aims to address a gap in support for freelance workers who lack recourse to HR departments.

Unlimited to go it alone

28 Mar 2022

The Unlimited commissioning programme for disabled artists is becoming an independent organisation.

After nine years of delivery by Shape Arts and ArtsAdmin, Unlimited is relocating to Wakefield next month.

Since 2013, the programme has granted nearly £5m to more than 460 disabled creatives, supporting some 3,500 events.

Shape Arts and ArtsAdmin said they were proud of the "pioneering, provocative and incredibly talented artists" they'd supported together.

"The Unlimited commissions are testament to this and to the sheer creative force that can be unlocked when the barriers facing disabled creatives are addressed and dismantled," David Hevey, Chief Executive at Shape Arts, said.

Tax plan offers little for the arts

22 Mar 2022

Measures announced in the Chancellor's spring statement could actually work against the sector's aims.

25 period instrument ensembles share £100k

21 Mar 2022

The Continuo Foundation has split £100,000 between 25 period performance projects in its third round of grant giving.

Supported projects will take place between April and October this year, with a focus on touring underserved areas of the country.

Continuo trustee Hannah French says about 20% of the pot went to recently formed ensembles to help make them more visible to audiences and promoters. 

The foundation has awarded more than £350,000 to 51 different groups since its inception in 2020.

Artists’ precarity is not just about pay

15 Mar 2022

In the pandemic, government and ACE built a defensive hedge around the most visible aspects of the arts infrastructure. Susan Jones thinks it’s time to dismantle it.

Scheme takes aim at declining theatre commissions

14 Mar 2022

Fifteen plays will be commissioned under a new scheme to address a "devastating" decline in opportunities during the pandemic.

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), HighTide Theatre, UK Theatre and the Independent Theatre Council have partnered on the New Play Commission Scheme, securing £50,000 in funding. There is a £5,000 award for the best play by an unpublished writer.

A survey of UK Theatre members revealed new commissions had declined by a third since 2019/20, while a poll of WGGB members indiciated three quarters of playwrights had lost income during Covid-19. Half believed they would not be working in theatre in two years' time.

HighTide Artistic Director Suba Das said the commissions not only offer "a lifeline to both writers and companies across the UK but helps ensure new writing forms part of how we all move forwards as citizens and communities".

The scheme will launch in April.

Partnership pursues artists' innovation network

08 Mar 2022

A cross-cultural network for artists' archives will be pursued under a new international partnership.

UK charity Art360 Foundation and US non-profit, the Hauser & Wirth Institute, plan to develop the Expanded Archives Network, building on a professional network established by Art360 in 2019.

The partners say it will platform independent artists and preserve and present their archives for a wider audience. Membership of the network will be free.

Ellie Porter, Head of Programme at Art360, said much of the work to preserve cultural heritage remains invisible despite its "urgency and value".

Hauser & Wirth Executive Director Lisa Darns added: "Through supporting and connecting archivists globally, we hope to help elevate the status of this vital and progressive work in the broader art world."

 

Ukrainian artists: 'Screen our films'

07 Mar 2022

Here are five things you can do now to help arts workers from Ukraine (that aren't donating money).

European cultural community pledges support to Ukraine

07 Mar 2022

More than 49 major European cultural networks have pledged support to Ukraine’s sector in an open letter to policy makers.

Led by the European Theatre Convention, the letter urges national, European, and global stakeholders to make funds and other support available to Ukrainian arts organisations and professionals.

Signatories say they are ready to receive and host artists, stage performances, organise events and advocate for a peaceful solution to ongoing conflict.

Thousands of theatres, music venues, festivals, cinemas and arts organisations across Europe are represented in the letter.

“We stress that the European cultural sector is united and that you can count on us,” it reads.

Warrington Council creates artist database

01 Mar 2022

A database of arts professionals local to Warrington is being compiled by the borough council.

The creative practitioner database aims to become a resource for local creatives to find commissions and longer-term work.

It will feature work opportunities in and outside the town, upcoming cultural and networking events, and details of funding or support channels, alongside opportunities to take part in discussions about future culture plans.

Cabinet Member for Culture Maureen McLaughlin said it is vital the council supports local arts and culture professionals.

“Warrington’s arts and culture community will be much stronger, now and in the future, if we work together.”

DASH extends Future Curators network

28 Feb 2022

Disabled-led visual arts charity DASH is extending its Future Curators programme.

Cornwall’s Newlyn Art Gallery & Exchange, Southampton’s John Hansard Gallery and Sheffield’s Arts Catalyst will join the network’s three existing members this year.

The three new organisations will each host a disabled curator for a fifteen-month residency, resulting in a new exhibition or body of work produced by each curator.

DASH says its Future Curators Network aims to address deep-rooted inequality against disabled people in the visual arts sector.

Artistic Director Mike Layward says the programme now covers most parts of England: “We have high hopes for the Future Curators programme and the influence it will bring in diversifying the visual arts sector.”

How to remain inclusive while living with Covid

22 Feb 2022

Andrew Miller says arts organisations must work with disabled artists to keep them safe amid the very real risks the Government's plan poses to their health.

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