Arts Council of Wales begins review into funding process

20 Jul 2022

Arts Council of Wales (ACW) has opened a consultation into the way it allocates its funding to arts organisations.

Known as The Investment Review, ACW has traditionally reviewed its funding process every five years. This review was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed by the pandemic.

The funder is proposing a simplified application process and a move away from funding a portfolio of companies towards a mix of multi-year revenue and project funding agreements. It is also suggesting three-year funding arrangements, rather than the existing five years, with the option of an additional three years based on performance.

The new funding model would sit alongside ACW’s other programmes that are funded by The National Lottery.

ACW says it is “seeking as many views on the new proposals as possible”. Eight online consultations will be take place on Zoom through August and September, with booking available on the funder’s website. An online survey is already open and email responses are welcomed.

The consultation period runs until 10 October, with final details of the new process expected to be released on 21 November. 

Funding applications will then open in January 2023, with decisions delivered in September 2023 ahead of the release of funds beginning in April 2024.

Inclusivity drive for independent music venues launches

People at a music venue
19 Jul 2022

Independent music venues will be encouraged to form a national network offering daytime programmes of music-based activities to engage with diverse audiences.

Wrexham to bid again for UK City of Culture 

14 Jul 2022

Wrexham will make another bid for the title of City of Culture in 2029 after recently losing out to Bradford for the 2025 title.

Members of Wrexham Council's executive board approved launching another attempt to win the title at a meeting this week. They also supported a number of other recommendations including inviting the National Eisteddfod to Wrexham in 2025.

Hugh Jones, the arts portfolio holder, said he was confident about the council’s chances of success in 2029.

He said: “If you look at the facts with Bradford and the size of their team, they had eight full time staff and a PR agency that had been working on the project for two and a half years.

“In just over six months, we came so close to winning this and that gives an indication of the achievement that we had in Wrexham.

“Clearly, we want to bid for 2029 and why wouldn’t we because 2025 is probably worth somewhere in the region of £300m."

National Open Youth Orchestra to launch in Cardiff

12 Jul 2022

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) have announced the launch of the Cardiff NOYO Centre, a pioneering inclusive ensemble to allow talented young disabled and non-disabled musicians to rehearse and perform together.

The partnership offers the first progression route for talented young disabled musicians in the region. It aims to reduce musical exclusion and develop skills while increasing sector support.

NOYO is the world's first disabled-led national youth ensemble open to both young disabled and non-disabled musicians. The project aims to lay the foundations for a more diverse orchestral sector.

“Musical talent and potential are everywhere, but opportunities for young disabled people to progress in music are not,” said Barry Farrimond-Chuong MBE, CEO of Open Up Music, the charity behind NOYO. 

“We are extremely excited to be working with Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and BBC National Orchestra of Wales to expand the National Open Youth Orchestra and open up music to more young disabled musicians.”

Instruments played by NOYO musicians include the LinnStrument, Seaboard RISE and Clarion, an accessible instrument that can be played with any movement of the body, including the eyes. 

The centre will begin taking applications for auditions from disabled and non-disabled musicians aged 11 to 25 in March next year, with rehearsals due to begin in September 2023. Participation will be free and will include monthly rehearsals and one-to-one tuition.

“There aren’t other youth orchestras who are as passionate about showing disabled people can play on the same stages as non-disabled people,” said NOYO harpist Holli Pandit.

“Lots of the music we play, you wouldn't really get that in a stereotypical classical music concert – you wouldn’t have the instruments! We believe that it's best if disabled and non-disabled musicians can integrate together, and then we can come up with fresh new ideas and be more creative.” 
 

National Lottery: DCMS predicts £65m boost for good causes

05 Jul 2022

Good causes set to benefit by at least £65m a year under new contractual arrangements due to begin in 2024.

Welsh Government sets culture and heritage anti-racism targets

Outside of the National Museum Wales
14 Jun 2022

Publicly funded organisations in Wales will be required to report diversity figures, lift barriers to cultural participation and mandate anti-racism training over the next two years.

Welsh language youth theatre to relaunch

08 Jun 2022

The Welsh Government is investing £1m over the next five years to support the relaunch of the Urdd’s national youth theatre.

Urdd is Wales’ largest national youth organisation and its theatre, Cwmni Theatr Ieuenctid Cymru, was set up in the 1970s to provide 14 to 19-year olds creative opportunities in Welsh.

The theatre ceased to operate in 2019 but will return to coincide with Urdd’s centenary celebrations this year.

The Urdd Eisteddfod, a national music competition and festival, also returns this year after a three-year hiatus, with free entry after the Welsh Government provided ringfenced funding.

Director of the Urdd Eisteddfod and the Arts Siân Eirian said the youth theatre has offered unique opportunities to thousands of Wales’ youngsters interested in theatre.

“We see the need today more than ever, due to the impact of Covid, to provide equal opportunities and invaluable training for our young adults who want to pursue a career in the arts, and the re-establishment of our youth theatre will offer that at a national level.”
 

Welsh government defends £4.25m purchase of farm for Green Man festival

30 May 2022

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has defended the Welsh Government's decision to spend £4.25m on a piece of land for the Green Man festival.

The Welsh Government has previously said that the purchase of Gilestone Farm in Powys was intended to ensure Green Man has a "permanent home" in Wales, but the festival organisers have said they have no plans to move from their current home at the Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell.

The festival is understood to want to use the farm for sustainable farming and local food production but no business plan has yet been submitted to the Welsh Government by the festival's organisers and will not be provided until next month.

Speaking in the Welsh Senedd in response to questioning by Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, Drakeford said those running the festival believe that they can do more to contribute to the economy of that part of Wales, "building on the success of their business".

"To do that they need more space in which to be able to develop those further possibilities. That's what lies behind the arrangements," he said.

Drakeford said that in the short term the farm will be leased back to the original owner in order that they can complete the bookings that they have in their tourism hospitality business and to make sure that the crops that have been planted are harvested this year.

"From the very beginning, we knew that the businesses plan from those who are responsible for the festival would be delivered to the Welsh Government in June of this year, and that is what we still expect," Drakeford added. 

"We are working with a trusted partner. We are working with a company that the Welsh Government has known and worked alongside over an extended period of time, as it has grown to be the fifth most successful festival of its kind anywhere in the United Kingdom. 

"We hold the land against the business plan and we will continue to scrutinise the business plan to see whether the objectives that the company have discussed with us can be delivered through it."

Welsh Government announces £750,000 for libraries and museums

18 May 2022

More than £750,000 of funding will be provided to help local libraries and museums develop their facilities and services, the Welsh Government has announced.

The funding, which will be delivered as part of the Transformation Capital Grant Scheme, will support Wales’ local libraries and museums to "develop and revitalise" their facilities.

There will be a particular focus on widening access, partnership working, decarbonisation, and developing sustainable services.

The fund will be used to refurbish and modernise six libraries: Penygroes Library, Dyffryn Ogwen Library in Gwynedd, Rhymney Library in Caerphilly, Pencoed Library in Bridgend, Port Talbot Library and Barry Library.

Funding will also be provided towards and Newport Museum and Art Gallery’s decarbonisation project, and to enable Monmouthshire County Council to ensure the preservation of, and future access to, their collections through work at the Shire Hall.

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said: “The Welsh Government remains committed to supporting these important services that fulfil a valuable role at the heart of community life. 

"This fund will widen access for our communities, promote cultural engagement, provide learning opportunities and support community cohesion, sustainability and prosperity.

“I encourage everyone to see what their local museum, archive or library has to offer.”

Wales’ national music plan gets green light

group of schoolchildren play musical instruments
17 May 2022

Wales’ first National Plan for Music Education sees funding for music provision trebled, to ensure all children get the opportunity to learn.

Cardiff Council leader pledges music festival

21 Apr 2022

Cardiff Council Leader Huw Thomas says he will bring a new music festival to the city if he is reelected in May.

The Labour councillor says Cardiff's music strategy includes developing a music event to “do through music for Cardiff what drama has done for Edinburgh”.

Cardiff's live music scene has experienced mixed fortunes over the course of the pandemic. Several music venues close down, including Gwdihw, Buffalo and Dempseys, while Cardiff Castle was used as a live venue for the first time last summer. The city also recently hosted BBC’s Six Music Festival for the first time.

Thomas said: “It’s still in part under wraps for now but I think those gigs in the Castle and the Six Music Festival are exactly the foretaste of what [the festival] could be like."

Unsuccessful City of Culture teams 'not disappointed'

21 Mar 2022

The legacy of the competition goes beyond the title, those who missed out say.

Wales awards £4.2m in third CRF round

17 Mar 2022

Seventy-one organisations have been awarded a share of £4.2m in the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund in Wales.

It brings the total amount distributed in Wales via the flagship Covid emergency fund to more than £87m, a contribution the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) expects will save up to 1,800 sector jobs.

Awardees include Wales Millennium Centre, which won the largest grant of more than £496,000, several theatres in Cardiff, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

97% of applicants were successful in this latest round, ACW says.

Theatr Clwyd refurb gets Welsh Government backing

16 Mar 2022

The Welsh Government is putting £22m towards a green redevelopment of Theatr Clwyd.

The three year project for a more energy efficent building is expected to cost £42m, £9m more than first indicated.

Attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually, the North Welsh venue is the biggest producing theatre in the country.

Executive Director Liam Evans-Ford said the support makes a “significant statement about how the arts, and its social and economic impact, is viewed in Wales”.

“This funding will unlock further private investment and enable us to deliver something that our local communities, our theatre makers, our audiences, our region, and our nation can be proud of.”

Manifesto for museums in Wales

14 Mar 2022

Local museums in Wales need councils to invest in their culture strategies ahead of this year's election cycle, a manifesto says.

The Museums Association and the Federation for Museums and Art Galleries in Wales are calling for policies to develop museums' digital capacity, diversify the workforce and its skills, attract donors, and catalyse new economic initiatives, for example in tourism.

Local authority investment in museums has declined by nearly a third in the past decade, the manifesto says.

It adds that museums have supported the Welsh Government's priorities over the past four years, crucially providing 'Cynefin', or a sense of place, throughout the pandemic in spite of their lengthy closures.

"In 2022, we are asking politicians to imagine what could be achieved with an ambitious new investment to secure the cultural and creative future of the nation."

ACW pursues strategy for Welsh language and arts

04 Mar 2022

The Arts Council of Wales (ACW) is seeking views on the role of Welsh in the arts to form a new strategy.

Stakeholders are being invited to join a bilingual discussion about language and art at 4pm, March 9. Two sessions have already taken place.

"We want to hear the voices of people who can speak or who are learning Welsh but we also want to hear the voices of people who do not currently speak the language. Everyone’s views and experiences are key to this strategy," ACW says.

The funder has recently mapped the use of Welsh in the arts and appointed a Welsh Language Enabler, Einir Siôn, who will lead the discussions.

"This will not be a platform to air complaints but an opportunity to discuss positive ways of creating change," Siôn said.

Welsh theatre 'can't afford' access for disabled actors

22 Feb 2022

Disabled actors are unable to perform at Theatre Colwyn because Conwy County Council cannot afford a wheelchair lift.

The council owned theatre underwent a £740,000 redevelopment in 2011 that included disabled access on all floors, but no disabled access to the stage.

During a committee meeting, Theatre Colwyn Manager Phil Batty said installing backstage disabled access would cost a £250,000.

He said: "It is the lift issue that is the cost. We did look into that, but it hasn’t moved any further. Obviously we’ve had Covid the last few years, but we will certainly pick it up again."

Conwy Counil’s Head of Economy and Culture Sarah Ecob said council is considering an installation, but it is complicated by the building's footprint.

Conwy disability champion Frank Bradfield called the issue an equal rights matter: “The cost of the lift doesn’t come into the rights or wrongs of it. You can’t discriminate against people on grounds of disability.”

End of restrictions for Welsh venues

21 Feb 2022

Venues in Wales no longer need to ask for Covid passes and legal requirements around the use of face coverings will expire February 28.

Deputy Arts Minister Dawn Bowden said Friday (February 18) that venues can continue to use the passes if they want: "We are confident that coronavirus rates are falling and we can look forward to brighter times ahead."

The change was welcomed by the Night Time Industries Association, which vehemently opposed the policy.

"The actions of the Welsh Government are still subject to a call by our members for evidence to substantiate the closure of nightclubs over and above other businesses," CEO Michael Kill said.

North Wales theatre set for £33m refurb

14 Feb 2022

Theatre Clwyd in Mold is set to undergo a £33m refurbishment.

Approved and funded by Flintshire County Council, Arts Council of Wales, and the Welsh Government, the 45-year-old building will be repaired and expanded into a more energy-efficent site.

The council is calling for contractors to carry out the redevelopment.

Theatre Clwyd’s website says the new building will safeguard the creation of theatre in Wales.

“The world-class facilities for making costume, sets and props will match the work created on our stages, ensuring a long, sustainable and successful future.”

ACW diversity overhaul to reshape portfolio and leadership

14 Feb 2022

Big changes are coming for Wales' arts funding body after critical reports highlighted gaps in its engagement with ethnic minority, D/deaf and disabled communities.

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