One of the brilliant things about working in the arts is the sense of being part of an evolving history. Current arts practice is part of a tradition that encompasses Shakespeare and Spielberg, Banksy and Bach, and everything in between. And yet what is genuinely exciting is what might come next. Developments in new media, the stretching of existing artforms and the reinterpretation of the canon of great art are all genuinely exciting. Recently in ArtsProfessional we have profiled grime artists, traced new steps in jazz, examined rural touring theatre and tested the current climate for independent publishers. However, it is not just the art that develops; it is the world around the art. As technology, changing consumer expectations and the rise of new leisure activities impact on our work and influence the expectations of audiences, it is important to ensure that cultural experiences do not become a niche activity for the initiated. It would be all too easy for established artforms to become heritage, sinking into the cultural equivalent of a fondue and a bottle of Blue Nun.
To avoid art falling out of a dialogue with the mainstream of modern society, it is vital that our approach to programming, audiences and auditoria is forward-looking and fully prepared to embrace innovation. Robert Sandersons commission of 2020 visions encourages us to look ahead to the small changes that could lead to real achievement in the arts. Jodi Myers (p8) writes of a need for collaboration between conventional spaces and those working in non-traditional ways, and as the feature on art and gardens explains, more and more artists are choosing to work outside traditional gallery spaces. Yet conventional spaces still offer a forum for collective cultural enjoyment that cannot be replicated either at home or electronically and if art is to thrive, these spaces must be constantly revived. While art is about a lot more than the building in which it is placed, we cannot discount our environment. There are no two ways about it; uncomfortable, ill-equipped venues with little to offer artists or audiences will force art to the fringes perhaps David Staples, in our special supplement, is not being alarmist when he suggests we must refurbish or die.
Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead, Co-editors