Community Focus – Harvesting the arts

Rural areas are not often considered as arts hotspots but that view is changing. Lydia Bassett looks at how the arts in rural areas are contributing to local economies and to the quality of life.
Right across Britain, artists of all types are being attracted out of cities by affordable housing, peace and quiet, inspiring countryside and improving Internet connections. Increasingly, problems in rural areas associated with communication and transport, are being resolved and new opportunities are opening up. Routes to ‘market’ – trade fairs, galleries, listings – are now open, flexible and global, and workplaces can be the kitchen table or a shed in the garden, even in the most isolated of areas.

All of which sounds great, but why would you want an artist in your village? Because this rural idyll of peaceful living in beautiful settings has a serious pay-off. The crafts sector alone, which is concentrated in rural areas, generates £826m annually for the UK economy. That means it is a larger market than coal mining, fishing, forestry, motorcycle manufacture or the manufacture of sports goods. And research reveals that arts activities have a major impact on rural tourism. For instance, in 2003 the Cheshire Open Studios programme attracted 3,237 visitors over three weekends, and 70% of these ate out at an average of £18 per meal – no mean boost to the local economy. When much of the countryside was shut down for eight months in 2001 due to Foot and Mouth Disease, £7bn was lost in tourism revenue – much of it culture-related.

Arts centres alone are a major draw to tourists: the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Cumbria, for example, has proved a huge attraction to visitors, performing six plays per week during its five-month summer season. The theatre now employs up to 80 staff and 160 volunteers, making it the second biggest employer in town. In rural Wales, Aberystwyth Arts Centre indirectly supports more than £5.7m of turnover in total, £1.6m of income and more than 150 full-time equivalent jobs.

But the value of venues and events isnt just financial, nor is it limited to big players. Seventy-one percent of those attending rural-touring-scheme performances, held largely in village halls and schools in England and Wales, said that the events were vital to their sense of community. Many of those participating in the Arts Council of Wales’ Night Out scheme were not able to go to any other arts events: the scheme therefore provided an essential service to rural communities. The arts have always been the glue that holds rural communities together, and it could be said that the social role that they play is more valuable and has more impact on quality of life than their direct economic output. Without the social benefits, country living would be a much poorer, less happy and more isolated experience.

The social and personal pay-off of participatory arts activities have been clearly highlighted in a recent study of the impact of the arts on Scotlands Western Isles, pointing to “impressive improvements in self-esteem and self-confidence, [both] pre-requisites for healthy individuals and communities, to a range of practical skills development – from developing creative ability to managing a small business”.

Rural arts projects across Britain are offering young people outlets for their creative energy and access to quality arts experiences. In rural communities, perhaps more than anywhere else, the arts can achieve real and sustainable social and economic security. The challenge is to encourage and develop the will, enthusiasm, confidence and vision to invest in the creation and harnessing of these benefits.

Lydia Bassett is Co-ordinator of Voluntary Arts Wales, part of the Voluntary Arts Network. Article originally commissioned by Carnegie UK Trust.