The size of Wales

The country that Nick Capaldi surveys from his office window has long been used by journalists as a handy unit of size (alongside the London bus, Nelson’s column and the football pitch). But from the desk of an arts council leader, Wales represents a big challenge. Formerly Chief Executive of South West Arts (now Arts Council England South West), Capaldi took on the Arts Council Wales (ACW) job last September, and has found that while many of the issues he faces – particularly concerning funding and public support – haven’t changed all that much, “the context couldn’t be more different. Politically, socially and economically, there is a whole different set of circumstances which are unique to Wales.” This clearly hasn’t dimmed his enthusiasm: “I’m having a terrific time and enjoying myself enormously.”

Short corridors, long arms
He also finds he’s much closer to the corridors of power in a smaller country. “The lines of communication are much shorter. That’s a good thing because being a smaller country everybody seems to know everybody else, and I’ve noticed that senior political figures and officials take a real interest in the arts. It’s not unusual to see the first minister and the finance minister attending arts events. The opportunity to rub shoulders and to bump into senior politicians is very much more the norm here in Wales than I was used to in England.”
Trained as a pianist, with a past in performing, training, teaching, broadcasting and orchestral management, Capaldi has seen the arts world from most sides. He values the arm’s length approach so vigorously espoused by the new Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones (AP178), with whom he says he has a “good and positive” relationship. However, he lays some emphasis on the arts being “something worth fighting for” and focuses on “developing and fighting for the arts” in competition with other government policy priorities. He looks to 2010 with some concern, and indeed a £500m cut in the Welsh public service budget for that year is on the cards. "We're not sticking our heads in the sand – we understand the realities of the current economic climate,” he tells me. “But I genuinely believe that current levels of public investment represent tremendous value for money. Rest assured, we'll be fighting vigorously for the arts and telling anyone who'll listen that now isn't the moment to be cutting back on something that Wales does really well.”
There has also been speculation that the funding of the Wales Millennium Centre will be taken over from the Assembly by ACW, following criticisms of the way the finances of the flagship venue have been managed, but Capaldi denies that it’s a done deal. “The Heritage Minister has said he wants to discuss this with us and we’re very happy to have that conversation,” he says, “but we’re some way from any decision about transferring funding responsibility.”
Fragile times
Capaldi does not disagree with the Minister’s stated view that arts provision should be more fairly spread across the country, but getting more money into the arts economy in Wales is his main priority. “The inescapable conclusion that I’ve reached in my first few months is that too many of our best organisations are underfunded to fulfil their true potential – they really are clinging on by their fingertips. So it’s very difficult to start talking about spreading and growing more activity when the situation is as fragile as it currently is.” Pressed further, he admits that he believes that “a lot of organisations are involved in a day-to-day fight for survival” and that the situation is being made more difficult by current recessionary pressures. He points out that ACW “will by the end of 2010/11 have had three years of standstill funding, and the cumulative impact of that on our revenue funded organisations is a £1.75m cut – that’s clearly not sustainable in the long term”.[[The inescapable conclusion is that too many of our best organisations are underfunded to fulfil their true potential]]
This sharpens his appetite for the fight for funding but emphasises the need for careful husbandry. Business support for the arts in Wales has held up reasonably well, but, as Capaldi says, “we’re moving into completely uncharted water”. The levels of deprivation within communities across Wales means that the country is eligible for European funding, and gaining that support is a strong focus of ACW’s work. It is also working with various university and local authority partners to ensure that the arts and the creative industries remain at the heart of a number of regeneration developments as part of Wales’s broader regeneration strategy – another issue close to the heart of the Heritage Minister. Lottery funding for the arts and other good causes is down. “We are seeing the impact of that in terms of being able to support fewer individuals and organisations through our Lottery funding,” he says. However, he prefers to see the Cultural Olympiad as an opportunity rather than a burden. “We’ve got a very vigorous programme of activity for the cultural Olympiad and we’re going to push as hard as we can to create genuine opportunities for artists and arts organisations to work on projects of profile and significance,” he insists.
National vision
Some development will however have to wait. The ambitious plan for a new National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Cardiff Bay (AP181) remains a long-term goal. “If I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s something we’re that to going to be able to realise very soon,” Capaldi admits, though he points towards the £700,000 development of contemporary art space in other museums (Chapter in Cardiff, Oriel Mostyn in Llandudno and Aberystwyth Arts Centre) as significant steps on the way. This additional funding has come direct from the Assembly Government – further proof, perhaps of a mutually responsive relationship. But this also raises the issue of how to develop truly national institutions in a small nation, when resources are scarce. Capaldi points to the Welsh National Opera, Theatr Clwyd and the Wales Millennium Centre as examples of world-class national arts bodies, and reminds me that the creation of a new National Theatre for Wales is underway. The model will be similar to that of the Scottish National Theatre: rather than being a venue-based company, it will provide an umbrella under which the best of Welsh talent should be given a chance to develop and shine. John McGrath has just taken up the new post of Artistic Director. However, looking away from the national level, Capaldi remains a champion of more local, community-based work. He particularly praises the work of Valleys Kids in Tonypandy, and adds, that “any intelligent strategy for developing the arts has to work across a broad spectrum”. However, he is aware of the sensitivities concerning nationhood and Welsh identity. “If you talk about nation and nationhood, there is a very distinct and specific Welch cultural identity, and I don’t think it at all surprising that Wales should want to develop institutions, whether cultural or across public life, that reflect and celebrate that distinct identity,” he muses. So it’s not size that matters, after all.