The past week has been really important for the arts. Since the Arts Council received its settlement from government in October, we’ve said that rather than debilitating the arts with gradual across the board cuts, we would fund organisations at a level at which ambition could still thrive. That meant some organisations would receive less funding, some more, some would no longer receive funding and some would be funded for the first time.
I hope that even if people don’t agree with every decision we have made they can respect our approach and the transparency of our process. I also hope they recognise that, by using an open-application process for the first time, we’ve taken the opportunity to open up, thoroughly examine and refresh the portfolio of organisations we regularly fund, to deliver the best possible results for the arts in these straitened times.
I’m optimistic about the potential of the new portfolio. We’ve increased funding to organisations who have shown a real commitment to talent, excellence and innovation, and organisations with drive and energy and real potential to increase their audiences have also been backed. We’ve also brought 110 new organisations on board, many of which have come up through grant for the arts, supporting innovative, groundbreaking ideas that deserve to be put on a proper footing.
There have, of course, also been some really hard decisions along the way. And I am acutely aware there are organisations across the country who are devastated that their application was not successful. These were agonising choices and there were many good applications we were unable to fund. To these organisations I want to say: this is not the end of your relationship with the Arts Council. For those previously in our RFO portfolio, there will be a further year of our funding to help you explore alternative sources of support. For some of you, there will be other funding streams like Grants for the arts or our strategic lottery funds. The National portfolio is, of course, hugely important but it is not by any means the total sum of our investment in the arts in England.
In making these funding decisions we wanted not only to protect but also to develop; to strike the right balance between continuity and change. Though our budget for organisations is down by 14.9%, our vision for the future of the arts remains undiminished, and the new portfolio is well placed to take significant steps towards achieving the ten year goals set out in ‘Achieving great art for everyone’. It has been a gruelling year for everyone involved in the arts, but now it’s time to look forward; so that the arts in all areas, in all artforms and of all different sizes can continue to reach out and excel. It’s what we are about.
Alan Davey is Chief Executive of Arts Council England.