Everyday barriers to creativity

Last week, Arts Council England (ACE) released its Everyday Creativity resource, which I contributed to via an informal steering group. "What do everyday creatives need?” asks the resource. Everyday creatives, for the Arts Council’s purposes, are people who do creative things for fun, without necessarily being paid for it. How can we encourage more everyday creativity?

Ask the UN. Earlier this month, it was the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Its belief is that if you eradicate poverty, you will stop wasting swathes of human creativity, brilliant ideas, ingenious problem-solving and inspired thoughts - all currently used up finding the next meal and paying the gas bill. 

ACE, beholden as it is to DCMS for its very existence, is in no position to argue that case. But can’t the rest of us be a bit bolder? If we believe everyone deserves to express themselves creatively, then we have more obstacles to hurdle than any number of digital toolkits, however inspiring and useful, can address. We need a more equal society, a more even distribution of income and resource and, as a result, a more even distribution of headspace and free time. That’s the recipe for a society with more everyday creativity.

Fun Palaces at 10

We’ve just had the 10th annual weekend of Fun Palaces. The first weekend was announced on these pages. Since then, thousands of communities have taken up the invitation to create their own temporary Fun Palace, sharing their skills, knowledge and expertise, taking over libraries, theatres, community centres and all manner of public spaces: revelling in their everyday creativity. 

It’s hard work creating a Fun Palace - they are mostly made on a shoestring, largely by volunteers - and it’s harder than ever now, 10 years in. Numbers are not back to pre-pandemic levels. People have no headspace left. Community organisations are on their knees. Everyone's budgets have been cut. 

But, oh the hope! When communities DO pull it off, find their moment of chaotic magic, it’s worth it. It makes people happier. Creates a stronger sense of community spirit. Helps bring people from different backgrounds together. We’ve got stats to back it up and evidence to prove it.

This year's data is just coming in but, listen to this, in the words of community members: “Fun Palaces are about working together to build a better world and community environment.” And: “(It) changes the conception we have of our place in the community.” Or: “I don’t think people realise the talent they have. Just a little taster of something can make people more confident. It also brings people together, which in itself helps raise self esteem and create a sense of belonging.” 

Lancaster Fun Palace. Photo: Jamie-Lee Buttershaw

Barriers to everyday creativity

ACE is big on everyday creativity: their 10-year strategy, Let’s Create, aims for “a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish”. If you are working in a cultural organisation and want to get on board, this new resource, thoughtfully researched and put together by The Audience Agency and the Centre for Cultural Value, is a useful place to start. 

It identifies things organisations might do to help with not just with practical support but also connection, validation and introductions - with principles to remember while doing so: Build relationships, Respect people, Create reciprocal benefit. There are case studies and interviews, and pointers to more information. All very helpful, and will no doubt result in some good things happening.

But (there’s always a but). When we talk to the people making Fun Palaces, they tell us the biggest challenge they face is a squeeze on resources, both human and monetary. A library tells us: “(Our area) falls into the top 10% of social and economic deprivation, and is a cultural cold spot. Our organisation has had successive funding cut over the last year, making it increasingly difficult to function.”And another: “40% of the community that use our library are rurally isolated. Even though Fun Palaces are free and open to all, transport costs […] have affected attendance this year.”

Libraries are feeling the squeeze everywhere. The most recent figures from the Chartered Institute of Public Finances and Accountancy show they suffered a 17% year-on-year funding drop in funding, despite the fact that they deliver more services far outside of their core cultural mission. One great example is from Libraries Connected who told us that 60% of them were planning to open as Warm Spaces to offer shelter from the cold. 

Serious burnout

People, and the public services that support them, are under ever more strain. Figures from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations reveal the numbers of volunteers running activities have halved since 2018. When we ask people who have in the past made Fun Palaces happen in their communities, why they haven't engaged this year, they tell us they don’t have the bandwidth. They are burned out. The slack in the system they previously relied on has all gone. 

Solutions to these problems are bigger than ACE, which faces funding cuts of its own. Of course, cultural organisations should share resources with the communities they serve, and this everyday creativity resource will be helpful. But most have increasingly little to share, and the people who have the headspace to take up invitations are inevitably those most cushioned from hardship. For a snapshot of this, see the APPG on Creative Diversity report: Making the Creative Majority - also published last week. As the report puts it: "The class crisis is clear."

So, if we REALLY want a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, if we REALLY want everyday creativity to be a priority, valued and supported, then yes, use the new online guide, yes make a Fun Palace and yes, change the conception of our place in the community. 

And then, with that changed, a little bit stronger, a little bit more powerful, we can raise our voices and sing, or paint, or even knit to say: “Everyday creativity? We’ve got it. If you want to see more of it, making Britain look blooming, Britannia look cool, then eradicate poverty. Stop capping benefits. Stop starving local authorities of funds. Stop neglecting arts and cultural provision in schools and adult education. Then just look at what we can create.”

Kirsty Lothian is Co-Director of Fun Palaces.
 funpalaces.co.uk/
@FunPalaces | @pioneerkirsty