From Nigel Lavender, General Manager, Oval House
I read ?News from the Nationals? (APe-mail 52, March 2) with a more personal interest than usual last week, as Oval House had just sent press releases to all the broadsheet newspapers about our unsuccessful Lottery bid. It was interesting that Arts Council England?s (ACE) allocation of over £60m of Lottery capital funding was not mentioned anywhere in your round-up. Why? Because none of the papers covered it, so far as I am aware.
As confirmed by their press office, ACE chose not to make a song and dance about the Lottery awards, only announcing the successful bidders via their website. Leaving aside our own position, this is a big arts story which the national newspapers failed to pick up ? or chose not to, following the Select Committee?s criticisms the previous week. Perhaps sometimes your bulletin should include ?News NOT in the Nationals? as well! We are delighted by the success of fellow applicants such as Graeae and the Young Vic, although readers may understand our frustration that ACE was unable to find enough money to fund Oval House, given that the stated criteria for success (cultural diversity and artists? workplaces) are both areas in which we excel. We are, however, in a constructive dialogue with ACE and are hopeful that Oval House?s future can be protected in the short term, pending the development of other plans.