Parallels between the mighty arts funding structure and the diminutive organisation that is ArtsProfessional are, it must be said, pretty limited. But just at the moment, we are both facing new beginnings, and the prospect of tearing up old established roots with a view to planting anew, to move towards a healthier and more sustainable future, is a traumatic one.
We can only empathise with many hundreds of staff at the Arts Council of England, the Regional Arts Boards and all their funded clients who are likely to be affected by the radical proposals for the future of the English arts funding system. Change is unsettling and uncertain, and until there is light at the end of the tunnel, no one feels like a winner - just a very tired competitor in a very long race. But uncertain times are also good times for NEWS. EastEnders beats Shakespeare collaboration, and Yorkshire Arts, seemingly able to rise above the irritation it must be feeling at the lack of consultation before the ?BIG ANNOUNCEMENT?, has been prudent in allowing its Chief Executive Roger Lancaster to get stuck into the task of designing a new future for the arts funding system. A case of ?better on the inside??
Here at ArtsProfessional we?re also getting stuck into a new future, though there is one significant difference between us and the funding system - and that is funding! This magazine comes to you courtesy of our advertisers, to whom we are very grateful for their support in these early days of our new publication.
Collaboration and support can take many forms though, so if you do nothing else when you have read this week?s magazine, make a call or send an email to one of our advertisers whose services are of interest to you. In that way you will be helping to protect and nurture the future of the magazine that sets out to represent the interests of the arts sector in the broadest way possible. Better still, place your own advertising with us, send us your press releases and register as an ArtsProfessional reader; and be sure that you are in communication with the widest possible constituency of arts professionals in the UK.We look forward very much to hearing from you.
Finally, we owe a personal debt of thanks to numerous individuals and organisations across the UK who have helped to ensure ArtsProfessional gets off the ground running, by providing assistance and support in many different ways.