The front page of the VAGA website is emitting a sadly repetitive mantra: A Foundation closed; Ikon Eastside to close; Animate Projects to close... and this even before ACE announces its National Portfolio on the 29 March.
It’s not all bad news. In an ambitious move Manchester City Council and Manchester University are appointing Maria Balshaw joint Director of both institutions when the current Director retires from the City Art Galleries. Maria has breathed new life into the collections and programme at the Whitworth, hosting such international greats as Marina Abramovic, Gusatav Metzger and now Mary Kelly, and re-vamping the collection hangs to question ideas and impart knowledge, as well as delight. The Whitworth has already streamlined and strengthened its operation by merging “back office” functions with Manchester Museum – its sister organisation within the University.
So are these two extremes the future? On the one hand a city seizing the moment to create a joined up vision for its visual arts, and on the other the life blood being, one could say carelessly, stolen from vibrant and highly charged initiatives. It’s not difficult to see that A Foundation, Ikon Eastside, Animate Projects and others such as Pump House Gallery, the BFI Gallery and City Gallery Leicester are smaller, younger and dedicated to new, edgy work. It is more difficult to close down a collection (what would you do with all the stuff?). Higher Education and Local Authority clawbacks withstanding, these are substantial organisations with extensive assets.
Moreover this is inequality not just born of size, but also of location. Evidence to the Select Committee last autumn revealed the astonishing statistic that in 1980/81 Arts Council England expenditure in London was £3.37 per head against £0.66 in the rest of England; now it's £21.92 compared with £3.44 - a considerably larger gap* . Skewing by the big London based National Companies doesn’t totally mitigate the raw fact that whilst London has grown, provision per head outside London has declined.
Alan Davey, speaking at the Culture Change conference at the end of January, said he had never known Whitehall so un-joined-up as it is at the moment, a sentiment of which the haphazard pattern of events over the past week with regard to Libya has been a startlingly public, no-brainer, risky and dangerous manifestation. Real world politics apart let’s trust that ACE itself will consolidate its thinking and ensure that vulnerability is not just a consequence of size, youth or location.
* Evidence submitted to the Select Committee Enquiry 2010, by Christopher Gordon and Peter Stark
Hilary Gresty is Director of the Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA), which advocates for, supports and represents organisations and individuals working in the presentation and development of the visual arts and has a membership that uniquely bridges the creative, arts and museum sectors.