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ARTS n jr. J .r . The Arts Council of Grea t Britain was formed in August 1946 to continue in peacetim e the work begun with Government support by th e Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts. The Arts Council operates under a revised Royal Charter granted in 1967 in which its objects are stated as : (a) to develop and improve th e knowledge, understanding an d practice of the arts ; (b)to increase the accessibilit y of the arts to the public throughout Great Britain ; (c) to advise and co-operat e with departments of government, local authoritie s and other bodies . The Arts Council, as a publicl y S3 accountable body, publishes a n ro annual report and accounts t o a n provide Parliament and th e general public with an overview e 3 Front coeari Ttra renovated AUmmbre of the year 's work . Theatre, Bradford . The ar" are rogeaerating Bradford as "the City of Er*00"lnnrenk an.ee"ns ►aurisre and bariaees. The rota of the arts as cololysts for urban rerrerrel 4 discussed In John Davison's or"* a s the Arts Council's urfaen Renaissance ro"WEl9e. Chairmen's iMroduelion 2 Lord flees-Mogg reflects on his seven years at the Arts Counci l Secretary-Genewl's report 4 Luke Rittner highlights the issue s and achievements of 19$1/8 8 Arts review b Departmental reports on policies which promoted the arts during 1487/88 Special reporfs Appraisals How the Arts Council appraises its 26 clients, and why. by Lynda Murdi n Nubian renaissance The role the 28 arts are playing in regenerating the inner cities . by John Daviso n Buslaess and Ike arts New opportunities 30 are developing for business involvement in the arts . by Antony Thorncrof t income profiles 32 South Bank report 34 We" Arts Council 35 Scottish Arts Council 36 The Council 37 Mona ership of Council and staff 42 Advisory structure 43 Arts Council strudure 47 Summary for the partially sighted 48 Annual ecceuets 49 r I Lord Roes-Ake" dos e responsibl e for th e distributio n of publi c monies t o This is my last report as Chairman of the Arts Council, so it may b e the arts mus -, appropriate if my mind, in valedictory mood, surveys not only the last 12 months, but all my seven years in office . When I arrived, I brough t never los e with me to the Council a worthy guide, Samuel Johnson ; if there is on e achievement of which I have the fondest memory, it is the exhibition i n 1984 held at our headquarters in Piccadilly, at my suggestion, to mar k sight of th e the bicentenary of his death . The Arts Council is in the business of patronage - a subject abou t goal o f which the Doctor had something to say - and I hope that in my time i t has learnt to avoid the arrogance of one kind of patron (the aristocra t whose functions the Arts Council has now in large part assumed) an d excellence . " to court the favours of quite another kind, the citizen . We are coming to 2 metropolitan county councils presented . Co-operating with the Regional Arts Associations and the successor councils and aided by a generous subvention from government, we were able to ensure that th e arts took no harm. We inherited the South Bank Centre ; already a success story unde r the Greater London Council, we turned it into a triumph. The Arts Council was responsible for the Centre's management for two years, and then, last April, was able to give it independence . It flourishes like the bay tree . The Arts Council as a bureaucracy is now in good shape to face the challenge of the times . Although there is some streamlining still to do, the reform of our organisational arrangements - and in particular the formation of three new departments for Marketing, for Film, Video an d Broadcasting and for Planning - has significantly increased ou r effecfiveness . The outcome has been a great release of energy . We are movin g forward on many fronts ; a selection of recent initiatives include a radical reform of the system of client evaluation ; help for ethnic value the consumer's judgement as highly as that of the official or th e minority arts ; a code of practice on the arts and disability ; th e expert . So if the institution which I will leave next March on the expiry of development of incentive funding; the formation of on independen t my term is in need of a motto, it could do worse than to adopt the line s drama production company, Upstart ; the opening of our doors to th e Johnson wrote for Garrick : arts of other nations. The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give , What the future will bring I do not seek to predict with any degree o f For we that live to please must please to live . certainty. But I believe that the imminent reform of broadcasting an d The Arts Council is proud of its traditional commitment to judgemen t the impact of technical advances on the mass media will brin g by peers. Our panels, boards and committees are well stocked with important opportunities for the arts which the Arts Council is now well - distinguished representatives from the arts professions . But thei r placed to seize, and must not shirk . advice, although essenfial, is not sufficient . The voice of the public must Finally, those responsible for the distribution of public monies to the also be given due weight . This is the fundamental reason why I support arts must never lose sight of the goal of excellence . The word fell into the Council's objective to reduce the arts world's reliance on stat e desuetude as the Arts Council, in collaboration with the Regional Art s subsidy and to lower the proportion (but not of course the absolut e Associafions, developed policies which had the central aim o f amount) of grant to the overall turnover of arts organisations ; for the increasing the accessibility of the arts to all sorts and conditions of me n way in which the public discriminates is through its willingness to pa y and women . The Council was right to adopt this course, but must for its pleasures. always take care not to be seen to abandon those on whose darin g An early milestone of my chairmanship was the publication of th e and skill - the painters, sculptors, actors, composers, film-makers, Arts Council's strategy document, The Glory of the Garden, also i n writers, musicians, dancers - the whole great enterprise of culture 1484 . This represented the first major effort since we closed ou r depends . regional offices in 1956 to decentralise decision-making - devolvin g important responsibilities to the 12 English Regional Arts Associations and working even more closely than before with local government . S o far we have not shifted as many resources from London to the region s as we would have liked, but in other respects Glory has succeeded i n re-drawing the English arts map . With hardly a pause the Arts Council went on to address th e challenge which the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Rees-Mogg SECRETAR Y repor t It has always surprised me how much the key items in any annual private sector income play a larger part in turnover of art s review of the Council 's work change from one year to the next . In the Organisations than in the past . past the Glory of the Garden policy, abolition of the metropolitan The year that is under review has been dominated by the counties, the Cork Report and organisational reviews have all featured . announcement in October of a small increase in our grant and more At the time they seemed so important and dominated our thinking ; bu t importantly of three year funding. There is no doubt that thi s in time their importance or immediacy wanes and something else development is probably the most significant one to affect the arts for emerges and takes their place. And so, almost imperceptibly, ou r many years. Together with the launch of incentive funding it has mad e agenda changes . 1987/1988 an important and challenging year. There is, however, one constant factor in every annual report of th e This increased funding, though much of it earmarked for touring an d Arts Council and it is money_ It almost goes without saying that w e the incentive scheme, has enabled us to increase spending in a numbe r believe the Government would see huge benefits if it decided t o of areas . On the whole the media are not interested in'good news' , increase its investment in the arts . We shall certainly continue to put which is why, perhaps, details of these increased allocations for a that case to the government . But we also accept and understand that whole range of activities have never been reported, in spite of ou r we have to work within limited resources and that the begging bow l attempts to tell everyone . In addition to increases for the Regional Arts approach is not one that will help either the Arts Council or the man y Associations and for Touring we have been able to start a n arts organisations that we exist to serve. We must be able to show, a s Intemational Initiatives Fund . We have increased allocations t o Lord Rees-Mogg points out in his introduction, that earnings and Literature, to Ethnic Minority Arts and to Film, Video and Broadcasting .