Arts Council of Grcat Britain Was Formed in Augus T 1946 to Continue in Peacetim E the Work Begun
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The Arts Council of Grcat Britain was formed in Augus t 1946 to continue in peacetim e the work begun. with Government support by th e Council for the Encouragemen t of Music and the Arts . The Arts Council operates under a revised Royal Charter grautt•d in 1967 in which its objects are stated as : (a) to develop and improve the kno,.a ledge, understanding an d practice of the arts ; (b) to increase the acecssibiliry of the arts to the public throughout Great Britain ; (c)to advise and co-operate wit h departments of government , local authorities and othe r bodies . The Arts Council, as a publicl y accountable body, publishes al l annual report and accounts t o provide Parliamc•nr and th e general public with an overvie w Goodbye Piccadilly! Th e of the vcars work . Chairman and Secretary. General and staff at the Art s Council headquarters at 105 Piccadilly, London, whic h they will be leaving neat year. CONTENTS Chairman's introduction 2 }'c t ; r f'alennb k }sart%the was f"rward to the nex t c urn f,r the Arr (C,%jrni l Secretary-General's report 4 Luke Rtmirt highltghtsthe issues and aehievomentsof 1498/89 and the concerns of the coming yea r Income Profile 6 Income fit the arts is increasing, especially from the bo x office and through sponsorshi p Arts Review B Departmental reports on policies which promoted th e artsduring 1988/84 Scottish Arts Counci l 3 2 Welsh Arts Counci l 33 Special reports 3 4 Incentive funding shows that artistic integrity, plannin g and enterprise arc not inimical . The Royal Insuranet company asks "is sponsorshi p becoming a sub5hrute for government funding? - . The Council I s Membership of Council and staff 44 Advisory structure 4 S Annual accounts 49 Arts Council structure f I S Summary for the partially sighted 14 6 CH A I R MAN 'S k.,ductfo n I have written ck c-whcrc, and 1 make no ap,lo .p for repeating now th e debt of gratitude char i owe to my predecessor Lord Rees-htoeg for hr l generous support at all tirm-s bmvccu theanuounecmctn of m y appointrnc nt and the cnd of his term of office . A erafcsrllan of the highes t distinction told me once that 11115LICCCSi rcflccwd the cxcellence o f previous generarlons, eaCll of %%hi : h had striven to add a factor of on e toward%the unattainable pet#,°cnon of one hundred! I feel thar much rh o %acne plrslosopll ., pervades the• Arcs Council, not least III its pride , dedication and commitincut to exc(Tencc . Lord Aec<-Mogg applie d !rear craftsmanslup during his period Ill of}ii e .ls Chairman of th e Arcs Council ill re-focusing the pnormt-S of the C :omwil and i n strcngthcnirrs; the firtancial Input front government . I salute both hi m atd his aC llli'V Cnl enCS. III rtV VIeW . t11C way forward for the Arts Council was most apd v summarised by my predcceisor when he said rh ;tr ins fob should he t o provide the llcst fvrthe mo%t :art of the highest it-vel of cxc(TC11cc to th e greawst audient7c reach . Tlirs inust surely be our priority and our objective. Our entrv into a suiglc market of 327 ttliihorl pcople in 199 2 will open up untold opportunities for cross-frrtilisaeion nl the arts ; for th e depth of artistic excellem c in Brinin which is, in env opnulm, ullrnatched counter-balancin g factor of cultura l prosperity - foo d for the soul - if society is not t o become philistine and sterile. P 2 anywhere else in Europe; and which ought to have an increasin g want to entertain, lot alone sustain, the latter notion. Equally, however, influence on the art of other mc•triher nations of the Community . I n artistic demand will always outstrip the supply of funds to promote it , purely economic terms, it is not unreasonable to expect a substantia l even in a buoyant economy, and govemnivilt sources are not infinite, hicreaw in the k.12hn annual turnover achieved by the arts, taken in thei r which is why I am convinced that the way forward for the arts in thi s widest sense, in this country today. In terms of the quality of like which i s country must be by means ofa partnership berweccn public and privat e becoming of increasing concern to every citizen of this country, and th e sector finding. The balance is unequal at the present time by a ratio o f regmerarion of the inner cities, the contribution that the arts arc makin g roughly S:1 in favour of the former . and individual, as opposed to and will continue to make is significant and, in some cases, crucial . corporate giving, is negligible . We do not have in Grear Britain a tradition Whilst it is vital that we recognise the importance of maintainin g of individual giving as it exists in the United Stares, where it has becom e regional identity and variety, it is equally vital that we work together to part of the culture, and where over 90"/ of the arts are funded b y frame agreed priorities and objectives for a long-term national cultura l individual donors. It is that sort of tradition that I shall be seeking ro policy for the arts, embracing the millennium and beyond, that will giv e foster, albeit in lower percentage, terms . The fact is that many people hav e the country as a whole a coherence that it lacks at the present time . made substantial personal fortunes in the last few years, and wirl i The Arts Council is not here to be served by the arts: it is here to serv e encouragement arid the lowest income tax rate for 50 years, I believe tha t the arts . It is here to speak for artists and arr orgatustations, wherever they they will be prepared to acknowledge their privileged position and retur n may be situated in Great Britain ; to offer them advice, to argue for thor n to the eomtriuuity a portion of their good fortune. Like it or not, the y and to champion their interests, in the media and to government have inherited rho mantle (if the great patrons of the 18th and 14t h whenever and wherever the need may anse . The yardstick will be centuries, and it is a responsibility that they can hardly deny. The en d excellence and potential exeellciico widen the resources ofa given ar t result ofsueh a policy would be an even more self-reliant arts community form and organisanon. I have already seen enough to know that with private sector funding supplementing that of the public sector. excellence is not only to be found in London or in our large an d There is one further factor to which neither govertrme•nt nor th e prestigious arts bodies . It springs up in many places . It is however private sector have given sufficient thought, and it is high time that the y essential. I can see no ~ustificarion in spending taxpayers' money In orde r did: the advent of the new millennium iliac is now less than 11 years to celebrate the second rate , hence . In one sense you may say it is no more, no less than another if we are to expand the frontiers of art rather than to allow them t o moment in time . In another, however, an event of profound symbohc remain static we must focus particular attention upon experimental art ; significance and one, incidentally, that none of the five billion peopl e the equal of research and development in industry . We must give the currently inhabiting this planet will ever see again, 1 regard it as som e artist the right to fall . We must invest, oil occasion, in new and innovativ e great national marker towards which we should he directing collectivel y work, knowing full well that the results may fall below the expectation s all our efforts and attention so that when the second hand ticks past of the artist and ourselves ; but knowing also that we may be helping t o midnight into the 21st century our house is in order, socially , nourish a masterwork. This proposition was articulatrd by Lord Keynes . economically, culturally and in tennsof world stability. if we are able t o the first Chairman of the Arts Council. in 1945, when lie said : -The artist achieve that sort of order it will be the happiest of endings as well as th e walks where the breath of the spirit blows him . He cannot be cold his happiest of beginnings for generations yet to come. direction: he does not know it himself, but he leads the rest of us int o fresh pastures and he teaches us to love and enjoy what we often begin b y rejecting, enlarging our sensibilities and purif}ing our insriners ." 1 believe that the arts in Great Britain are the victim of their ow n success: that the explosion of ralenc, the wale of activity, the craving by the general public for arts of all kinds has led to an increase in demand which the available resources from the public and private sectors are no t Peter Palumbo yet able to satisfy. A prosperous society in economic teens will create a cultural climate in direct proportion and importance to that economic prosperity.