REVIEW OF ARTS CENTRES AND VENUES Report prepared for The Arts Council and the County and City Management Association June, 2019 Review of Arts Centres and Venues - Report - June, 2019 Vers4/smcm/07.06.19 CONTENTS Page No. Executive Summary ......................................................................................... i 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Context and Purpose of the Review ............................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives .................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Review Process ........................................................................................... 3 1.4 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 4 2. ARTS VENUE INFRASTRUCTURE IN IRELAND ............................................ 6 2.1 Overview .................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Venue Facilities ......................................................................................... 10 2.3 Art Forms ................................................................................................. 11 2.4 Venue Networks ........................................................................................ 13 2.5 Staffing .................................................................................................... 16 2.6 The Funding of Arts Venues ....................................................................... 17 2.7 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 27 3. POLICY REVIEW ...................................................................................... 30 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 30 3.2 The Legislative Context .............................................................................. 33 3.3 Arts Policies and Plans ............................................................................... 36 3.4 Project Ireland 2040 .................................................................................. 40 3.5 National Action Plans ................................................................................. 47 3.6 Summary Conclusions ................................................................................ 51 4. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ....................................................... 53 4.1 Venue Survey Results ................................................................................ 53 4.2 Local Authority Feedback ........................................................................... 56 4.3 Stakeholder Consultations .......................................................................... 60 4.4 Audience Research .................................................................................... 66 4.5 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 70 Review of Arts Centres and Venues - Report - June, 2019 5. CASE STUDIES & COMPARATORS ............................................................ 73 5.1 Case Study Learnings ................................................................................ 73 5.2 International Comparators ......................................................................... 77 5.3 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 86 6. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................... 88 6.1 The Present Provision of MAVs ................................................................... 88 6.2 Governance .............................................................................................. 95 6.3 Funding .................................................................................................... 98 6.4 Summary................................................................................................ 102 7. RECOMMENDATIONS: OUTLINE FRAMEWORK FOR A VENUE STRATEGY106 7.1 Policy ..................................................................................................... 106 7.2 Clusters and Networks ............................................................................. 110 7.3 Revenue Funding .................................................................................... 112 7.4 Capital Funding ....................................................................................... 117 7.5 Next Steps Towards Implementation ......................................................... 119 8. APPENDICES ........................................................................................... 120 Appendix 1: Terms of Reference ......................................................................... 120 Appendix 2: Members of the Working Group and Management Liaison Group ......... 125 Appendix 3: Policy Detail ................................................................................... 127 Appendix 4: Case Studies ................................................................................... 138 Appendix 5: International Case Studies ............................................................... 175 Appendix 6: Venue Survey and Summary Findings .............................................. 183 Appendix 7: Local Authority Survey and Summary Findings .................................. 199 Appendix 8: List of all 138 Year-Round Venues included in AIRO Survey ................ 206 Appendix 9: List of Venues in Receipt of Arts Council Venue Funding, 2018 ........... 210 Review of Arts Centres and Venues - Report - June, 2019 LIST OF FIGURES Page No. Figure 1: Review Process ............................................................................................... 4 Figure 2: Distribution of 138 Venues Surveyed as part of AIRO Audit, 2016 ......................... 8 Figure 3: Rate of Provision of Full-Time Arts Venues per 100,000 persons, 2016 .................. 9 Figure 4: Distribution of Year-Round Venues by Dedicated Arts Spaces Offered ................. 10 Figure 5: Number of Art Forms Regularly Offered by Year-Round Venues .......................... 13 Figure 6: Category of Employment at Year-Round Arts Venues ........................................ 16 Figure 7: Venues in Receipt of more than €500,000 in Public Capital Funds, 2000-2015 ..... 17 Figure 8: Distribution of Capital Funding for Arts Venues by Source, 2000-2015 ................ 18 Figure 9: Some of the Larger MAVs ............................................................................... 19 Figure 10: Distribution of Venue Income by Source .......................................................... 21 Figure 11: Distribution of Grants by Size (Local Authority & Arts Council) ............................ 24 Figure 12: Use of Arts Council MAV Funding .................................................................... 25 Figure 13: Population per AC/LA Funded Venues in each Local Authority Area ..................... 27 Figure 14: Rating of Economic Sustainability by Venues .................................................... 55 Figure 15: Receipt of Non-Financial Support .................................................................... 56 Figure 16: Map of Responding Local Authorities, Indicating the Number of Arts Venues .... Supported..................................................................................................... 57 Figure 17: Provision of Non-Financial Support by Local Authorities to Venues ...................... 58 Figure 18: Geographic Breakdown of Arts Attenders vs Irish Population by Region ............... 66 Figure 19: Cultural Funding Model, Sweden ..................................................................... 78 Figure 20: Key Dimensions of the Framework ................................................................. 106 Figure 21: National and Local Level Stakeholder Connectivity ........................................... 110 Review of Arts Centres and Venues - Report - June, 2019 LIST OF TABLES Page No. Table 2.1: Scale of Theatre and Gallery Spaces in Arts Venues ........................................... 11 Table 2.2: Art Forms Offered by Year-Round Venues ........................................................ 12 Table 2.3: Venue Networks in Ireland .............................................................................. 15 Table 2.4: Extent and Range of Venue Funding by Source ................................................. 22 Table 2.5: MAV’s in Receipt of Arts Council Venue Funding, 2017 ....................................... 23 Table 2.6: Correlation Analysis: Arts Council & Local Authority Funded Venues .................... 26 Table 3.1: The Policy Environment for Arts Venues ........................................................... 33 Table 3.2: Allocation of Capital Funding for Culture, 2018-2027 ......................................... 45 Table 4.1: Attendance at Different Types of Venue ........................................................... 67 Table 4.2: Participation in a Variety of Activities in the last 12 months - People with Disabilities .................................................................................................... 69 Table 5.1: National Portfolio Organisation Funding Bands, Arts Council England