/<<C/:@3D73E & Review 08 State of the arts 7\bS`dWSeeWbV8]\ EW\abO\ZSgQ`SOb]` ]T;O\QVSabS`¸ac\W_cS AYSbQV1Wbg 4WdSgSO`a]T 5`O\baT]`bVSO`ba /Z]]YOb/`ba1]c\QWZ Tc\RSR^`]U`O[[Sa 1VOW`¸a`S^]`b $/gSO`OQ`]aabVSO`ba 1]\bS\ba Sir Christopher Frayling reflects on Arts Council staff across music, the heated debates and successful theatre, literature, dance and visual outcomes of the past year. arts consider their personal highlights of 2007/08. "1VWST3fSQcbWdS¸a`S^]`b Alan Davey reflects on an eventful '7[OUSa]TbVSgSO` year, and considers how we must A selection of images that showcase create the conditions under which work we have funded across 2007/08. great art must flourish. %4WdSgSO`a]T5`O\baT]`bVSO`ba $4W\O\QSaObOUZO\QS Our open application programme In 2007/08, we invested more than celebrated its fifth year in April 2008, £529 million of public money from making over 2,800 grants totalling the government and the National nearly £57 million in 2007/08. Lottery in the arts. !BVSgSO`ObOUZO\QS &/`bWabW\bS`dWSe( From the reopening of the Southbank 8]\EW\abO\ZSg Centre to Liverpool becoming Sketch City’s Jon Winstanley talks European Capital of Culture, it’s motivation, music, and street art. been a significant year for the arts. /`bWabW\bS`dWSe( ! =c`^`W]`WbWSa <Oh`W\1V]cRVc`g Our priorities for 2006–2008 are: Author Nazrin Choudhury explains children and young people, the creative how a Grants for the arts award economy, internationalism, vibrant gave her time to write her first novel, communities, celebrating diversity, My England. and taking part in the arts. BVSO`baRSPObS ""6WUVZWUVbSRW\T]`[ObW]\ The arts debate research findings were published in November 2007, #5`O\bW\OWROQQ]c\ba and will play a vital part of shaping our future priorities. &':]bbS`gRWab`WPcbW]\OQQ]c\ba "@SUcZO`Tc\RW\U`SdWSe <ObW]\OZ:]bbS`g`S^]`b In February 2008, we announced the most comprehensive review of arts !1]c\QWZO\R`SUW]\OZQ]c\QWZ funding in our history, which sparked [S[PS`a controversy across the art world. National Lottery etc Act 1993 (as amended by the National Lottery Act 1998) Presented pursuant to section c39, section 35 (5) of the National Lottery etc Act 1993 (as amended by the National Lottery Act 1998) for the year ending 31 March 2008, together with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon. Arts Council England grant-in-aid and lottery annual report and accounts 2007/08 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 21 July 2008 HC 848 London: The Stationery Office Gratis © Crown Copyright 2008 The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and other departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. For any other use of this material please write to Office of Public Sector Information, Information Policy Team, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU or e-mail: [email protected] ISBN 978010 295547 7 Great art for everyone Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2008 and 2011, we will invest in excess of £1.6 billion of public money from the government and the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. 16/7@¸A@3>=@B Looking back, moving forward In the year when the Arts Council conducted the most comprehensive review of public funding to the arts in England ever undertaken, it is important to look back further than the furore of the early part of 2008 and remind ourselves of the successful outcome won from the comprehensive spending review. Led by the Arts Council, the arts sector fought a long campaign that won us a surprisingly good settlement from government in what was roundly acknowledged to be a tough spending round. It is one thing to win a good settlement in an expansive spending round – quite another to do so in tighter times. But since becoming Chair I‘ve been clear that the Arts Council should be much, much more than a funding body. As I think I may have said once or twice before, the Arts Council is not just a cash point machine with a complicated pin number, but is also a development agency for the arts. AW`1V`Wab]^VS` 4`OgZW\U The Arts Council’s decisive investment strategy for the 1VOW` & arts for 2008–11 led – inevitably – to controversy, but >V]b](AbSdS I believe it will enable us to build on the fi rm foundation 2]cPZS of the successes and achievements of the last 10 years, and to move on. I also believe that the arts ecology in this country can be more healthy, confi dent, and strong as a result. Everyone I’ve spoken to agrees with the principles we adopted; to champion innovation and excellence by bringing new organisations and giving others above-infl ation increases rather than simply give all existing funded organisations a little more. As for the practical consequences… well, they were bound to divide opinion, especially when they led to organisations facing a reduction or non-renewal of their funding. It is precisely because we knew from the start that the investment strategy would at times be diffi cult that we must now conduct a review in order to benefi t from a valuable external perspective on the process. This was in some ways new territory for the Arts Council. 02 /`ba1]c\QWZ3\UZO\RO\\cOZ`SdWSe Learning lessons should be one of the key outcomes for So future audiences and arts practitioners must the Arts Council from any review of these proportions be nourished as well and, standing as I do with and I look forward to discussing with Baroness one foot in the arts world and the other in art and McIntosh her recommendations. They will come in very design education, I was inspired by Creative Britain, useful for future investment strategies, and for putting the strategy document from the Department for persuasive cases to government about the future level Culture, Media and Sport. Skills are at the heart of arts funding. I’m sure the Arts Council will stay of the creative economy and the Arts Council fi rmly on the front foot and will remain a powerful must support the progression from talent to jobs and ambitious advocate for the arts in England, if and ensure that more people with the right skills anything enhanced by the events of the past year. enter the creative sector. Also, we must constantly remind everyone of the deep connections which I must pay tribute to Peter Hewitt who stood down exist between the publicly-funded arts and the as chief executive of the Arts Council this year. During profi t-making creative industries. the last 10 years Peter oversaw the beginnings of a new renaissance in the publicly-funded arts, from My time as Chair of the Arts Council comes to an the merger of nine regional arts boards into one end in January 2009. Over the last fi ve years much organisation to Artichoke Productions’ the Sultan’s has happened, from the redefi nition of our role as Elephant. Peter’s contribution to making the arts one a development agency and a clearer understanding of our national success stories was profound. And in of the ‘arm’s length’ relationship to government, the debate about the investment strategy, he proved to a new approach to our investment strategy and himself to be courageous as well. the successful refurbishment of the Festival Hall and hundreds of other major arts centres. Our national In the next year the Arts Council must digest and offi ce has also been reorganised and there have been respond to the McMaster review, Supporting fresh appointments at senior level – including the Excellence in the Arts. Sir Brian McMaster is a auspicious and timely arrival of Alan Davey as chief member of our national Council and his was a executive. Plus a lot of speeches. I keep them all, in very welcome intervention that grew in part out of hard copy, and the pile of papers is now about as tall extensive discussions on the Council itself as well as as me! During the heated debates of January 2008, out of our public value inquiry, the arts debate. I was I said on the radio, ’you certainly don’t take on a role particularly pleased to see the review recognise that like this to increase your circle of friends’. That’s true. artistic excellence can encourage wider and deeper But my unwavering belief in public funding of the engagement with the arts by audiences. Access arts has made it all worthwhile. enhances excellence, and the two should never be seen as antithetical. As Joan Littlewood once said, if you offer the public anything less than the best you are just being patronising.