Firstsite ‘Creative Together’ Our Business Plan Photograph by Jayne Lloyd Contents Vision 4 Mission 7 Values 9 Goals and Strategies 10 The Firstsite team 35 3 Year Action Plan 37 Raqs Media Collective, Not Yet At Ease, 2018 Installation view, exhibition at Firstsite Photograph by Douglas Atfield 3 Vision – First for Everyone At Firstsite and in our satellite venues, we show a diverse mix of the very best historic, modern and contemporary art from around the world, for everyone, every day. 4 Vision – First for Everyone We disrupt the way we and our visitors experience the world, we provide new creative opportunities and we promote imaginative responses to contemporary issues. 5 Grayson Perry and Sally Shaw, Director, Firstsite Copyright Essex Echo & Gazette 6 Mission With our partners we are improving all residents of East Anglia’s wellbeing and life-chances with innovation, ingenuity and creativity. 7 Gillian Wearing’s statue of Millicent Fawcett was co-commissioned by Firstsite, with the Mayor of London, 14–18 NOW and Iniva to commemorate the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, 1918, through the Government’s National Centenary Fund. 8 Photograph by John Lubbock (Cropped). Licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 Values Firstsite is an organisation that has its feet on the ground and its head in the stars. Inclusion Equality of access and opportunity combined with best practice to help engage with our Innovation audiences, artists, least involved groups, partners, suppliers and staff. Working collaboratively with our stakeholders, partners and funders to Quality ensure we are continuously developing better ways of working and achieving The use of analytics to help us higher returns on investment. continuously improve visitor experience and how we work to ensure we make valuable and measureable impacts. Professionalism Adopting best practice in all that we do We are inclusive, to ensure that we are well governed, well managed and seen as an effective asset for the communities we serve. unconventional 9 and fun. Goals and Strategies 1. Be a Radical Contemporary Art Gallery 2. Champion the needs of children and young people 3. Bringing lots of people together to enjoy art and culture 4. Be expert in our governance and management 5. Be bold in improving equality, diversity and inclusion 6. Be financially resilient and share resources 10 Goals and Strategies Be a Radical Contemporary Art Gallery 11 1 Zhang Enli, Gesture and Form, 2017 Installation view, exhibition at Firstsite Supported by Hauser & Wirth 12 Photograph by Douglas Atfield ‘What I have I share’ Firstsite is renowned for its radical and Our six major projects will be co-designed unconventional building – Rafael Vinoly’s with the Black History Month Society, extraordinary curved design is inspiration The Radical Women of Colchester, to the Firstsite team and the artists and Colchester Garrison, Refugee Action communities we collaborate with to develop Colchester, the Young Artist Kommunity artworks and curatorial methods that are and mothers and carers connected to equally unconventional and ground breaking. Firstsite through our Holiday Fun programme. For example, every aspect of our artistic East Anglia is also home to an incredible programme is shared and co-authored. wealth of artists past and present We either directly co-curate exhibitions such as Grayson Perry, Gee Vaucher, and projects with our partners and Elsa James, Simon Carter, Freddie Robbins, members of the community, or we use data Mark Wallinger, John Constable, Thomas and intelligence gained from the region to Gainsborough, John Nash, Cedric Morris, inspire our activity. We are also committed to Henry Collins, Joyce Pallot and Lucy ensuring 50% of our programme is dedicated Harwood. to work and exhibitions made by people from the protected characteristic groups. Promoting East Anglia’s uniquely radical cultural heritage is a fundamental aspect Firstsite is one of three galleries across of our artistic programme. We contextualise England partnering with the Arts Council this incredible creative quality by drawing Collection. We are collaborating with links to other artists from around the world communities from across East Anglia who share our interest in radical ideas that to access the extraordinary Arts Council address issues of equality, diversity and Collection established over 70 years of inclusion on the global stage – artists such acquisitions. as Bruce Maclean, Gillian Wearing, Andy Warhol, Martin Parr and Lubaina Himid. 13 Magda Archer, Problems with Modern Life, 2019 Installation view, exhibition at Firstsite 14 Photograph by Douglas Atfield Goals and Strategies Bringing lots of different people together to enjoy art and culture 15 2 Susan Pui San Lok, A COVEN A GROVE A STAND, 2019 Exhibition at Firstsite, opening celebration 16 Photo by Maddie Pierce (Y)Essex Firstsite is very proudly located in Historically, East Anglia has been a region As a nationally significant art gallery we Colchester, Essex – serving the region that has endured and enjoyed much political are working towards reflecting the national of East Anglia. The county of Essex is unrest – Colchester in particular, as the population demographics in our audiences, characterised in recent times by many oldest recorded town in the UK, is littered staff, Board and supporters and the artists strong stereotypes such as the ‘Essex with the architectural evidence of one we choose to support and present through Girl’ and ‘Mondeo Man’, reinforced through invasion after the next. Boudicca burned our artistic and learning programmes. popular culture including TV programmes the town down in AD 60/61, John Ball who such as ‘The Only Way is Essex’ (TOWIE). The led the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381 preached There is also a vast disparity between the entrepreneurial nature of TOWIE is based on on the site of the gallery and more recently wealthiest members of the community and selling an ‘image’ of Essex which, whether we the town voted to remain in the European the poorest across Essex. At Firstsite we like it or not, translates incredibly effectively Union in amongst a sea of leave voting are passionate about our commitment to be both in the UK and internationally. Creating wards across Essex. Politics, citizenship and ‘First for everyone’. We are particularly intent a strong brand for the region to connect social responsibility are all subjects that our on ensuring that the socio-economic gap into and export. audiences are passionate about and that we between audiences who currently regularly feed through our activities. attend our activities and those who are much These recent and somewhat pervasive less likely to get involved is addressed. cultural clichés are something that The Essex and East Anglia landscape – we ‘own’ with great pride and sincerity physical, economic, historical and cultural Tapping into these themes has borne at Firstsite. They come from the region – is of major significance for our audiences. major fruit for Firstsite, proven in our rapidly and have been formed over many decades Our programme is seeded with many increasing audience attendance figures – and centuries – they are part of our regional ideas, themes and subjects that enable In 2017/18 we achieved our highest ever DNA and we explore them from a variety of our audiences to further connect with their footfall of 156,000 visitors since opening contrasting viewpoints. immediate environment and promote our in 2011. Our relevance and value is also cultural heritage past and present much reflected in what our visitors are saying further afield. For example, we know that about us – 90% of our visitors say Firstsite our audiences are particularly passionate is a welcoming place where many different about the three ‘p’s’ – politics, place and cultures can come together and be explored. personality. 17 Grayson Perry Gala Dinner, 2017 Firstsite Photo by Marwen Sallouta 18 Goals and Strategies Champion the needs of children and young people 19 3 Holiday Fun, 2019 Firstsite Photo by Aura Films 20 25% 25% of children and young people in The Firstsite Holiday Fun programme This insight is directly informing how we Colchester are perceived to be living is designed to promote the five ways design all our activities for children and in poverty. This equates to just under 10,000 to wellbeing – helping children, young young people from ages 0–25, with special children and young people on the doorstep people and their families to eat, connect, focus on children from the protected of Firstsite who do not have access to the be active, take notice, keep learning, characteristic groups. fundamental resources such as food and give and be inspired. social interactions, that many of us take for All of our activities for children and young granted, let alone access to culture and art. The programme is entirely free to families people and also for the parents and carers who would normally receive free school who attend Firstsite with them are designed Since 2017, with the support of Children meals during term-time and is attracting around the five critical employability in Need and the NHS, Firstsite has been large numbers of new visitors to the gallery skills – communication, teamwork, delivering the Firstsite Holiday Fun to see our artworks and meet the artists we self-management, problem solving and programme. This has brought us into are working with. As a consequence Holiday resilience. This ensures that all our activities contact with over 400 families from some Fun is opening up conversations about the are not only great fun and totally engaging, of the most challenged areas of Colchester. very direct and urgent issues many of the they are also supporting the fundamental These are families who would not normally children we are meeting through the project development of the next generation go into an art gallery because it is ‘not are facing, as well as the concerns and of citizens in a creative, welcoming for them’ or because the demands and challenges of their parents.