Arts Council England
Arts policies
Developing arts practice and engagement
Our ambition
Arts Council England’s ambition is to put the arts at the heart of national life and
people at the heart of the arts.
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Introduction
Creativity and the arts give us a sense of individual fulfilment. They help create our
sense of identity. They challenge and inspire us. And contribute to our sense of
wellbeing.
We want everyone in the country to have the opportunity to develop a rich and
varied artistic and creative life.
Artists, arts organisations and local authorities are some of the key people who
can help us make that happen. We want to work with them to get more high quality
work to a wider range of people, engaging them as both audiences and
participants.
Our arts policies set out the context for each artform, and the vision of what we
would like to achieve for:
 combined arts
 dance
 interdisciplinary arts
 literature
 music
 theatre
 visual arts
Our distribution policy shows how we will help create greater access to the arts
through touring and digital distribution.
We use a contemporary definition of the arts and are open to new trends in
emerging – and sometimes challenging – arts practice. We recognise that each
artform has its own distinctive qualities and each, to some extent, represents a
distinct industry with its own economy. We also recognise artists’ desire to work
across boundaries. That’s why we have policies for individual artforms as well as
for combined arts and interdisciplinary arts.
The priorities for each artform will help us deliver against the six areas of our
agenda for the arts:
 taking part in the arts
 children and young people
 the creative economy
 vibrant communities
 internationalism
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
celebrating diversity
We want to see a more confident, diverse and innovative arts sector which is
valued by and in tune with the communities it serves. We also want to see more
active participation in the arts.
We will support artists and arts organisations to take creative risks and follow new
opportunities. And we will support the development of individual artforms to
achieve our ambition of putting the arts at the heart of national life and people at
the heart of the arts.
Artists have a key role to play in helping us take an active role in our communities
and in creating a sense of pride. They also make a valuable contribution to the
economy. The creative industries account for more than 8 per cent of growth in the
UK.
In the last 10 years there has been an unprecedented level of creative
development across the arts sector. This is due in part to the 70 per cent increase
in public funding since 1996. Funding from the National Lottery has transformed
the cultural landscape, creating more and better access to the arts for people in all
parts of the country. That increase in public investment was the catalyst for a wave
of creativity, confidence and inventiveness. We began the 21st century with the
arts in this country in better and more exciting shape than they had been for a long
time and with more people than ever wanting to engage in the cultural scene.
The power of the live experience remains at the heart of many artforms. However,
increasingly technology is making it possible to create art and engage with it in
new ways. This presents both opportunities and challenges for artists and arts
organisations. The expectations of a generation that has grown up in a digital
world are very different from those that preceded it. Arts organisations need to be
alert to consumer behaviour and recognise that for many culture is interactive,
personal and ‘on demand’. New marketing and distribution methods are not only
attractive but also necessary if the arts are not going to be left behind.
Our job is to keep art on the agenda, to trust artists and to support a climate in
which they can thrive.
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How we work
We play a different role in each sector. Sometimes we are one of the major
funders for an artform, as in dance or the visual arts. In other sectors, such as
music, we are a small but influential player in a multimillion pound industry.
Whatever our engagement we want it to have impact and add value.
We also act as a development agency for the arts. We use part of our funds to
support specific types of arts development and innovative practice. We develop, at
both national and regional level, partnerships and initiatives to create financial and
artistic opportunities for artists and audiences. And we gather evidence of the
impact of arts activities and share best practice. We are also committed to
developing our advocacy and campaigning work for the arts and to supporting
forums for critical debate.
We provide regular annual funding for organisations. And there is an open
application programme, Grants for the arts, for individuals, organisations and other
people who use the arts as part of their work.
The arts have changed enormously since the Arts Council was set up and so have
we. In 1946 our support focused on opera, theatre, ballet and classical music.
Today we still invest in these artforms but we also support a more diverse range of
artistic activity. We are committed to supporting research and development,
particularly in the areas where the arts collaborate with other disciplines.
Our portfolio of regularly funded organisations is not static. Only 500 of the
thousand or so organisations we fund were in the portfolio10 years ago. We
regularly review the allocation of funding and are committed to doing this in a
coherent and transparent way.
We have made a number of interventions to develop the arts:

In 1999 we implemented a strategy to stabilise and develop the orchestral
sector. This resulted not only in financial stability but also in major
developments in education, extended access for audiences through technology
and more live performances

In 2000 we undertook a major review of theatre, which was in an artistic and
financial crisis. This enabled us to make the case to government for additional
ongoing investment. It resulted in a more productive, innovative and confident
theatre sector
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
The Arts Council’s decibel programme runs from 2003 – 2008, celebrating and
raising the profile of the contribution of Black and minority ethnic artists to
contemporary British culture. It has developed significant initiatives with the
publishing and visual arts sectors and connects with the work we are doing with
Black theatre practitioners

In 2005 we undertook the first ever review of the presentation of the
contemporary visual arts and in 2006 we launched Turning Point, a 10-year
strategy to ensure that the sector has the capacity to capitalise on its success
and the significant expansion of artistic practice. We have committed to
focusing on the visual arts in the coming years to deliver that strategy
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Our partners
The arts don’t work in isolation and neither do we. We work with a range of
partners and foremost among those are artists and arts organisations. Local
authority strategic partnerships are also key to the development of the arts in this
country. We are building strong partnerships with local authorities, with other local
partners and with regional government, regional development agencies and
regeneration agencies.
Our national partners include the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the
British Council, national broadcasting organisations and trusts and foundations.
We work with our sponsoring government department, the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport, to deliver our shared objectives, and with a number of other
government departments.
The arts have a key role to play in the vision and design of our communities.
Imaginative and pioneering artists have often worked in collaboration with
education, regeneration, health and social exclusion to powerful effect. We want to
encourage more of those partnerships to help build a sense of identity and pride in
communities across the country.
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Arts Council England
14 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 3NQ
www.artscouncil.org.uk
Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
Phone: 0845 300 6200
Textphone: 020 7973 6564
Charity registration number 1036733
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©Arts Council England, November 2006
We are committed to being open and accessible. We welcome all comments on
our work. Please send these to Andrew Whyte, Executive Director, Advocacy and
Communications, at the Arts Council England address above.