Investment in combined arts 2015-18
‘Combined arts’ describes the place where artforms meet; where art is experimental
– and playful. It’s at the forefront of publicly accessible arts, where people often
become involved for the first time – at festivals and in free work outdoors in cities,
towns and rural areas, and often with arts that reflect particular cultures and
communities.
This creative liberty is reflected in the variety of venues where combined arts
happens; from pop-up spaces and temporary sites to long-established arts buildings
– a wide range of spaces where artists and communities experiment and explore.
All our investment streams are crucial to the Combined arts portfolio, and the Grants
for the arts programme plays a particularly significant role. Many festivals and
carnivals are funded through Grants for the arts – as are individual artists and
producers.
The National portfolio provides and maintains the principal arts infrastructure, and we
are pleased that investment in combined arts has remained fundamentally stable,
with some exciting investments in festivals, outdoor arts and arts centres.
The portfolio for 2015-18 contains 178 organisations – the largest number in any of
the artforms the Arts Council supports – and investment for combined arts over the
three-year funding term will rise from £176,405,555 to £180,641,930.
The most common annual scale of award is between £100,000-250,000 annually:
only five organisations will receive more than £1 million per annum. This shows how
many individual and community initiatives we support.
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In some cases we have reduced funding, in order to focus more on areas of work
that we believe require further attention; 18 organisations have left the portfolio and
nine organisations have come in. We will work with those organisations leaving the
portfolio to see if they can be supported through other funding streams.
The portfolio makes a strong contribution to the Arts Council’s goals, particularly
excellence and reach, using innovative forms and cutting across geography, social
class and age. We believe that the organisations in the portfolio reflect and in many
cases help define contemporary English life.
Participatory and community arts are well represented, with strong leadership from
organisations such as Sandwell-based Multistory, which promotes narrative
storytelling through photography, film, exhibitions, publications and digital media. In
addition, a significant proportion of ‘mainstream’ organisations – among them the
Bluecoat, Roundhouse and Watershed – have developed artistically excellent
community or engagement programmes. This emphasis on participatory arts practice
is a testament to the development of work in this field – and a clear sign that the Arts
Council and its partners are supporting new practice where it is emerging.
Arts centres have been identified as strong contributors to talent development and
innovation, often within a particular community or aligned to social engagement. A
network of strongly led venues has been maintained across the country –
organisations such as ARC in Stockton, the Albany, Jacksons Lane, Stratford Circus,
Watermans in London and Cambridge Junction. In addition, we have supported
newly built arts centres in Doncaster (Cast) and Manchester (Cornerhouse/Home);
both of these offer important approaches to commissioning across artforms, and new
ways of working with communities.
We will continue our partnership with the BFI in the network of combined arts and
media venues that we jointly fund – including Watershed, Derby Quad and Broadway
Media Centre – with a focus on joint education and programmes for children and
young people. There will be further work with our BFI colleagues to align our funding
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agreements: this will improve the impact of the cross-artform and creative media
aspects of the portfolio. Many arts centres programme independent films; this digital
screen network already makes a good contribution to increasing access – and could
do more.
There is a small but significant set of specialist digital and creative media
organisations in the new portfolio, including Abandon Normal Devices, which
promotes an energetic festival of cinema, digital culture and art. This will augment
the work of other internationally recognised ‘digital innovators’ in the Combined arts
portfolio, such as Blast Theory, FutureEverything and Watershed. These
organisations complement artist-centred festivals such as Fierce and the Be Festival.
All help create good conditions for talent and practice development.
Much progress has been made in relation to outdoor arts, and it’s becoming firmly
established as part of our work. New organisations SeaChange Arts and Corn
Exchange Newbury will strengthen content through commissions and spaces
dedicated to creative work. Existing festivals such as Norfolk & Norwich, Stockton
International Riverside Festival and Lumiere Durham remain in the portfolio and
there will be further strategic support for outdoor arts over the next three years.
Manchester International Festival has been awarded a significant increase in funding
in order to allow more international co-commissioning and to ensure it remains one
of the world’s most significant arts festivals.
There have been some positive advances in diversity, with diverse led organisations
remaining or being added to the portfolio, while increased funding for the Asian Arts
Agency will allow them to have an impact on the national picture for diversity.
We have made some significant changes to our investment in carnival but it remains
an important contributor to combined arts and we recognise its value both locally and
nationally. The new portfolio retains the carnival organisation Kinetica, which is
relocating to bigger premises in Thurrock, and we have brought in Sunshine Arts. In
addition, many carnival organisations will continue to be funded through Grants for
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the arts and we will also be ring-fencing £500,000 of strategic funds annually to
support further diversity within the portfolio, working with our partners across the arts
and cultural sector.
With its emphasis on new practice, on participation and on community, festivals and
outdoor work, and its commitment to regional arts centres, we believe the Combined
arts portfolio offers a platform for increasing public access to the arts over the
coming years.
For more information about our 2015-18 investment visit:
www.artscouncil.org.uk/investment
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