A lovely array of panto programmes (Oh yes they are!) courtesy University of Kent, Pantomime Archive
Calling all archives! If you, or someone you know, has connections with any type of theatre archive then this may be a great opportunity for 2023. But you’ll need to apply by February 10th.
Cataloguing grants of up to £45,000 are now available from The National Archives and The Wolfson Foundation, with The Pilgrim Trust.
This funding strand of Archives Revealed provides grants of up to £45,000 for the cataloguing of archives. Archives Revealed aims to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspectives of all people across the UK, are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment.
The latest round- Round 6- is open – you can now apply for a cataloguing grant here. The deadline for Phase 1 (Expressions of Interest) is 12.00pm on Friday 10 February. Applicants are strongly advised to read the guidance webpages below before applying.
Applicants are also strongly advised to watch a guidance webinar for the grants which is now available to watch here.
Let us know if you are applying and how your application goes.
I was delighted to be asked to write the first blog post of the New Year for Ardent Theatre company by their Creative Director, Mark Sands.
Ardent have recently achieved a significant milestone in their evolution as a company, by securing a three-year Paul Hamlyn Foundation grant to support the running of the company. This couldn’t have come at a better time, as the company’s next major production, of Tracy Ryan’s STRIKE! opens in April at Southwark Playhouse in London, and is the first production to have signed up to be guided by Equity’s Green Book, outlining how to create and run sustainable theatre productions.
For the blog entry, I thought it would be good to address the country’s productivity gap, explain what has contributed to it and suggest genuine solutions. I think you’ll find it an interesting read.
Ireland has taken a bold step forward with the establishment of a ground-breaking scheme which aims to encourage and value their artistic communities.
2,000 artists & arts workers have been selected for the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme, which will run for three years and regular data will be gathered along the way to evaluate the success of the pilot scheme
All those selected to participate will receive €325 per week for 3 years.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and the Media, Catherine Martin TD, said “This is the beginning of what I hope is a new era for the arts”.
Over 9,000 applications were made under the scheme with over 8,200 assessed as eligible and included in a randomised anonymous selection process. The group of 2,000 grant participants includes representatives from all art forms, age groups, ethnicities and counties. This includes 707 visual artists, 584 musicians, 204 artists working in film, 184 writers, 173 actors and artists working in theatre, 32 dancers and choreographers, 13 circus artists and 10 architects. 3% or 54 of those selected work through the Irish language.
A basic income for the arts was the number one recommendation of the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce which was set up by Minister Martin in 2020 to examine how the sector could adapt and recover from the unprecedented damage arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of the scheme is to address the precarious and financial instability faced by many working in the arts, and to assist the sector recover post-pandemic.
Eligibility for the scheme was based on the definition of the arts as contained in the Arts Act 2003; “arts” means any creative or interpretative expression (whether traditional or contemporary) in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes”.
There were 3 categories under which applicants could apply as follows:
Practising artists;
Creative Arts Workers (defined as someone who has a creative practice or whose creative work makes a key contribution to the interpretation or exhibition of the arts), or
Recently Trained, that is, graduated with a relevant qualification in the past 5 years.
84% of those selected identified as practising artists, 9% identified as Creative Arts Workers and 7% as Recently Trained Applicants.
I wish this pilot scheme every success and am sure it will bring many positive and unexpected benefits to all parts of the artistic equation.
For the rest of the arts communities, it will be a fascinating project to study. After conclusions are drawn, let us hope that the pilot inspires many more such programmes to fully and rightly value our artists and artistic communities.
Michelle Donelan, MP for Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham, Bradford on Avon and the villages
So, Michele Donelan is the new Culture Secretary.
This is the eleventh Culture Secretary we have had in 10 years, so the odds on her being around for a while aren’t good, which may be some consolation for the arts community.
So let’s take a moment to look at her qualifications for holding the Culture post.
Er,…..
Donelan reportedly “dabbled in the media” (as Variety puts it) working in an undisclosed capacity for “That’s LIfe!” and “Marie Claire” magazines, on the Australian editions of these titles. For those of you who haven’t seen them, this is what one of these publications looks like
This is the Australian version of the magazine that I believe Ms Donelan earlier worked upon in some capacity. Hopefully not as a headline writer. This is an issue from 2019, long after her departure
She apparently then, briefly worked for The History Channel. Interestingly, her LinkedIn profile for this job shows a disappointing amount of connections, posts or content, as evidenced by the screengrab below. Is it just me, or does 1 connection not appear to be a storming success for a Partnership Marketing Executive?
Michelle’s LinkedIn account, like her brief job, appears to be history…..
There followed a small stint for Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment in their marketing department. I wouldn’t be shouting about that myself, but, hey, it takes all sorts.
Ah! But, of course- she will have been chosen as coming from an area where the arts are in full and vibrant bloom.
Er,…
Donelan represents a constituency with no professional theatres, just a 150-seat converted church (whose website seems to have been updated last in June….) and the Neeld Community Centre (200 seats) whose sparse programme is mainly psychics and tribute bands that do the rounds of the UK’s small halls. As to theatre, a quick search of its website reveals this result:
This screengrab (taken 7 September)from the website of Neeld Community and Arts Centre doesn’t exactly show an abundance of theatre offerings….
Michelle bellows on her MP website bio “Broadening skills and opportunities is something I am truly passionate about – it is the reason why I entered politics, and it was the theme of my Maiden Speech in Parliament in 2015. I believe an MP’s job should be to knock down barriers, open doors and create opportunities for all.”
Really? So why, as Minister for Further and Higher Education from 2021-2, did she support and enable the devaluing and de-funding of arts education from our colleges and universities, slashing their funding to “encourage” people into what the Tories see as more “sensible” jobs – like banking, insurance, and factory work.
Ah, but surely we heard her speaking out against Rishi Sunak, the then-Chancellor, branding arts careers and jobs as “unviable”? Of course we didn’t. Donelan’s actions show her as fully on-board with devaluing and downgrading arts education and crushing the artistic aspirations of young people. Why? To pressure them into a boring 9 to 5 soulless existence which Tories need in order to control our country. Their mantra is ‘keep them poor, keep them sick, keep them stupid and keep them angry’.
Michelle’s walk hardly chimes with her loudly-trumpeted talk “I believe an MP’s job should be to knock down barriers, open doors and create opportunities for all.” …….
Here’s the point, folks….
You may have seen the Labour party social media post where Liz Truss is heard talking down UK workers in a discussion around the productivity gap. It is so depressing to hear our new Prime Minister casually slagging off UK workers behind closed doors. Instead of talking frankly, constructively and passionately as intelligent adults about what the issue is and how we resolve it.
Let’s be clear. There is absolutely a productivity gap. It has been getting worse since the great financial crash of 2008 and has not recovered – in fact it’s actually got even worse.
In the lazy and ill-considered manner which has typified governments of the last twelve years, they have freely allowed themselves to be manipulated by education “influencers” and lobbyists who have been pushing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) as their Holy Grail.
But more recently a wider range of actual educators have realised that they need to push STEAM instead.
The A?
Arts.
Why? Because the arts are about PEOPLE. Made by people, for people. Because the arts give an appreciation and understanding of creativity, they allow creative expression. Enjoyment of and participation in the Arts makes people feel better. Studies have proven this.
In the UK workforce,there has been a sharp decline over the past 20 years in Management training, more and more staff are expected to learn on the job. For managers this makes their job considerably harder. This then means they struggle to get the best out of their staff. The staff may feel demotivated, unheard, disconnected. And there’s the reason for our productivity gap. The so called “soft skills” – connection, communication, empathy, etc – are not being taught or practised. They are the key to better relationships, and to a happier, more productive workforce.
Encouraging training and opportunities in, appreciation of and participation in Arts, whatever they are, makes for a happier, healthier, more interested and engaged public- and workforce. Exposure to the Arts gently, carefully, teaches people about communication, empathy, connection, kindness, as well as helping them give voice to feelings they may not otherwise have felt strong enough to explore. The arts explore, debate and celebrate what it is to be human. In short, the arts allow us to understand each other better. And that helps us create better relationships, which is the most complicated thing that humans can do so well – if they are encouraged, supported and shown examples of what this looks like in action. And that is the golden gift from the arts. They teach people how to be people. Better people. Happier people. And hopefully how to feel better about themselves and how to connect with others.
See my point here?
That’s how you close the productivity gap.
Invest in the Arts.
But don’t expect this Government to understand that, or to do anything about it. Not when it’s easier for the Prime Minister to sneer behind the country’s back about how lazy British workers are.
The Arts will survive another incapable Culture Minister. But will the country?
Ardent Theatre’s co-Creative Director Mark Sands has written a very useful article about the redistribution of existing arts money outside London and why it isn’t the answer. Well worth three minutes of your time. Read it here
“London is being punished for the decades’ long underinvestment in regional arts and cuts in local funding. It’s not a solution; it’s a recipe for resentment.”
