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Name Officer position Authority Telephone Email

Lorna Brown Chair of nalgao West Sussex CC 01243 756770 [email protected]

KatherineWest Vice Chair & NW Regional Rep: Vale Royal Borough Council 01606 867522 [email protected] ( job-share)

JaneWilson Treasurer: nalgao Arts Development in East 01353 669022 [email protected] (ADEC)

Mark Homer Secretary: nalgao Lincolnshire County Council 01522 553300 [email protected]

Janet Mein Counties Representative Hampshire County Council 01962 845468 [email protected]

Catherine Davis Counties Representative Hertfordshire County 01992 555679 [email protected]

Jayne Knight Eastern Regional Rep ( job-share) Suffolk County Council 01728 724793 [email protected]

Andrew Kitchen Eastern Regional Rep ( job-share) Waveney District Council 01502 523397 [email protected]

Sharon Scaniglia EM Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Nottingham City Council 0115 9158604 [email protected]

Sara Bullimore EM Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Lincoln City Council 01522 873844 [email protected]

Catherine London Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) London Borough of 0208 270 4816 [email protected] Barking & Dagenham

LeahWhittington London Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) London Borough of Lambeth 0207 926 0763 [email protected]

Andrea Bushell NorthWest Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Salford City Council 0161 778 0843 [email protected]

Zoe Channing North East Regional Representative: Sunderland City Council 0191 5148459 [email protected] ( job-share)

Neil Hillier North East Regional Representative: Durham County Council 0191 384 2214 [email protected] ( job-share)

Michael Johnson Southern Region Representative ( job-share) Test Valley Borough Council 01264 368844 [email protected]

Hannah Cervenka Southern Region Representative ( job-share) West Oxfordshire DC 01993 861554 [email protected]

Charlotte Gardiner South East Region Representative ( job-share) Waverley Borough Council 01483 523390 [email protected]

Gail Brown South East Region Representative ( job-share) Surrey County Arts 01483 776128 [email protected]

Nickola Moore SouthWest Region Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Borough of Poole 01202 633973 [email protected]

Helen Miah SouthWest Region Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Swindon BC 01793 465353 [email protected]

Jonathan Cochrane West Midlands Regional Rep: Redditch Borough Council 01527 63051 [email protected] ( job-share)

Lizzy Alageswaran Yorkshire Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) Rotherham MBC 01709 823636 [email protected]

Gill Cooper Yorkshire Regional Rep: nalgao ( job-share) City of York Council 01904 554671 [email protected]

CarysWynne SouthWales Regional Rep Blaenau Gwent CBC 01495 322510 [email protected]

Gwawr Roberts NorthWales Regional Rep ( job-share) Gwynedd CBC 01286 679721 [email protected]

Sian Hughes NorthWales Regional Rep ( job-share) Conwy CBC 01492 575572 [email protected]

Chris Willison WestWales Regional Representative Pembrokeshire CC 01437 775246 [email protected]

Sue Isherwood Executive Officer nalgao 01749 871110 [email protected]

Pete Bryan Administrator nalgao 0116 2671441 [email protected]

nalgaoTrusteesMembership 2007/08

The next issue of Arts at the Heart willbe out in July and will feature culturalentitlement and the current status ofarts funding.

Copy deadline for the next issue is Monday 12 May.If you would like to write an article for the next issuePlease talk to our Editor Paul Kelly - Tel: 01752 217281or email: [email protected]

If you would like information about nalgaoPlease contact: Pete Bryan, nalgao Administrator01269 824728 email: [email protected]

ARTSATTHE HEARTTheArt of Partnership

Working for localgovernmentartsandcreative industriesThe nalgao MagazineIssue 20 Spring 2008

Inside:A New Landscape for theArts?Interview with Sir JohnTusaReviewing McMasterPublicArtProject Case Studies

FromTurbulenceToAngels

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ContentsChair’s IntroductionFromTurbulence toAngels 2NalgaoNews 3NalgaoUpdates 4FeaturesANew Landscape for theArts? 6ReviewingMcMaster 9Cover FeaturePublicArt –TheArtofPartnership 12What Is PublicArt? 13Current Issues and Resources 13Funding, Planning Law andPlanning Gain 13Public Art Resources 14Changing practices 15PublicArtCaseStudiesThe Impact of AnAngel 17pARTnership in Hampshire 19Brightening up Boscombe 20Thrill at theMill 21In Transit 22Lighting up the City 24InvisibleWorld 26OpinionWho owns public art? 28CaseStudiesWeaving theWeb 30ReportsMaking DiversityWork 32Adapt or Die 33AWeek In The Life… 34ReviewsThe Social Entrepreneur 35TheLastWord 35nalgaoTrusteesMembership 36

Editor: Paul KellyCultural FuturesTel: 01752 217281Mobile: 07825 313838Email: [email protected]

Published by nalgaoTel: & Fax: 01269 824728Email: [email protected]

It has, as I am sure you will agree, been a turbulent few months for the arts.The McMaster report on excellence, the Arts Council England fundingannouncements, the departure after ten years of Peter Hewitt - the longestserving Chief Executive of the English Arts Council since the 1950s and one ofthe more successful - and most unexpectedly, a new Secretary of State, AndyBurnham, at the DCMS. All of this has created many column inches about thearts, and not always with positive messages. It’s a great shame that thesuccess of the arts sector and the Arts Council in winning extra governmentmoney, was lost in a wave of criticism surrounding Arts Council budget cuts.

Eighteen percent of those cuts directly affect local authority arts initiatives.But I’m not going to use this column to have another ‘pop’ at the Arts Council.In the discussions I’ve had as nalgao Chair, with the DCMS, the LocalGovernment Association and the Arts Council itself, one thing has becomeabundantly clear; the Arts Council is a partner, not a target. nalgao values thatpartnership and wants to make it work.

But there is a bigger question that affects all who work in our sector andthat is about the wider nature of cultural relationships. In a recent BBC Radio 4interview, arts supremo Sir John Tusa, was asked about the historic “armslength relationship” between government and the arts. “Oh”, he said, “it stillexists. But you have to realise that in recent times the distance between handand shoulder has shrunk a great deal.” It was an astute quip that masks somebigger questions about politics, policy and partnership in a creative sector witha growing number of well informed strategic arts agencies.

Reports back from nalgao members inWales suggest we could learnsomething from the Principality – and not just about rugby tactics, thoughsome of those might have surprising relevance. TheWelsh Assembly Cabinet isdiscussing measures to enable research into cultural entitlement for all inWales, with the intention of legislating on this matter by 2010. The arts will bea key component in cultural entitlement and the research will involvepartnership discussion, including nalgaoWales, which should create a bettercohesion between all concerned.

It’s not just Peter Hewitt who has notched up ten years. Antony Gormley’s“Angel of the North” celebrates its tenth birthday later this month.We aredelighted to feature “The Angel” on our front cover and tell the story of how aLocal Authority with little track record in arts provision, came, with significantArts Council support, to create an extraordinary global icon. 3,253 pieces ofsteel were used in the Angel’s construction, which shows how complex thecreation of public art can be. Our lead feature on this complex creativediscipline both provides useful guidance, case studies of successful projectsand commentary which both praises and critiques this high profile artform.

“The Angel of the North” is not just a great piece of art. It’s a symbol ofhow Local Government and the Arts Council can work in partnership tocreate something truly momentous and enduring.What better ambitioncan we have for the next ten years?

Lorna BrownChair of nalgaoIn

mydiscussionsasChair,onethinghasbecome

abundantlyclear;ArtsCouncilEnglandisapartner,nota

target.nalgaowantstomakethatpartnershipwork.

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nalgaoConference2008The nalgao National Conference will be taking place inBlackpool at theWinter Gardens from 8th - 10th October2008, so please ensure that you have the date fixed firmly inyour diaries. nalgao will be looking for case studies frommembers for Breakout presentations. The conferenceaffords an excellent opportunity to share good practice andto showcase the work of your authorities to a national andinternational audience.

Newwebsite launchdatesetnalgao’s new website will be launched on 18 April at theManchester seminar “Feeding Your CPD”. Arts at the Heart EditorPaul Kelly, who is project managing the development andassembling copy for it said, “David Smith, the designer and I areworking to develop a site that will become a useful part of yourdaily working life. The new site will have a library where you canaccess arts case studies, a policy issues section, a resource centrefull of useful facts, figures and contacts and a news section withup to the minute information.We are particularly keen to make itvisually attractive and would welcome contributions frommembers of good quality arts project photos for the site.We willmake sure they are properly credited. If you have photos that youthink are right for the new site, please contact Paul Kelly [email protected]. Please note nalgao can only use photospicturing children if their parents have given written permissionfor the photo’s public use.

FeedingYourCPDFeeding your continual professional development is the latest innalgao’s seminar series. Staged in partnership with ManchesterCity Council andAction LearningAssociates, the day will explorethe many forms of continuing professional development (CPD),leadership, mentoring and peer support, in both practical sessionsand breakout groups.“This is a great opportunity to get a hands-on approach to

CPD, and to hear about both policy and practice from a range ofinformed speakers and to inform your own perspective on CPDfor the future.” says KatherineWest, nalgao’s NorthWestRepresentative, who oversaw the successful NorthWestregional mentoring scheme.The morning will include a keynote presentation from Hilary

Carty, of theArts Council England Cultural Leadership Programme,as well as an opportunity to discuss nalgao’s recent training needsassessment report and future CPD plans.There will be a series ofsmall breakout sessions offering CPD case studies of good practiceand lots of opportunities for debate and information sharing.Thebreakout presentation with Mike Faulkner (G &MAssociates) andVivTyler (Arts & Business: NW) will explore nalgao’s recent andhighly successful NorthWest regional mentoring programme, andplans for developing this into a national scheme.The afternoon session offers delegates a practical opportunity

to tackle work issues as part of an Action Learning Set. Delegatescan put theory in to practice by taking part in one of 5 facilitated2-hour sessions, with an alternative option to take part in a

1-hour session followed by a group personal coaching session.The Feed yourCPD Seminar takes place on:Wednesday 18thApril 2008 from 9.30 – 5.00ManchesterTownHall,Albert Square,ManchesterM60 2LA.Places are £85 for nalgao members and £130 for a nalgaomember and line manager. For more details and to book a placeemail Pete Bryan at [email protected] or phone 01269 824728

ClosingonthetargetParticipation and attendance rates by disabled and sociallyincluded groups in the arts have increased since 2001, thoughnot as much as the Government hoped for. The same rates forblack and minority ethnic groups fell over the same period.

The results are given in the Arts Council’s 2007 annual report.The Government had set a target for a 2% increase inparticipation and a 3% increase in attendance of targeted groups- Public Service Agreement (PSA) Target 2.The figures show the following:

ParticipationPriority Group Baseline Final Increase/ Variance

Decrease against 2%target

Disabled 12.2% 13.4% 1.2% -0.8%Socially Excluded 9.7% 10.5% 0.8% -1.2%Black andMinority Ethnic 14.6% 12.7% -1.9% -3.9%

AttendancePriority Group Baseline Final Increase/ Variance

Decrease against 3%target

Disabled 29.4% 31.9% 2.5% -0.5%Socially Excluded 22.9% 24.5% 1.6% -1.4%Black andMinority Ethnic 32.2% 30.8% -1.4% -4.4%

A new PSA target is running from 2005-08 seeking increases inparticipation by 2% and 3% in attendance by priority groups. Thegroups and baselines are:

ParticipationPriority Group Baseline TargetBlack and Minority Ethnic 21% 23%Limiting Disability 19% 21%Lower socio-economic 15% 17%

AttendancePriority Group Baseline TargetBlack and Minority Ethnic 24% 27%Limiting Disability 24% 27%Lower socio-economic 17% 20%

CorrectionAn error occurred in the feature on creative industries in the lastissue of ‘Arts at the Heart’. In the section on The creativeindustries value chain, we wrote “A film producer buys an ideafrom a writer, assembles the finance, fires a director andtechnical team…”We meant, of course, he hires a directorand technical team.

Cultural entitlement could become a statutorycommitment inWales within two years, accordingto CarysWynne, one of nalgao’sWelsh ExecutiveCommittee members. In our last issue of Arts atthe Heart, we reported how theWelsh AssemblyGovernment (WAG) was looking afresh at culturalstrategy and service delivery and that nalgaoWales was playing an active role in discussions.

Things have moved forward since then and inJanuary nalgaoWales representatives CarysWynneand ChristineWillison met with theWelshAssembly Cabinet Minister for Heritage RhodriGlyn Thomas and his civil servants.

The Assembly is looking to reviseWales’scultural strategy in line with the Stephens Reportand the OneWales document (see backstory) andthe new strategy will hopefully include a culturalduty within its provisions. Civil servants arecurrently researching whether cultural entitlement

should cover just the artsor the whole of leisure –so it could be quiteflexible – and whether itneeds to be a fairlygeneral standard ofdelivery or should it beprescriptive in terms ofminimum obligations andnumber of officers andnumber of people on theground. “They don’t seem

to be looking at it with a preconceived idea thatthey want implemented, which is really positivenews.” said Carys.

Keenonarms lengthprinciplenalgaoWales reports that the Minister would beasking theWelsh Cabinet to give legislativepower to theWelsh Assembly to pursue theresearch into cultural entitlement with the hopethat there will be a strategy and a duty by April2010. “They have to pass the powers this year,”said CarysWynne, “in order to research it andproduceWhite Papers on it. That’s quite a quickturnaround. The fact they are pushing on it veryquickly demonstrates a commitment to fulfillingit. But,” she added, “the Minister doesn’t want toput a duty on Local Authorities that they can’tdeliver, so there is also a degree of realism atplay. He wants to set a vision and ambition butdoesn’t want it to be undeliverable.”

A development group will be established in theSpring to look at the development of culturalentitlement and performance measures for thearts alongside that. nalgaoWales has been askedto be part of that which is very exciting. Itrecognises the role that nalgao can play in thatand that we have the communication with a lotof people on the ground so we already have ahuge base of knowledge.

The meeting with the Minister was productivein that it allowed nalgaoWales to stress the

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Wales–headingforentitlement?

TheWelshAssemblyGovernment,buildingCardiff

importance of understanding that the arts havea role to play in delivering a cross-cutting agenda,which is something we’ve been pushing for, for along time. Also to highlight the potential of thearts to generate income into the economybecause it provides jobs and skills. The mostpositive thing from the meeting, reports Carys,was that the Minister is very keen to adhere tothe arms length principle of governance for thearts and wants to know about examples of goodpractice. He wants to know what’s going on andincrease communication.

Funding is currently a sensitive issue, reportsCarys, and it is understood that finance is notseen as the only means to progress. It isrecognised that a lot more could be achievedthrough developing expertise in the arts,collaborative working and good practice models.

NalgaoWales is also building up its partnershipwith theWelsh Local Government Association tolook at regional partnership agreements and howlocal authorities can input on a more longer termbasis into the Stephens Review.These processes,says CarysWynne, will make a big difference tothe arts inWales in the next five to ten years.•BackStoryIn late 2005Welsh Culture Minister Alan Pughannounced the intention of transferring fundingresponsibility of the largest arts clients inWalesfrom Arts CouncilWales to theWelsh Assembly.

There had been little prior warning of this andthe proposal met with a considerable criticismfrom the arts sector and was defeated in theWelsh Assembly. It prompted the Stephens reviewto examine the existing and future roles of theArts Council ofWales andWelsh AssemblyGovernment and the funding of the arts in aninternational context. The review reported inAutumn 2006 and sought to make the arts inWales more ambitious, innovative, strategy-drivenand inclusive. For the full report visit -http://new.wales.gov.uk/subsites/ walesartsreview

In 2007 Labour lost overall control in theWelshAssembly elections. It agreed a coalition withPlaid Cymru and produced the ‘OneWales’document setting out its plans for the future.TheOneWales document included a small section onculture but with some ambitious plans fordeveloping the arts inWales.

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In issue 16 (November 2005) we carried areport from nalgao Executive Member JaneWilson on the Live Music Forum and impact ofthe Licensing Act on live music provision. TheLive Music Forum, was set up to fulfil aMinisterial commitment to monitor the impactof the 2003 Licensing Act on live music, andto promote live music performance. Chairedby Fergal Sharkey, it has now produced itsfinal report.

Its findings include:• The vast majority of local authorities haveacted in a professional and appropriate mannerwhen dealing with applications for live music.

• No one particular type or style of live music,or any particular style of venue, has been moreaffected than any other by the new legislation.

• The Licensing Act 2003 has had a broadlyneutral impact on the provision of live music.But it has not led to the promised increase inlive music.

• Many of the benefits the Government believed

the new legislation would bring to live musichave been delivered but, the Forum hasquestioned the need for the licensing of livemusic at all.

• The Act has an exemption from licensing for‘incidental music’. The Forum believes that thisis quite a wide-ranging exemption and shouldbe applied liberally.

• In some areas there has been an over zealousor incorrect interpretation of the legislation.The Forum thus recommends changes to thelegislation, particularly by providing adefinition of ‘incidental music’ and thatunamplified live music is exempt fromlicensing.

• The actions of a small number of localauthorities, whose response to this legislation,in relation to live music, has been unnecessary,unreasonable and disproportionate, shouldfurther be investigated.

The full report is available to download from:www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Creative_industries/music/live_music_forum.htm

Creative industriespolicyupdateWe reported in the last issue that aGovernment Green Paper on the creativeindustries was expected in the early part of2008.That has now been revised and theDCMS, in partnership with theDepartment for Business, Enterprise andRegulatory Reform and the Department for

Innovation, Universities and Skills, has justpublished a creative industries strategy paper –“Creative Britain – New Talentsfor the New Economy” Look here for thisstrategy paper: http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/096CB847-5E32-4435-9C52-C4D293CDECFD/0/CEPFeb2008.pdf

Music–LiveMusicForumupdate

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ANewLandscapeForTheArts?

PaulKelly

Commissioned by the Conservative party justover a year ago, Sir John Tusa’s Arts Task Forceand report – “A New Landscape for the Arts”has possibly had less press coverage than itscounterpart from Sir Brian McMaster.

Yet, the two seem to complement each otherlike hand in glove. As Sir John points out overleaf,McMaster sets the overall view and the Arts TaskForce looks at the detail of implementation.

The Arts Task Force Team (see box formembership), looked at just four areasaffecting the arts:• Funding structures• Taxation policy• Education• TechnologyThese, they felt, were the key aspects which helpartists and arts companies to do their job andmake the arts more accessible to the public.Although commissioned by the Conservative Party,the Task Force saw itself as an independent bodyand not the poodle of party politics. “On nooccasion,” says Sir John, in his introduction, “did a

discussion about the report or recommendationsturn into a politically-driven discussion.”The Teamtook evidence, though who gave evidence is notstated. But, they report, “we discovered anenthusiasm to talk openly about arts and artspolicy that reflected and reacted against a ratherclaustrophobic, prescriptive, numerically-drivenarts dialogue that has characterised recent years.It was as if a door was opening for debate, andmany in the arts world could not wait to join in aprocess from which they currently felt excluded.”

The Task Force’s recommendations were guided byfour principles:1. The principle of excellence in the arts must be

absolute; the arts cannot contribute in all theways demanded of them without thiscommitment.

2. Government should recognise that trust alliedto responsibility is more effective that insistingon mere bureaucratic accountability.

3. Our vision of a new landscape for the arts willallow ambition to flourish still more. As it is, thearts are a huge British success story. This newlandscape will allow success to flourish.

4. The arts world needs to deliver its side of thebargain. A culture of asking and a culture ofrecognising giving is part of the landscape inwhich a culture of giving can thrive.

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NDPBs“Not fully joinedup”The Task Force’s report has 36 recommendationsand we cannot cover them all here.The twosections that will probably of the greatest interestto Arts at the Heart readers concern fundingstructures and education.

The Task Force believes that part of the problemlies with funding structures and the way they work,or don’t work.

“The administration of the arts world ischaracterised by a plethora of different institutions,bodies and structures fromWhitehall departmentsto quangos (such as Arts Council England – ACE) tolocal authorities and regional developmentassociations.While co-operation occurs on ahaphazard basis, there is no evidence that a fully“joined up” set of policies on the arts is delivered bythis web of overlapping and independent bodies.”

TheTask Force recommendations include:• Transferring Arts Council ‘national’ RFOs to theDCMS – who already fund national museums.

• Reducing the size of ACE central office.• Freeing up ACE to work in its nine regions andgetting it to work ‘alongside’ the Museums andLibraries Association (MLA) and ideallyco-located with MLA.

• Designating certain arts institutions as NonDepartmental Public Bodies so that theseorganisations can operate with greaterindependence.

• Introducing a strong cultural element intoLocal Authority performance assessments.with significant acknowledgement of theimportance of the performing and visual arts.

Education -‘avirtuouscircle’The Task Force report says that “Participation inthe arts helps us make sense of the world,reinforces both our individuality and ourconnectedness, expresses values, raisesachievement and, quite simply, makes life better.The report says “good arts education must createa virtuous circle which connects creative,practical engagement – making things - with aknowledge and understanding of what otherpeople have made – of culture - both of todayand of the past.” To achieve this itsrecommendations include:

• An entitlement to culture for all youngpeople an increased arts-focus in initialTeacher Training.

• Departments responsible for culture andeducation developing a more focusedsense of joint responsibility.

• Creative Partnerships should shift its focusmore towards teachers, thereby developinga more sustainable framework.

• The introduction of the Schoolsmark (alongthe lines of the current Artsmark) to beawarded to arts organisations in recognition oftheir commitment to a dynamic relationshipwith a wider community. That there should bea better balance between experience-basedand knowledge based learning of the arts. •

PaulKelly,Editor

ANew Landscape For TheArts” the reportof TheArts Task Force can be downloaded fromwww.artstaskforce.co.ukThe site also has fivediscussion papers submitted byDeborah Bull, Robert Hewison and others.

TheArtsTaskForceTeamSir John Tusa : ChairmanWilf Weeks, OBEVictoria BarnsleyBendor GrosvenorAmanda JonesAlan BorgMunira MirzaSpecialAdvisor,Education:Gillian Moore, MBESecretary:Amanda Shepherd

WhoIsSir JohnTusa?Born in Czechoslovakia, Sir John Tusa came toBritain in 1939. After taking a First in Historyat Cambridge and doing National Service, hejoined the BBC in 1960 as a General Trainee.His work at the BBC led him to radio and TVpresentation and he became a main presenterof BBC2’s “Newsnight”, for which he won awardsfrom both the Royal Television Society andBAFTA. From l986 to 1992 he was ManagingDirector of BBCWorld Service, and laid thefoundations of BBCWorld Service Television.

He became Managing Director of the BarbicanCentre in 1995 where he remained until August2007. He is currently Chairman of theWigmoreHall Trust, a Vice Chairman of the BritishMuseum, a Trustee of The Turquoise MountainTrust Foundation regenerating Afghanistan andChairman of the Court of Governors for theUniversity of the Arts, London.

Sir JohnchampionsLocalAuthoritiesIn a speech to theRoyalGeographical SocietyinApril 2007Sir JohnTusa said:“I’m sick to death… that the arts play such a smallpart in the activities of local authorities.There arestatutory responsibilities on local authorities toprovide key services such as education, housingand the police.There is no equivalent statutoryresponsibility to providethe arts. Perhaps inevitably when localauthorities do produce a cultural strategy –and more and more of them feel obliged to

do so -there is no mention of anythingtruly recognisable as arts provision.

“Can you be surprised when the very word“culture” in local authority speak has been debasedto include swimming, walking and enjoying parksalmost to the deliberate exclusion of the visualand performing arts.Yes, I have seen such adocument more than once and had to makeurgent representations to a Greater London Artsstrategy to get its terms broadened to include thereal arts world in more than an apologetic add on.

But can you be surprised when the officialgovernment yardstick by which local authorities

are judged gave a low weighting … to theprovision of theatres, galleries or concert halls.You could - you can – be judged to be an“excellent” local authority; one whose “directionof travel” is upward, even though your provisionof the arts or culture is almost non-existent.

“Given this view of the lack of importance ofthe arts on the local authority scene, can you stillbe surprised that when the finances are tight,almost the very first local service to be cut is fromthe arts, a local museum, a library or somethingclearly regarded as a non-essential part of localgovernment’s activities.”

TheAAHInterview:Sir JohnTusaPaulKelly spoketoSir JohnTusaaboutTheArtsTaskForcereport“ANewLandscapeForTheArts”

Financially, the arts have done rather well over thepast 10 years. So why was your enquiry needed?

Well, the Conservatives felt that they neededsome fresh thinking on the arts, if they weren’t justto play follow my leader behind whatever Labourwas doing. They wanted to have somethingdistinctively available to them. So setting up thisindependent task force seemed to them to be thebest way ahead.

We have had reports in the last few years onleadership and on public value, but you seem tohave unleashed a new and vibrant discussion.Whyhas this discussion not happened before?

Well, discussions have been taking placeamongst arts people. I don’t think discussions ledby the Arts Council have ever been particularly wellfocussed. Frankly, just at the moment the existingArts Council is not an organisation that hascommanded a great deal of respect among thearts community. And also, whenever ACE hasproduced a report it has had absolutely no effectat all.What we did was to look at things in ratherdifferent ways. Each one of our areas deals with adifferent bit of the arts world structure.We gosystematically through the various organisationsthat affect how the arts work, how they arefunded, how they might work better together and Ithink it’s a more comprehensive review than most.

Your report seems to be saying that Britain isproducing some world class art in spite of ratherthan because of the funding system, so whatneeds to change?

First, one has to be rather careful about claimingthat we are the only this country that producesground-breaking art. But the particularlybureaucratic way that the Arts Council, and untilvery recently the DCMS, administered arts funding,has just cut across the grain of what almosteverybody in the arts world wants to do which is,to concentrate on delivering the highest quality ofarts. I think it’s only now, with the Government’sMcMaster report, that this reconnection hasstarted to be made. Quality and excellence comesfirst, not social and economic objectives.

YourTask Force report merely calls for a strongcultural element in Local Authority performanceassessments rather than a statutory duty. Isn’tthis a sin of omission?

No, because everybody advised us that there issimply no point in trying to lay another statutoryobligation on Local Authorities who already havethem hanging off them like necklaces. I’ve seenhow this works in the City of London.The City ofLondon pours millions into the arts each year butsometimes they didn’t get a top grade in theculture block – which was absolutely ludicrous.So the absence of serious arts culture - rather thanlifestyle recreation, parks and swimming etc - is a

major gap in the way that Local Authorities areassessed and measured. And I know that LocalAuthorities mind very much how the aremeasured. So this route is likely to be farmore effective.

One of the four areas you look at is learningand the arts. Has arts investment in learning hitthe mark and if not what needs changing?

When a theatre company or an orchestracomes into a school what they are demonstratingis experience. Unless there is real education andknowledge about the arts, they are not building onknowledge.We think schools have rather given upon teaching children about the arts – things likewhat is the history of western music, or who isMozart? The emphasis has been so much onexperience, but the question is what are theyexperiencing? The craft base needs to be builtback into the class curriculum so that theexperience has some root knowledge, anintellectual base on which to be grafted.

We are expecting a new Government at somepoint in the next two years.Your report has got36 recommendations. If any political party adoptsyour report what are the quick wins for them?

Frankly, I think almost all of them.The oneswhich will take a little longer are the ones relatingto tax concessions for giving .We want the Treasuryto understand that you encourage people to give

and if you actually allow the givers to feel a certaintax benefit in their lifetime, donors are very muchlikely to give more.That’ll take a little while. Mostof the others are easy, you know you can changethe structure of the DCMS very, very quickly.Governments are always changing structures ofcentralWhitehall departments. And changing thepowers of the Arts Council wouldn’t take long. Butthere’s an awful lot that could be done extremelyquickly. And it also implies some shifts of attitudeswhich can be done straight away.

Sir Brian McMaster’s report on excellence isgaining a lot of attention at the moment. It wascommissioned by the current government ratherthan by a possible future one. How much do youthink your two reports have got in common?

Well I think they fit absolutely. The McMasterreport gives you the overall view – the arts have tobe excellent and quality is the criterion and weneed to move away from instrumentalism. Andthat is completely consistent in word and inthought with everything we say in the Task Force.And what we have produced is a series oforganisational and structural changes as well assome changes in values, which would enable thenew excellence/quality agenda to be delivered. Soreally I’m waiting for one party or the other torealise that the two reports give them a fantasticbi-partisan across-the-board arts policy. •

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Sir John Tusa

TheContextWhenTony Blair addressed the arts community lastJune, for the first and last time, he spoke of the lastten years as a “Golden Age” for the Arts in Britain.It’s true, government arts funding has increasedsignificantly since 1997. But there must have beenrumblings about funding systems and distributionthat caused James Purnell, until recently Secretaryf State for Culture, to commission a review bySir Brian McMaster. Sir Brian’s brief was to look at• How the system of public sector support for thearts can encourage excellence, risk-takingand innovation.

• How artistic excellence can encourage wider anddeeper engagement with the arts by audiences and

• How to establish a light touch and non-bureaucratic method to judge the quality of thearts in the future.

McMasters’ response essentially says; don’t assessby statistics, assess on excellence by the level ofinnovation and risk-taking. Develop peer review, putmore artists on the arts company boards and putfunding bodies on interview panels. Build mentoringcosts into organisational budgets and prioritisecontinuing professional development.

TheReport’sStatusThe McMaster report was commissioned by thethen Secretary of State for Culture, James Purnell, ithas been published by the DCMS and the Secretaryof State has written an introduction welcoming it.So it has official standing. But how much of itsrecommendations will be implemented and how, is,

currently the subject of discussion within the DCMS.

TheBackground IssuesThere has been long running and wearisome butimportant debate since the 1950s about excellencein the arts. It started when the Arts Council decidedbetween 1953 and 1955 to close the regionaloffices it ran on cost grounds.The then Secretary-General BillWilliams coined the phrase ‘few butroses’ as the Arts Council’s guiding principle; that issupport the highest quality and in a few places ifthat’s all we can afford. His other motto was‘raising not spreading’.

This move, which signified an abandonmentof regionalism, plus the emergence of new ideas1960s – that promoted emerging artforms likephotography, jazz, performance art and communityarts – resulted in a sort of cultural antagonismbetween what is generally seen as a rather stuffyand patrician 1950s and a liberalising, ‘anythinggoes’ 1960s. In creative terms there were two sides,traditionalists rooted in fine art, opera and classicalmusic and the progressives rooted in the ‘new arts’community arts, jazz, cinema, experimental theatremulti-media, performance art and anything with awhiff of contemporary about it. Also bound up inthis was an Arts Council decision taken at itsinception, not to engage with or supportamateur arts.

Essentially it was a battle for money and power,also played out between London and the regions.In the 1970s, BillWilliams’ successor but two, RoyShaw tried leavening the divide with the motto‘excellence and access’. But little changed until1984 when Shaw’s successor, the apparentlybusiness-focussed Luke Rittner commissioned ‘TheGlory of The Garden’ report which devolved moneyand companies to the regions, especially in thevisual arts (and also established Birmingham RoyalBallet) and championed multicultural arts and artsfor the disabled. But financial sums involved wererelatively modest.

The debate between excellence and access wasalso reflected through the 1970s and 1980s in anoften antagonistic battle between London and theregions represented by independent Regional ArtsAssociations (RAAs), which had been set up to

ReviewingMcMaster

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Orchestra conductor Ronald Corp

replace the Arts Council regional offices.TheRAAs were in effect a partnership between localarts interests and Local Government.Whilst therewas some regional variation, the basic system wassimilar; Local Authorities paid an annual subscriptionand this gave them membership on the RAA.SomeconcernsandpuzzlesThis history tells us that excellence was thus notmerely about artistic standards, it was also aboutaccess and increasingly about diversity.

The arrival of New Labour in 1997 signalled anew more socially-oriented focus with DowningStreet’s Policy Action Team 10 (PAT10) set up tofocus on the contribution that sport and the artscan potentially make toward neighbourhoodrenewal followed more recently by a focus onparticipation levels in arts and the just-launchedDCMS survey into the voluntary arts.

There is much sense underlying McMaster’sreport. No one in their right mind would say wedon’t want the arts to be excellent. It’d be a bit likesaying you don’t want your child to do well atschool. But there are also some concerns and somepuzzles. It seems no Local Authorities wereconsulted and the report lacks anything on LocalGovernment’s role in the course he sets. And it isnot clear how the excellence agenda dovetails withthe social inclusion and participation agenda.Thequestion now is who delivers and how will that bedecided, by decree or through debate? •PaulKelly,Editor

AnexhibitionofWalterHanlon’sphotos isondisplayattheNationalPortraitGalleryuntil July2008

Ronnie Scott in 1953, photo:Walter Hanlon

TheMcMasterReview“SupportingExcellence InTheArts – fromMeasurement to Judgement”has alreadybeenwell reported in thenational press and innalgao’s Ezine.Arts at theHeartoutlines someof thebackgroundandissues that surroundSir Brian’s report and recommendations.

SomeResponses to theMcMaster reportArtsat theHeart soughtresponses tothereport fromanunscientific sample.Here’swhatpeoplesaid:

NationalCampaignfor theArtsThe NCA welcomes the broad thrust of Sir BrianMcMaster’s review, which advocates that, aboveall, it is the quality of the work leading to thequality of experience that should be the primarycriterion for arts funding. However…There is muchin the report that needs further clarification andexamination. Sir Brian’s definitions of Excellence,Risk, and Innovation (leading to the inference thatall innovation is good) need closer inspection.TheNCA would like to know more about whatMcMaster envisages in practice when herecommends that ‘innovation and risk-takingbe at the centre of the funding and assessmentframework for every organisation, large or small.”The NCA would like to see a clear timetable andplan for how recommendations might beimplemented, particularly the proposal that artistsand practitioners should be at the heart of a peerreview process of evaluation.The NCA is inconsultation with members and will be respondingto the McMaster review in detail in due course.Chloe Reddaway - www.artscampaign.org.uk

Sue Isherwood,ExecutiveOfficer,nalgaoThe mantra for McMaster is ‘excellence,innovation and risk taking’. From the localauthority perspective excellence should be noproblem.The problem words are “risk taking”.On the whole local authorities and theirofficers are extremely risk averse.The right tofail is a very hard one to sell to councillors aswell. ACE’s Public Value consultation alsorevealed, that members of the public wereconcerned that investment is related to whatlocal communities want and need. Here I thinkwe start to come up against a problem for localauthorities with McMaster’s recommendations.I can find no mention of community anywherein the document.The other missing word for usis participation, that DCMS has managed to getinto the 200 national PIs which will rule localauthority lives for the next few years ofperformance management. Sue Isherwood [email protected]

(LGA)Sir Brian’s conclusions herald a potential shift ingovernment policy on public funding of the artsand culture. The LGA is concerned that the reportmakes no mention of the significance of localgovernment as a supporter, promoter and patron

of the arts and culture.We are still formulating ourdetailed views on the report, in collaboration withnalgao.There is a potential impact on policy whichcould be on community development which is thelocal authority angle. But we are seeking to findout more about how the DCMS and its sponsoredbodies are thinking of implementing Sir Brian’srecommendations before leaping to judgement.Lyndsey Swift, LGA – www.lga.gov.uk

Whilst applauding the headline intent, the poorrecognition of the complexity of many of theconcepts and issues under the spotlight ishugely disappointing and the language of thepatrician old school of ‘gatekeeper’ alarming. Isthis the kind of mindset that would inform thesetting up of the proposed ‘knowledge bank’?The need for a joined up international strategyand the peer review question have been aroundfor years yet they were presented as brandnew.There's loads more I could say. MMM’srecommendations began with AbrahamLincoln’s famous quote: “The dogmas of thequiet past are inadequate to the stormypresent.The occasion is piled high withdifficulty, and we must rise to the occasion” Ifear the McMaster Review has not. ClareCooper-www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk

1946

Arts Council of GreatBritain formed

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Arts Council of GreatBritain closes itsregional offices – ‘Fewbut roses’ policy

1956

The First Regional ArtsAssociations formed -SouthWest ArtsAssociation and theMidlands ArtsAssociation

1965

‘A Policy For The Arts’Arts Minister JennieLee’s work. Consecutivefunding increases tothe Arts Council of45% and 26% .

1972

The Bains ReportBains reported on LocalGovernmentmanagement and hisrecommendationshelped bring about theestablishment of pro-active local authorityleisure committees anddepartments.

1973

The BeafordDeclarationThe first conference ofprofessional arts centremanagers andcommunity artistsmeets at the ‘trailblazing rural arts centrein North Devon’ andissues a call for moreinclusivity in the arts.

Landmarks in English arts policyA selective list

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RickBond,TheCompleteWorksI like McMaster’s refreshing principles. Naturally,my attention was directed to my own area ofexpertise – governance. So all boards should havetwo artists. Good – but this will only be trulyeffective if artists are properly inducted in theduties and responsibilities they assume whenentrusted with the direction of a company. Equally,to sidestep potential in-house Armageddon's, theformal relationship between artist trustees andartistic directors must be agreed and understood –again – more training and induction. So, yes –excellent principles, but we must create theenvironment for them to be realised. Otherwisewe could be encouraging instability rather thaninnovation. Rick Bond -www.thecompleteworks.org.uk

PaulKelly,Editor,Artsat theHeartWhat the report doesn’t directly address iswhether excellence is an absolute virtue orwhether it is more relative and should becontextualised. Historically, excellence in thearts has tended to be viewed as an absolutevirtue with a yardstick based on quite atraditional and narrow aesthetic palette. Butthis approach is not helpful in a diversifiedsociety and with an ever growing body ofcommercial and subsidised cultural goods. Afixed view of excellence and can re-inforce the‘culture is not for us mentality’. Relativism and

contextualisation can be equally dangerous,leading to all manner of post-modernistmuddles. McMaster stresses the importance ofinnovation and risk.The best art has alwayspushed the boundaries and sought to gobeyond the known and I think this is what he’scalling for.The main thing we need to now urgeis that excellence is not limited to traditionalistviews of high art. ‘The Sultan’s Elephant’ wasexcellent and millions thought it so. Paul Kelly –[email protected]

WhoIs Sir BrianMcMaster?Born in Hertfordshire, Sir Brian McMaster readLaw at Bristol University, Comparative Law atStrasbourg University and qualified as a solicitor,before studying on the first Arts Council of GreatBritain’s course in Arts Administration.

He worked for English National Opera(1973-76), was Managing Director at theWelshNational Opera (1976-91) and Artistic Director

of theVancouver Opera from (1984- 1989).He was appointed Director of the EdinburghInternational Festival in 1991 until 2006 andwas the longest serving Director since theFestival started in 1947. He is currentlyChairman of the National Opera Studio, amember of the Arts Council of England, and hasserved as a judge for the Cardiff Singer of theWorld Competition since its inception. BrianMcMaster was awarded the CBE in 1987 and aKnighthood in 2003.

If you haven’t got a copy of the McMasterReport – it can be downloaded from:www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Arts/mcmaster_review.htm

1984

The Glory of theGardenLuke Rittner’s(Secretary General,ACGB) review, broughtabout devolution,diversity and disabilityarts support

1989

TheWilding ReviewRichardWilding’sreport led to abolitionof 12 Regional ArtsAssociations andreplacement by10Regional Arts Boardswith reduced LocalAuthority involvement

1994

Arts Council of GreatBritain abolishedAnd the Arts Council ofEngland,The ArtsCouncil ofWales andScottish Arts Councilestablished

1997

Department of CultureMedia and Sportestablished

2002

Arts Council of Englandabsorbs the RegionalArts Boards into a newnational body – ArtsCouncil England.

2007

The Arts Task Force(Conservative) andThe McMaster Review(Labour)

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What IsPublicArt?If ever there was an artform that requirescollaboration and partnership it is public art.And unlike other collaborative artforms liketheatre and film at which attendance is optional,the stakes are raised, because the work is publiclysited and, theoretically, anyone can see the work,and have a view.

As the excellent Public Art Online website says:“Public Art is not an artform. It's a principle, aprinciple of improving the changing environmentthrough the arts and is a term given to the practiceof involving artists in the conception, developmentand transformation of a public space. It isspecifically commissioned for a known site and itsaudience is the public or community, be it social orworking, who occupy that space.”CritiqueoncommissioningDevising and delivering a public art project can bea complex matter, which very much depends onsite, scale and resources. Local Authorities have akey role to play in all of this especially throughtheir development and planning functions. Becauseof the breadth and complexity of the subject wecan’t possibly tell you all you need to know in arelatively short feature like this. So, we’ve sought tobring together some of the key issues you need tothink about and signpost you to places where youcan find more details.

Fortunately, there is much good information onpublic art commissioning on the Internet –especially on two Arts Council originated sites –Public Art Online, developed and supported byPublic Art SouthWest, a division of Arts CouncilEngland SouthWest and the Commissions Northwebsite, part of Arts Council England North East.You will find more details listed in the Resourcessection of this feature. And in due course you willfind all this information on nalgao’s own website.

Further on you will find articles from MaggieBolt, Director of Public Art SouthWest reflectingon changes to the way public art is being delivered,Josie Appleton with a critique on the public sector’sinvolvement in commissioning, a celebration of‘The Angel of the North’, possibly Britain’s bestknown piece of public art, 10 years old this monthand six further public art case studies, showing justhow diverse the practice has become.

PaulKellyEditor

Current IssuesandResources

StructuresandsupportHistorically, if an artist wanted to put a work ina public place or a public body wanted to do this,they would just negotiate an agreement betweenthemselves. In the 1980s and 1990s severalagencies emerged to provide advice andsupport to a growing level of activity, as wellas managing commissions. The Public Art

Development Trust and the Public ArtCommissions agency are no more. But in theirplace, as it were, are a number of independentand Arts Council agencies doing the same sortof work and providing much needed advice.These include:• Ixia – “The public art think tank”• Artpoint Trust - “A catalyst for creativethinking in public spaces”

• Cywaith Cymru - ArtworksWales• Art in Partnership in Scotland• Commissions North – part of the Arts Council• Public Art SouthWest – part of the Arts Council(Full contact details for all of these are listed in theresources section on page 14)In addition Arts Council Visual Arts Officers canbe a useful source of advice and a number ofLocal Authorities have appointed Public ArtOfficers or similar.

Whilst it is perfectly possible to commissionand deliver a piece of public art as a singlestandalone project, the prevailing advice is thatbest practice and the best projects come fromauthorities with good public art policies orstrategies. Such authorities also have statementssupporting public art in statutory local planssupplemented by more detailed planningguidance. These are needed as the key means offunding public art projects, are private and publicsector developers (the latter may be localauthorities themselves). More information on thisis in the following section on planning law. Thegood news is that you don’t have to re-inventthe wheel. Public Art SouthWest’s excellentPublic Art Online website has 4 public artpolicies, 19 public art strategies and 7 sets ofpublic art planning guidance. Good advice canalso be found on other websites – see resourcessection for information.

Funding,PlanningLawandPlanningGainPublic art projects are often significant in sizeand can be expensive to implement. Many ofthem - pre, during and post-lottery capitalfunding – have been funded by “planning gain”.This is provision within planning legislation thatallows Local Authority planners to seekcommunity benefits from private and publicsector developments. The section of the 1990(and 1991) Town and Country Planning Act thatenables planning gain is section 106, which whythis means of funding public art is often referredto as a ‘Section 106 agreement’. Section 106agreements are voluntary. In the early 1990s theArts Council took QC’s advice on this and it wasdefinitive. There is no compulsion on developersto provide public art or community benefits. Yetthey can be persuaded, sometimes to a veryconsiderable extent. The normal starting point,which emerged from the USA and which wasadopted by the Arts Council twenty years ago asan advocacy tool, was “percent for art”. Thisencouraged developers to contribute a minimum(though that bit is often forgotten) of one

percent of the capital cost for artworks.So, under % for art a £5 million developmentcould provide £50,000 for a public art project.

Public Art is by no means the only ‘communitybenefit’ to be supported by planning gain. LocalAuthorities have used it to fund children’splaygrounds, libraries, community centres, roads,bus shelters and a host of other projects.

Such was the range of benefits offered by asupermarket for development in Plymouth that arival challenged the bid and the case went all theway to the House of Lords.

Planningobligations=acceptabledevelopmentSo, to achieve planning gain for public art, ithelps to have a policy towards public art in theCouncil’s Local Plan and helpful public artplanning guidance for potential developers.

However the law on planning gain may beabout to change and this could have adverseeffects for public art. The Government introduceda consultation paper - Contributing tosustainable communities: a new approach toplanning obligations - in November 2003 and abriefing circular in July 2005. The circular statesthat “The principal objective of the planningsystem is to deliver sustainable development,through which key Government social,environmental and economic objectives areachieved.” Planning obligations, it states, are“intended to make acceptable developmentwhich would otherwise be unacceptable inplanning terms”.

Aplanningobligationmustbe:1. Relevant to planning;2. Necessary to make the proposed development

acceptable in planning terms;3. Directly related to the proposed development;4. Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind

to the proposed development; and5. Reasonable in all other respects.

Obligations must also be so directly related toproposed developments that the developmentought not to be permitted without them – forexample, there should be a functional orgeographical link between the development andthe item being provided as part of thedeveloper's contribution.

This is only a very small part of the guidanceand Local Authority Planning Officers should befamiliar with the detail.

As a result of the 2003 consultation paper, theGovernment had intended to introduce a“planning gain supplement”

(PGS). This would be a ‘levy on development’administered and collected by HM Revenue andCustoms. However last Autumn Housing MinisterYvette Cooper announced that the Governmenthad dropped this idea in favour of a statutoryplanning charge, or tariff.

Ixia, the Arts Council funded public art think-tank, explains “the idea is that the tariff would

DebatesandConferencesArt & Architecture JournalHeld the 3rd National Public Art Conference –“Art in Public: The Culture of Possibilities” inDecember titled “The Culture of Possibilities”with many guest speakers. They have furtherevents planned for 2008.– seewww.artandarchitecturejournal.com formore details

EpithetsGoodandBad

Site specificGood public art projects work with the grain oftheir surroundings and respond to the nature ofthe site.With really good projects the site andthe art are indistinguishable.

TheLipstickOnTheGorillaAn ugly building with some public art attachedthat seeks to redeem it. Does favours to neitherthe building nor the art. The phrase obviouslyderives from the USA.

TheTurd InThePlazaA piece of art, possibly thought to be ugly,thoughtlessly sited in a public space with littlethough of context or engagement. A 1960sapproach that can occasionally still be found today.

Space restrictions mean that we have only beenable to show small images of the public art worksfeatured in this issueWe will include large colourphotos of the works featured here on the newnalgao website which will be launched in mid-April.

secure for communities a contribution fromdevelopers towards infrastructure that promotessustainability. The tariff is seen in addition toSection 106 agreements. Ixia says “Whilst theGovernment claims the new system will generatemore investment in communities, it raises anumber of issues for public art, including:• How the tariff for public art will be calculatedby each local authority.

• Whether the tariff will effectively capinvestment in public art.

• How the funds will be distributed. And howpublic art policy and strategy will be integratedwithin the development plan process.

• How the combination of a tariff and S106planning obligations will affect the engagementof artists at the inception of developments.

• The impact of the new system on the need forand roles of public art expertise in relation toeither local authorities or developers.

Last year, ixia conducted a detailed review ofpublic art and the planning system and processin England, in consultation with artists, LocalAuthority public art and planning officers,planning consultants, public art consultantsand developers.The review identifies that:• There is growing evidence of support for publicart, but that its impact is limited by narrowdefinitions and restrictive practice

• A vision, policy, strategy and expertise in publicart are key strategic success factors

• A consistent set of good practice principles hasevolved, although are not consistently applied

• New approaches to planning negotiation canopen lateral opportunities to extend public art

For further advice on planning gain, section106 agreements and the possible changes, anddetails of where to find ixia’s report, see theresources section. •14 things to think about whencommissioning Public Art

1. The Client2. Artists3. The Artist Brief4. Selection procedure5. An initial design proposal6. Design development7. Budgeting8. Contracts9. Planners and planning consent10. Consultation with the public11. Engineering considerations12. Project and design management13. Health and safety14. Fabrication and installationWith thanks to Commissions North,Arts Council England, North East.More details onmost of these issues can be foundhere:www.commissionsnorth.org /commissioning/

Public Art South West – part of Arts CouncilEnglandTel: 01392 229227Web:www.publicartonline.org.ukThe Public Art Online site is full of usefulinformation including:• 4 public art policies• 19 public art strategies• 7 lots of public art planning guidance• 46 illustrated project case studies• 4 public art leaflets• 3 public art packs and• Nearly 50 illustrated case studiesplus practical advice covering Practical advicecovering commissioning, artists, contracts andcopyright, funding, local authorities and publicart in healthcareCommissions North – part of Arts CouncilEnglandTel: 0191 255 8500Web:www.commissionsnorth.orgThe Commissions NorthWebsite has a veryuseful section on project guidelines and anextremely well structured visual showcase ofpublic art projects in the North East.Ixia – “The public art think tank”Tel: 0121 622 4222Web: www.ixia-info.comIxia’s website has access to new writing onpublic art and their report on the planningprocess, plus some links.

The Artpoint Trust – “A catalyst for creativethinking in public spaces”Tel: 01865 248822Web:www.artpointtrust.org.uk/Their website includes a long list of artists theyhave worked with including artist websitecontacts where they existCywaith Cymru – Artworks WalesTel: 029 2048 9543Web:www.cywaithcymru.orgTheir bi-lingual website has a well-illustratedsection on work they have undertaken inWales.Art in Partnership – Scotland’s public artcommissions agencyTel: 0131 225 4463Web:www.art-in-partnership.org.ukTheir website carries some information aboutprojects they have carried out in Scotland.

For informationonSection106Agreementswww.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=71631www.cobbetts.com/PublicationsEvents/AllPublications/Section106PlanningObligationsNewGuidanceFor InformationonArtistandDeveloperContractsonPublicArtCommissionsArtLawWeb:www.artquest.org.uk/artlaw/contracts/28332.htmTheir website has some very useful and wellresearched pieces about contracts by HenryLydiate, though they are around 10 years old now

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The Kelpies at the FalkirkWheel by Andy Scott

Maggie Bolt, Director, PublicArt SouthWest gives apersonal perspective of public art trends andapproaches.

When first asked to contribute an article on thechanging face of public art, specifically within thelast ten years – I had to do a mental double take –as it was approximately ten years ago that Imoved down to the SouthWest from workingin Scotland and threw myself full time into thepublic art sector!

It is fair to say that over the past ten tofifteen years there has been quite a shift in theperception of public art in this country. Thelaunch of percent for art by the Arts Council inthe early nineties was met with success in termsof local authority take up across the country, butmostly, they didn’t adopt a strategic approach,simply levied a percentage on some (but not all)developments that they could. The launch of theNational Lottery provided a huge influx of moneyfor public art commissioning and the early yearswere truly a honeymoon period - with millionsgoing into public art projects around the country.

But throwing money at something doesn’t

necessarily make it better. There were manyissues around commissioning which all fed backto the lack of an initial research and developmentperiod and which in turn led to the artists’contribution not achieving full integration withthe overall building project. Much work neededto ‘educate’ commissioners and artists tounderstand each other’s goals and to enable theartist, (who was, more often than not, seen asthe bringer of objects only) to be viewed as aconceptual thinker.

So organisations like mine started to encouragea broader overview and to advocate for bringingartists into the overall development processrather than commissioning them once all thedesign work had been done. This does mean amore complicated process for artists to engage in– but the outcome is far more satisfactory. Now,it is generally accepted that public art is notsimply bins, benches and bollards, not somethingwhich gets plonked into the spot marked x on thearchitects’ drawings, but a process ofcollaboration, consultation and one which strivesto find really creative solutions to the issuessurrounding the development.

Curatoror consultant?Particularly during the nineties, there was agrowth of specialised public art agencies –resources who could act as an ‘honest broker’between client and artist. There are now manycompanies and individuals, working within boththe private and public sector, who providestrategic, curatorial and project managementservices. The debate about quality in the publicrealm continues to be one of great importance,and interestingly I have started to notice a change,or almost rift, becoming more prevalent betweenthose who are ‘curators’ and those who are‘consultants’ but that’s another article…

The important thing to bear in mind is thatpublic art is truly a moving target. Artists willalways find new and challenging ways of operationand will resist definition and categorisation. Itshould also be stressed that public art is not an artform, it is simply a principle, of improving thechanging environment through the arts. Therefore Ieschew the term ‘public artist’ as I think artists willmove in and out of this sphere of working as theirwork dictate. It’s just about learning a set of skills:content has to be paramount.

Changingpractices

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AlisonLapperontheFourthPlinthbyMarcQuinn

For me, the current meaning of public art is thepractice of involving artists in the conception,development and transformation of public space.Their work needs to relate to the context and besensitive to the values held within that space, asthe current critical debate around the fourth plinthin Trafalgar square aptly demonstrates. Public artshould not treat the public realm as a largeoutdoor gallery into which major ‘names’ andworks of art are ‘imported’. Rather, it should bean integral component of a built environmentdevelopment, bringing meaning, resonance andrelevance to the new places being created.

I now think this form of working has been muchmore widely accepted as a way of contemporaryart engaging with a very public and complexcontext. Public art can define the social, politicaland geographical context of a place.

The artist Vito Acconci summed it up when hesaid “Art isn't necessary anymore as a field, aprofession; art is no longer a noun, it [has] becomea verb.Art is nothing but a general attitude ofthickening the plot.”

Through schemes such as PROJECT – engagingartists in the built environment - artists have beenbrought in as creative thinkers working very closelywith the disciplines of architecture and urbandesign.Whilst this affiliation between public artand urban design has been welcomed by some asa way of achieving an integrated approach, it hasalso meant a change in agendas. Changes in policyhave twisted and contorted the artists’ role;particularly in the public domain, where socialinclusivity and social outcomes have become apriority. Artists have become activists andadvocates for all sorts of communities and issues.The clients and stakeholders have complicatedneeds and aspirations and an artist can find theirskills and work being applied to situations asdiverse as overcoming social difference, re-branding

failing cities or used as new iconic symbolsto fit the developers’ portfolio.

Commodificationandcompromise

This way of working can also lead to uncertaintyfor the client and artist if the artists’ role is notclearly articulated; there can be confusion overexpectation and purpose; a hesitancy amongstclients (council leaders, local authority officers,developers) to allow interference from these “riskyindividuals”, concerned that their proposal willprove controversial with the public. And perhapsfor the urban design professional, a fear that havingto accommodate and include the thoughts of anartist will slow the process down and not presentrealistic solutions.

From the artists’ perspective, fuller integrationinto the development process has raised issuesaround commodification and compromise. Thereis a concern that full amalgamation can result insuch a blurring of the boundaries that the essenceof what an artist is and brings, becomes lost in acorporate sea. I think there is evidence that artistsare starting to turn away from the public artsector, and the sheer complexity of engaging inthe whole regeneration and sustainablecommunity agenda.

No matter how unrestrictive briefs attempt tobe, artists are increasingly looking to be setting thebriefs and contexts rather than responding tothem. It is ironic that now the built environmentsector, local authorities and national bodies likeCABE are far more supportive of working withartists, the pool of artists wanting and willing towork in this way is getting smaller.

So future trends?Well, I think there will be a‘backlash’ in terms of the ‘rules of engagement’for artists – and maybe a breakdown of the term‘artist’ as it just does not seem to cover the

range of ways in which creative individuals engagein contexts and create a variety of interventions.

The desire for major landmarks continues togrow – but (thankfully) the debate about thecontrivance and therefore insubstantiality ofwishing to create ‘iconic works’ grows with it.

Lessons from European and international modelswill continue to filter through.We would do well tolook at models like the public art programme inVancouver and the way in which temporary projectslead to debate and real change. For example the‘Blue Road’ by Henk Hofstra (in Drachten, Holland)made a very simple and low cost ‘urbanistic gesture’to reinforce the street as a space and a place, and atthe same time raises issue of life-cycle costing andthe environment. So I foresee public art projectsengaging with the growing awareness of carbon footprints, vouchers and zero emission developments,which in turn will lead to some extraordinarilycreative and exciting solutions.

Public art practice will continue to evolve andgrow – we just all need to leave doors and mindswide open...•© Maggie BoltPublic Art SouthWestTel: 01392 229227 email: [email protected]:-www.publicartonline.org.ukResearch undertaken by NatalieWoolf on behalf ofPASW into Urban Design

TheEditorwrites:Public Art SouthWest, has been directly fundedby Arts Council England, SouthWest and itspredecessor, SouthWest Arts for the past tenyears. It, perhaps ironically occurs in the recentlist of ACE ‘non-renewables’ which means to stayin business in future, it will have to bid for ACEmanaged funds.

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Top.ParallaxatBristolHarboursidebyRichardBox–photo:TimKnowles

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.TheSaltleyGeyserbyDavidCotterrell.Photo:GrantSmith

BlueRoadbyHenkHofstra,Photo:HenkHofstra

Since its installation in 1998, the image of theAngel of the North has been widely used in themedia, in business and in government as aregeneration icon for a post-industrial North East.

The sculpture itself stands without a spotlight,its foundations in a former coal colliery, in aworking landscape of factories and football fields,tower blocks and terraces overlooking the A1trunk road. As with many of Gateshead’s publicart commissions it is underpinned by a simplelore; it is rooted in history, it takes its stand inthe present and it represents the future.

However Gateshead's Angel of the North isspecial for two reasons. It is seen as a workingexample of how art can boost a region’sdevelopment economically, through attractinginvestment and culturally, through alteringcommunity perception of the value of art ineveryday life.

ThePublicArt JourneyIn 2008, as Gateshead celebrates the Angel’stenth birthday, the borough looks back at thejourney of this northern icon. It began in theearly 1980s when Gateshead Council firstdecided to take art to the public because it didnot have a contemporary art gallery of its own.The early works were so successful that in 1986a formal public art programme was launched.

During the programme’s 26 year historyGateshead Council has commissioned over 80works of art, implemented a programme ofartists’ residencies and championed educationalinitiatives. These have all contributed to bridgingthe gap between commissioning procedures,creative processes, finished artwork andcommunity involvement.

ImpactonaCommunityLike many pieces of contemporary public art, TheAngel of the North initially polarised public opinionon all levels. The hardest barrier to overcome wasto convince Gateshead of the intrinsic andsymbolic value that public art can bring locally,nationally and internationally. The Angel educationand outreach programme which was managed byGateshead Council’s arts development team,worked locally with primary and secondary schoolsand community groups in Gateshead as well aswith regional universities to directly involveindividuals in the larger creative process.

The vast media attention achieved a change inwider public perceptions of the North East andGateshead in particular. Jobs in heavy industryand coal mining could be replaced, but negativestereotypes endured. In getting people tomention the words 'Gateshead' and 'art' in thesame sentence, The Angel of the North did moreto help bring about image change than almostanything else. Above all The Angel evoked anopinion in almost everyone in Gateshead and thewider region about what art is for and why weshould have it.

The Angel is now seen as an integral art of thelandscape that enhances the fabric of the urbanframework and perhaps more importantly hasfound its place in northern affections. Threemonths after its installation, NewcastleUnited fans played a spectacular tribute totheir hero Alan Shearer by hoisting areplica of his shirt onto the 65ftsculpture using fishing line, rubberballs and catapults. The shirt onlystayed up for 20 minutes untilpolice arrived but the incidentmarked a profound moment oflocal acceptance.•

"It'sas inspirationalandhardyasour ships,asuniqueasourskillsandaswelcomingasourpeople.Love it”What People are saying about TheAngel:www.angelofthenorth.org.uk

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TheLegacyofanAngelPublic opinion further improved towards thesculpture once it was possible to measure thetangible benefits that the Angel had created. Art isnow seen as an integral part of the developmentand regeneration of Gateshead, encouraginginvestment and creating a strong identity and asense of pride throughout the region.

The Angel of The North is seen as the precursorto a £600m urban redevelopment of Gateshead,which includes the £22m Gateshead MillenniumBridge (opened March 2001), the £46m BALTIC:The Centre for Contemporary Art (opened July2002) and the £70m Sage Gateshead (openedDecember 2005). A £25m Hilton Hotel has alsobeen built between the Tyne Bridge and the HighLevel Bridge. In total this has createdapproximately 1,550 jobs. The Angel and its legacyhas put Gateshead on the map and marked thebeginning of a new creative and progressive era.

TheAngelasaRoleModelThe Angel of the North is often used as anexample of art as a catalyst for change.What isunderstood by those who were involved is thatthis project took strong vision and determinationto bring it to fruition. In 1998 Gateshead was the46th most deprived authority in England, it wascharacterised by poor health, a decliningpopulation, high unemployment, poor economyand deep-rooted social issues. The traditionalindustries of heavy engineering, shipping and coalmining had declined or ceased.

The intention to create a Landmark sculpturewas the first time the Council put art at the

forefront of its ambition. This process broughtcollective lessons about the importance ofhaving a vision. Awards such as the BeaconStatus for Regeneration through Culture, Sportand Tourism in 2001 added value to the profile ofGateshead and resulted in promotional materialbeing produced about arts-led regeneration.Gateshead Council learnt that public art, in all itsforms, reflects and creates a valued environment.Politically the success of the Angel today hasbecome a workable model for economic revivalacross Europe. It has resulted in huge investmentover the last ten years, which has made anincredible impact on the lives of local people.

Gateshead’sContinuingPublicArtProgrammeThe public art programme has a dedicated publicart officer post and lead artist in Gateshead andcontinues to put an emphasis on transformingsocial spaces by incorporating local history andculture. This is illustrated in a recent sculpture byartist Peter Coates commemorating local 19thcentury fiddler James Hill.

The piece was a suggestion of Gateshead estateagent Rod Matthews, also a fiddle player andfounder of 'Friends of James Hill'. The large stonefiddle rests on the bank leading from Gatesheadtown centre to the foot of the Sage Gatesheadsteps.The new memorial set in motion aprogramme of fiddle music at The Sage Gatesheadand continues to act as a reminder to the public ofthe talented local individuals who have gone before.

The public art programme also involves largenumbers of the local community as

demonstrated by Christine Constant’s ‘TyneWave’ (2004), a vibrant mosaic ceramic paneldepicting scenes from the North East. Itenhances the entrance to The Red Mall from themulti-storey car park. The work involved 700local people who each designed a ceramic tilebased on what they enjoy about the North East.The project gave participants opportunity to owntheir own piece of public art. The resulting workforms an undulating wave made up of hundredsof segments of individual local pride.

However, no other event exemplifiesGateshead’s continuing commitment tocommunity involvement more than SculptureDay. Now in its 22 year, Sculpture Day invites theentire community to come and try their hand atsculpture alongside local artists.Wood, nails andhammers are provided with a yearly theme suchas Angels and Demons. Families and individualsare given free reign to explore their artistictalents with local artists on hand to giveguidance if required. The success of this eventlies in the hands on experience of creatingand making art.•SophieHughesGatesheadArts Development Teamwith information provided byAnna Pepperall,Public Art Curator, Gateshead Council.0191 433 6967email: [email protected]:www.gateshead.gov.ukwww.antonygormley.comwww.angelofthenorth.org.uk

“TheAngelbearswitness to thehundredsand thousandsof collieryworkerswhohad spent thelast threehundredyearsmining coal beneath the surface. thepeopleof a society locatinganddescribing self-determination, identity,andcommonownership."AntonyGormley

SevenFactsAboutTheAngel1. Over 150,000 people visit The Angel of the

North site per year and 33 million peoplesee it very year.

2. It weighs 208 tonnes and sits in 20-metredeep foundations with 700 tonnes ofconcrete and 32 tonnes of reinforcing steelanchoring it to the solid rock beneath.

3. The Angel is made of 3,253 pieces ofweather resistant Cor-ten steel.

4. The sculpture was designed to withstandwinds of more than 100 miles per hour.

5. There is enough steel in The Angel ofthe North to make 16 double deckerbuses or four Chieftain tanks.

6. It is believed to be the largest Angel sculpturein the world and its wingspan is bigger than aBoeing 757 or 767 jet and almost the sameas a Jumbo jet.

7. The total cost of the Angel was £800,000 andit took four years to design and manufactureand took 20 men six months to assemble.

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The Angel of the North under construction and in situ. All photos of the Angel of the North courtesy of Gateshead Arts Development Team Christine Constant’s ‘TyneWave’

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Public Art is always hard – even when the result issimply amazing or just brimming with good oldcontroversy.When you work in this field,commissioning public art, it’s often a lonely battle,especially in a Council environment where all toooften silo working is a major barrier to gettingeveryone as equally overjoyed about what publicart actually is, and what transformations it canbring about. Public art engages communities –it’s not just buzz, it’s true!

In Hampshire we got lucky thanks to theformation of a multi-Council led umbrella artspartnership entitled ‘Joint Investment Fund’ (JIF).One of the main aims of JIF was that, by workingtogether, the partnership had greater potential forits work to be innovative and ambitious and for itto make longer-term strategic plans with a widergeographic spread. Each participating Councilcontributed financially to the big JIF pot which wasmatch funded by Arts Council England, South Eastand overseen by Hampshire County Council. Thisgave us a fairly major budget to play with acrossthe County and also meant that we could sharethe pot between key art development areas - thepublic art group formed under the title of‘Vital Neighbourhoods’.

The aim of the public art strand was to addressthe ongoing concerns arts professionals have overaccessing community regeneration programmes,partnership working, the role of public art in urbanand rural renewal and how the arts contribute tolocal distinctiveness whilst promoting culture in allits glorious diversity. Each of the public artparticipating councils in Hampshire (a mix ofunitary, district, borough and County Councils)received funding from JIF of £13,000. For manythis bought a valuable place at the regenerationtable. For some it levered in other significantfunding or bought artists in to work on early stage

masterplanning or design.We now have somegreat examples of what can be achieved throughthis way of working. The network we haveestablished also offers great benefits – we knowour neighbours and aren’t afraid to ask for adviceor lunch.This really is joined up thinking and it’s ohso good to talk.

Positive impactonproperty salesIn addition to live projects, we created anannual seminar/forum programme called ‘Senseof Place’. The first forum took place inWinchester in September 2006 in partnershipwith the Arts Council South East and the SouthEast of England Development Agency.This was thefirst creative forum of its kind in Hampshire aimedat senior executives from the private and publicsector.The event successfully brought togetherdevelopers and key council representatives to talkabout how creative practice and good design canwork in volume housing for the benefit of thecommunity with a positive impact on propertysales.With high quality presentations fromarchitects muf, developers, Urban Splash andSouth East England Development Agency, theevent achieved its primary aim of attracting seniorrepresentatives from both local authorities andhousing developers and raising issues around howwe firmly integrate culture and arts into thecomplexities of the regeneration process.

The second forum in June 2007 was held inPortsmouth, which again attracted senior officersand executives from councils and the private sector.Red or Dead founder and now Chair of Building forLife,Wayne Hemingway spoke to the Forum aboutprojects he was involved in. Hemingway and hiswife, Geraldine, made their debut as housingdesigners on a new estate in Gateshead calledStaiths.They were invited to design it by

housebuilder GeorgeWimpey, after Hemingwaycriticised the quality ofWimpey's homes as dull andsoulless. He inspired and antagonised the foruminto thinking in a ‘can do’ sort of way to designissues and how we can demand better housing,places and spaces that identify with the place theyare in. Desirable, effective and simple but so oftendifficult to achieve.

The public art group wants to continue beyondthe original three year vision.We are now planningall sorts of events, websites, tools and forums togrow out across the South East region. After all,we’ve had it good in Hampshire for three yearsand now it’s time to share our toys.•GerryWallPublic Art Consultant & Public Art OfficerPortsmouth City [email protected]

pARTnership inHampshire

Sense of Place 2 Forum walking on the glass floor ofthe Spinnaker Tower Photo: Giles Babbidge.

LightWallatTheLights,AndoverbyMalcolmBuchanan-Dick

GerryWall

BrighteningupBoscombe Gill Horitz

On a busy Saturday morning people outshopping in Boscombe’s Sovereign Centrepaused to look at an exhibition of designsfor a new town centre building developedby East Dorset Housing Association (EDHA).On display were architectural drawings fora new ground floor library with twenty fouraffordable one and two bedroom flats overfour storeys. Accompanying the exhibitionwere representatives from the projectpartners, EDHA, Bournemouth BoroughCouncil’s Arts Development and LibraryService, as well as artist, Jeff Pigott,selected to develop the first phase of acommunity based public art project, tocreate decorative panels on the hoardingsaround the building site.

What’s clear from an occasion like this, isthat people want to discuss cultural andcreative ideas which relate to their locality,its amenities and possible change to publicspaces. This kind of spontaneous interactionengages with people who might not attenda more formal meeting. Not only didpeople offer views about the role of publicbuildings and the importance of gooddesign, they were keen to discuss thefunction of libraries within a community,and the value of books and reading inraising the spirit, and combating loneliness.

‘Books aremy saviour’Involving an artist at this early consultativestage was one of the project’s key aims.Apart from chatting, Jeff Pigott encouragedpeople to write and draw ideas. Childrendrew favourite characters and designs forthe layout of libraries, including floorcushions and cafes, and discussed bookpreferences and the disappointments ofunsuccessful translations from book to film.And all on a Saturday morning in a busyshopping precinct. ‘Books are my saviour’said one woman. ‘They get me away fromreality, reading and thinking it in yourmind,’ said another.

Following further creative sessions withstudents at Bethany and St ClementsSchools, Jeff designed a series of panelswhich were positioned on the hoardingsaround the building site, followingdemolition of the original library. The‘unveiling’ of the hoarding designs by theMayor, was an opportunity to drawattention to the project, to get peopleinterested in the second phase to designpanels to decorate the walls of a bicyclestore situated at the main entrance to theflats and library.

Young people and staff from librarieswere involved in selecting lead artist, PeterDunn. One of the main criteria for selectionwas that the artist should have experience

and understanding of communityconsultation as well as art form expertise.Peter led a series of workshops with localgroups on the theme of identity and place,with support from a local artist selected asa continuing professional developmentopportunity.

People’s responses to both the interimhoardings and the final glass and steelpanels have been wholeheartedly positive;those familiar early cries of ‘they’ll beruined by vandalism and graffiti’ haveproved unfounded. In one of the county’smost socially deprived area the worksremain untouched, due no doubt to thefact people see the relevance in work ofthis kind, how it connects with the historyof place as well as with lives today.

At night, backlighting creates a vibrantbeacon of colour in a dark street,welcoming residents to their homes. And byday, sunlight illuminates drawings, shapesand text on glass and etched steel,encouraging people to look directly atmarks made by local people, as they enterthe library.

The work – in its significant central site –acts as a permanent ‘advocate’ for the waypublic spaces are enriched and enlivened byexperienced artists working with residentsand their strong views about the qualityof living places.•Gill HoritzArts Development OfficerBournemouth Borough CouncilTel: 01202 451805 email:[email protected] information about the project:www.bournemouth.gov.uk/residents/arts

Facts:The project was:• A partnership between East DorsetHousing Association, BournemouthLibraries, Bournemouth Borough CouncilArts Development.

• Developed and managed as part ofBournemouth Borough Council’s ArtsDevelopment programme.

• Funded by a combination of privatefinance raised by East Dorset HousingAssociation, social housing grant fromBournemouth Borough Council, a grantallocation fromthe Housing Corporation and Artscouncil of England.

KeyOpportunitiesThis project was developed during the twelvemonth building period. A successfulapplication to Arts Council England’s Grantsfor the Arts by East Dorset HousingAssociation emphasised the following keyopportunities:

• To develop a model of good practice,involving key stakeholders engagingmeaningfully with each other’s services.

• To raise the profile of the newBournemouth Public Art Development Plan

• To encourage understanding about theprocess of developing public art

• To encourage residents to express ideasabout identity and sense of place

• To recruit a placement artist to work withthe lead artist

• To raise the profile of artists working in thefield of public art

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Loz SamuelsIn a very ordinary district inWorcestershiresomething very extraordinary has happened.Community cohesion and social action are easy tosay but very difficult to achieve.Yet the residentsof Broadwaters in Kidderminster have proved thatthey can make real change in their community.Initiated by Heritage Lottery Funding,WyreForest District Council led a project to revitalisethe remains of the old mill in the local park. Aconstantly vandalised crumbling structure, thebuilding was a magnet for anti social behaviour,litter and graffiti. It was an extremely unpleasantarea to look at and walk past and had no value tothe community.

The project itself involved repairs to the mill,removing ivy and re-roofing and pointing works,lighting, seating; interpretation, leaflets and ahistory book. It also involved a snap shot in timephotography project to capture images ofresidents, a wooden historical sculpture of a millworker, an art mural and a “Thrill at the Mill”event. A Friends of the Park group was started tohelp shape the project and make decisions onwhat local people wanted.

It has been clear to those of us that workwithin the District that the project atBroadwaters has made a significant impact onthe local community improving quality of life byraising standards and engendering a strong

community spirit. It is also clear that the impactof the arts across the project has engaged allages and has ensured that the communitycontinues to focus on the park and make moreand more improvements.

Noted landmarkThe importance of design was a key artisticthread. The residents group were involved in thedecisions regarding lighting, seating andinterpretation. A wooden sculpture was chosenby the residents and created by a sculptor whoinvolved the community in the carving.Youngpeople worked with artists to develop and createa piece of art that was installed inside the mill.This feature has been the single most importantway that has sustained the project over the lastfour years. Every 18 months or so the artworkhas been replaced to instil interest andownership by new groups of young people whoare frequenting the park. This also adds theinterest for adults driving into Kidderminster andthe mill is becoming a noted landmark at agateway into the town. It is significant that theartwork is not robustly protected from anyattempts of vandalism and they, thankfully, havebeen limited to two occasions. The Thrill at TheMill celebration event was an artisticcollaboration of dance, music and creative artwhich involved the whole community bringing in

excess of 2,000 people into the park one eveningculminating in a superb fireworks display.

The impact of this project is measurable by theway the community now use and value the park.There are daily rotas for litter picks and wateringthe new summer bedding. The Friends paint outany graffiti immediately and the group has raiseda further £70,000 themselves to make moreimprovements to the park including artist- leddesign of bespoke fencing and signage. Proof ofthe success is that people now walk through thepark at all hours of the day and night in a safeand clean environment. Cars stop by the roadsideto see the newly installed waterwheel and recentlighting installation featuring an array of fish thathave been created by local groups led by artists.

The Mill has now become the focal point forevents held in the park like Christmas Markets,play schemes and events. For Chinese NewYearit hosted a big celebration which the localcommunity supported in strength.

Public art is at the heart of this regenerationproject and although it is a small scheme it hasmade a big difference to the lives of local people.•LozSamuelsArts and Play DevelopmentOfficerWyre Forect District CouncilT: 01562 732977 email:[email protected]

Thrill at theMill

AlexWrightDesigned and commissioned by the RoyalBorough of Kensington and Chelsea, In Transit2007 was a unique series of artist-led walks, talksand events. Aimed at uncovering the borough’shidden gems and the more unusual and lessvisited spaces, the activities were based aroundthe themes of movement and journeys.The events were advertised across Londonand included artists from outside the boroughand within.

By employing a non-static approach,participants were able to combine culture withoutdoor activity in a fun and relaxed way.Moving away from the traditional concert hall orart gallery, participants were able to engage withcontemporary art in a non-threatening setting.This non-traditional approach was key inattracting those people who would normally

feel that contemporary art “isn’t for them”.The programmed walks were, by their nature,uniquely participatory. All attendees were able tocome away having taken part in an arts event.

Many of the walks took people through partsof the borough that are not so well known,increasing the flow of visitors to these areas andextending people’s expectations of the borough’smake-up. The group events also allowed theborough’s residents to mix and to jointlyexperience a sense of pride of place; aidingcommunity cohesion between differentresident groups.

When putting together the series of events,it was important to ensure that the programmewas not in direct competition with the activitiesof the borough’s artists or arts organisations.As part of the conception stage, informationabout the programme was circulated, invitingarts organisations to put forward suggestionsfor taking part.

In Transit was almost entirely street-based,

utilising the resources of others, so it was crucialthat good relationships were established duringthe commissioning process and also maintainedthroughout the duration of the project.

HauntingatmosphereThe final programme consisted of twelve walks,as well a film night, an arts trail, a series ofpodcasts and a debate around the role of arts inpublic space.

The woods of Holland Park came alive duringthe Haunted ParkWalk . This was an audio visualexperience exploring our preconceived notions ofhaunting, the force of nature and the power ofthe imagination. The creation of appearingdancing spectres, spooky sounds and giant bugsthrough creative sound and lighting, as well asghostly story telling, provided a hauntingatmosphere for the walkers.

Building on the concept of an artist-led walk,the Treasure Trail led walkers around the NorthKensington arts trail. This is located in a part ofthe borough which is currently in a state ofregeneration and is not often visited, including bythe residents of other wards. Interacting withtheir surroundings in a new way, participants

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followed the treasure trail by looking out for thestories tucked away en route and followed theclues that told the hidden tales of theneighbourhood. These included sonic cluescreated by sound pad installations. There wasalso the opportunity for participants to createtheir own story, which was illustrated by theplaces and artworks discovered during the trail.

A fresh and innovative approach to art in thepublic realm was employed in the SonicWalk .Each walker was issued with a recordable MP3player and a sonic map and sent forth to collectsounds from around the area. The event aimed toincrease people’s awareness of the sonic, as wellas the visual, as an important part of publicspace. To introduce the participants to the worldof sound, the walk started with a private view ofthe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsing. Thewalk then culminated in a live performance atthe Muse Gallery, with the singers and musiciansimprovising over the participants’ collectedsoundscapes.

Year roundpodcastsThe use of new technology played an importantrole in ensuring the programme retained its freshand innovative approach to art in the publicrealm. A year round series of podcasts availableto download from the Council’s website werecommissioned. The podcasts focussed on

different areas and aspects of the borough, withan emphasis on drawing out the hidden andunusual. The podcasts included Portobello PopWalks by local historian, music journalist andfilm critic TomVague.

Overall, In Transit was a success. Approximately1,000 people attended the various events intotal. This figure is not including the many morewho downloaded the podcasts and also thosethat walked the North Kensington arts trail bythemselves using the downloadable map. Manyparticipants said they enjoyed doing somethingnew, whether it was engaging in a new artisticactivity for the first time, visiting a part ofKensington and Chelsea that they had neverbeen to before or simply looking at the boroughwith a fresh pair of eyes.

We are looking forward to the prospect of InTransit 2008 and taking the programme evenfurther. There are still many areas of the RoyalBorough to discover and still more exciting waysto do this. Through In Transit, we aim tostimulate art in the public realm and for theborough of Kensington and Chelsea to be viewedas a place where contemporary art is encouragedand embraced.•AlexWrightArts InformationOfficerRoyal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaFor further details about In Transit 2008 pleasecontactAbbyViner,Arts DevelopmentOfficer [email protected] orMiriamNelken,ArtsDevelopmentOfficer [email protected].

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As this was a pilot programme, there areinevitably lessons to be learnt for the future:

• Next time we will have back-up plansin case of bad weather.

• We need to space events further apartto allow for the considerable timecommitments on staff.

• Many of the In Transit walks wererestricted to small groups. In 2008 weplan to continue a balanced programmeof large and small, but perhaps repeatthe smaller events.

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ZoëChanningThree exciting projects supported by SunderlandCity Council are set to join an existing collectionof over 150 individual artworks locatedthroughout the city.

The City Council is working with partners ona major programme of public art commissions,helping to add significant value to key projectswhich are transforming the city.

Artworks at the new Sunderland AquaticCentre, on the 'C2C' cycle route which finishesat Roker Beach and at the Sunderland EmpireTheatre are bringing artists from afar and a newdimension to public art in the city and each ofthem uses or has been inspired by or isassociated with light.

StadiumParkGasVentsThe Gas Vents project is a major new public artcommission proposed for Stadium Park, one ofnine sites earmarked for future development bySunderland City Council and Sunderland Arc –the city’s urban regeneration company.

Two vents, which are owned and managed bythe Coal Authority, allow for the safe escape ofmine gases from the formerWearmouth Collierywhich lies below the existing site. The vents arepositioned close to the Stadium of Light,Sunderland’s landmark football ground, and thesite of the new Sunderland Aquatic Centre, a £20million state of the art 50m swimming pool andwellbeing centre, due to open in Spring 2008.

Looking to the opening of the new centre,Sunderland City Council has funded a public artcommission to create a bold new feature for theStadium Park site which will visually transformthe gas vents, while also allowing them tocontinue to function safely.

In September 2007 four artists (two Europeanand two UK based) were offered the challenge oftransforming the vents. From the four resultingdesign proposals, presented to a selection panel in

January, German artist duoWinter and Hoerbeltwere selected to take their ideas forward to adetailed design stage.

“We want to make a work which has subtlereference both to the former mining heritage ofthe site and to its new focus on sporting activityand achievement.” Said artistsWinter andHoerbelt. “Our aim is to add an element ofhuman inspiration and to create a new artisticsymbol for this architecturally distinctive area,which makes a social link between the peopleand the stunning buildings of the new AquaticCentre and its neighbour the Stadium of Light.”

Winter and Hoerbelt are based in Frankfurtand in Munster.Working together since 1992,they have exhibited widely in Europe, as well asin Asia and the USA. They are well knowninternationally for their ‘Cratehouse’ and ‘Basket’architectural-scale sculptures using recycled andindustrial materials.

Subject to planning permission and finalagreement on the designs the Stadium ParkGas Vents art work is due to be installed inAutumn 2008.

SunderlandEmpireFlytowerThe Sunderland Empire Theatre, which celebratedits centenary in 2007, is a stunning piece ofEdwardian architecture and interior design. Thetheatre’s flytower is a contemporary replacementthat allows Sunderland to play host to the largestwest-end productions, the only city betweenManchester and Edinburgh with this capability.While much needed, this is a prominent featureon the city centre skyline with little stylisticconnection to the rest of the theatre.

In order to transform the appearance of theflytower, the co-owners of Sunderland Empire,Sunderland City Council and Live Nation arefunding a major public art commission. The briefto artists is to take the magical atmosphere ofthe Sunderland Empire and transpose or

reinterpret it for an external site. In achieving this,the artwork will celebrate the theatre and createa distinctive feature on the city’s skyline.

Four of the UK’s most innovative creativepractitioners were invited to develop outlineproposals and, following an extensive exhibitionand public consultation process, architects TonkinLiu and interior designers Timorous Beasties havebeen contracted to develop their ideas further.

Glasgow-based interior designers TimorousBeasties have proposed creating a new ‘wallpaper’design based on archive and on-site research intothe Sunderland Empire. Photographs, architecturalmotifs and other details will be assembled tocreate a unique pattern which will be printed onaluminium panels and affixed to the Flytower.These panels will be backlit, and at night asecondary ‘pin-prick’ design will be revealed –effectively creating a second artwork.

London-based architects Tonkin Liu haveproposed to celebrate the theatregoer byrecreating an audience scene. They will createsculptural audience hands which will spin in thewind, appearing to applaud the theatre.The clapping hands should add interest andanimation to the artwork, which will bedramatically lit at night.

A final selection of the proposals is expectedin June with the artworks installed in 2009.

C2CCycleway.The 140 mile long sea to sea (C2C) cyclewayruns from the Cumbrian coastline and ends onthe north bank of the RiverWear at Roker Beach.Developed by Sustrans, it is “Britain's mostpopular long distance cycle route” with upto15,000 cyclists completing the entire routeeach year.

Sunderland City Council has secured funding toundertake a strategic public art and landscapingdesign programme for the final stretch of theroute. The brief to artists requested three

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commissions along the cycleway: one to belocated under theWearmouth Bridge to signal thestart of the end of the route; waymarkers fromthat point to form a series of countdowns,building anticipation of the finish point; and atRoker Beach, the end point of the C2C, acelebratory piece that provides a photoopportunity for cyclists to mark theirachievement.

Liverpool based artist Andrew Small wasselected to take outline design proposalsthrough to completion. Andrew was influencedby the fact that the route is located alongside the1,300 year old St Peter’s Church which togetherwith St Paul’s in Jarrow is to be the UK’snomination for UNESCOWorld Heritage Sitestatus in 2010. The twin Anglo-Saxon monasteryofWearmouth-Jarrow was home to the VenerableBede. The artist felt that Bede’s calculations ofthe motions of the sun and the moon remaininfluential to this day and this provided theinspiration for his work.

The first piece, located under the bridge,will represent a sun and from that point thewaymarkers will carry orbiting animations onlenticular floor panels positioned to the planetsrelative distances from the Sun commissionending at the final sculpture. The celebratory endcommission made of granite marks the end of theC2C and is a companion piece linked also by formto the Sun commission. The piece coincides withthe end point of the scaled solar system andlooks out to the unknown, re-framing and re-contextualising Roker Pier Lighthouse throughthe sculpture’s shutter-inspired portal form.

The artworks are expected to be installedin early Autumn 2008.•ZoëChanningAssistant Head of Culture&TourismSunderlandCity CouncilTel 0191 514 8459E.mail: [email protected] Propos

als forSunder

land Empire by

Timorous Beas

ties (above) an

d Tonkin Liu (b

elow)

Channel4’sBigArtProject -Burnley

Launched in October 2005, Channel 4’s Big ArtProject invited communities to bid for fundsto create a landmark piece or pieces of publicart. Seven communities were selected,amongst them, Burnley. Paul Hartley,describes the project about to be unveiledto an expectant town.

We wanted to get young people in Burnleyinvolved in commissioning a piece of public art inthe Burnley town centre, and also draw togetherresidents and dedicated community workersfrom three diverse residential areas which arecurrently undergoing a rigorous regenerationprogramme and involve artists in these areas.

TheTeamAs soon as Burnley knew it had won, KerenzaHines was appointed as the Curator and Big ArtCo-ordinator for Burnley quickly followed bymyself, Paul Hartley, as the Youth EngagementOfficer. The Curator’s role overall is to ensure thequality delivery of the project, which includessupporting the artists’ commission and deliveringthe project within the timescale. My role is tosupport the young people throughout theproject, which includes personal development,skills and training. Creative Partnerships whohelped devise the bid and Burnley BoroughCouncil are working together to help ensure theproject aligns to schools , local neighbourhoodobjectives and to secure as many positiveopportunities for Burnley from this project aspossible.We also have a steering group madeup of interested parties whom we report to ona bi-monthly basis.

TheProcessWe started with quite a large group of around30 young people, and undertook an intenseprogramme of workshops and groupdevelopment work, undertaking explorations inart in the public realm, meeting artists andlearning about neighbourhood awareness. But wethen slimmed this down and are working with acore team of 15 individuals aged between 12 and17 so we could work in a more focussed way incommissioning the artist and the level ofunderstanding required to make that decision. Allthese young people attend one of the fourBuilding Schools for the Future schools drawnfrom our three housing market renewal areas.

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TheCommissioningProgrammeUnlike the other Big Art sites around the country,Burnley doesn’t have just one specific site.Wehave a whole town to consider, threeneighbourhoods to involve and a host of socialissues with which we want and will needed toengage with. It soon became clear that to expectan artwork or an artist to take this all on board,as well as to expect the young people to keep anengaged level of understanding and ownership,might run the risk of diluting the artwork andunder representing, or at worst trivialising thecomplexity of Burnley as it goes through thischallenging time.

So, we decided to split the project into amain commission for the town centre and acommunity commission where three artistswill work in residence with communities acrossthe three housing market renewal areas.

TheMajorcommissionThrough a process of selection the young peoplefavoured and chose Greyworld, led by AndrewShoben to deliver the major commission forBurnley town centre.

Greyworld’s practice is to create new mediainterventions in the public realm and as theydescribe on their website “…to create works thatarticulate public spaces, allowing some form ofself-expression in areas of the city that peoplesee every day but normally exclude and ignore”.

The group instantly took to Greyworld’sstraightforward simple, ideas and the sense offun and mischief they evoke in all thatparticipate in them. It was this simplicity and thevalue of bringing people through enjoyment anddelight that struck a chord with our group andmade a compelling argument for why this shouldhappen in Burnley.

On the 14th March 2008, the Burnley Big ArtProject will launch its piece of artwork createdby Greyworld around sites all over Burnley towncentre. The artwork has been given the simplename ‘Invisible’. Exactly what it will look likeremains a closely guarded secret until thecelebration and launch event, but I can tell you,it will be a truly fantastic commission uncoveringhidden corners and grey spaces bringing a littlewonder and magic to them.

ThecommunitycommissionThe neighbourhood commission has been led by ajoint community steering group, which involvesrepresentation from the schools, communityrepresentatives and partners from the threepriority neighbourhood areas.We have decided tohave three artists in residence based within thethree neighbourhoods, engaging members of thecommunity across generations over February andMarch. The artists will be placed within an anchororganisation, within the neighbourhood to providethe artist with a local context. The second part tothe community engagement programme is tohave a venue in the town centre for the whole ofMarch. This space will have a diverse program ofactivities, exhibitions and workshops and be anoutlet for the artists in residence to show whatthey have been doing. The venue will be a vibrantlocation for young people and all members ofcommunity to come and spend time, as well as aplace to find out more about the Big Art Projectand the Greyworld commission.•PaulHartley,Community EngagementOfficer,BigArt Project in BurnleyEmail: [email protected]/bigartBurnley’s BigArt project ‘Invisible’ is launched at 6pmon FridayMarch 14 2008 in Burnley Town Centre.Amajor Channel 4 series chronicling progress towardsthe artwork will be broadcast later this year.

Whattheparticipants said:“I really enjoyed theManchester CarArt Paradecommissioned byWalk the Plank.Artists from allover the country changed cars into pieces of art.My favourite car was the ‘Fossil Fuelled Digger’, thatwas ametal triceratopsmounted on a digger.”Sam,YoungPersonontheBigArtProject.“Borwick Hall was the best because I felt very selfconscious before but now,whenwe started theteambuilding activities I felt more comfortable after.”Lesedi,YoungPersonontheBigArtProject“Whenwewent to Liverpool wemet HumbertoVelezat theAlbert Docks, and his piece ‘TheWelcoming’,it was well good”Anthony,youngpersonontheBigArtProject.

Whoownspublicart?

There has always been a critical debate around public art, but the debate substantially shifted from theaesthetic to the impacts with the 1995 publication of Sarah Selwood’s “The Benefits of Public Art inBritain” (now out of print).The critique was recently revived by Josie Appleton in “Culture Vultures”, anextract from which we reproduce here, by kind permission. nalgao and its members may not agree withthe comments or sentiments in this article. But we think it important to acknowledge the critiques ofprevailing practice and are pleased to include them in our review of public art. Paul Kelly, Editor

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From Real Estate: Art in a Changing City by Hewitt Jordan Beech

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JosieAppletonOf all forms of art, public art has perhaps beenthe most strongly affected by the new culturalpolicy climate. New Labour has politicised art,demanding that it build communities, regenerateeconomies and include marginalised groups.Public art – an inherently political form – has provedan ideal candidate to wield towards these ends.

Art that sits in a square or street is differentto gallery art. Gallery art can be justified on thebasis of individual free expression, aestheticcriteria, or the proclivities of the art market. Publicart, by contrast, should be accountable to thepublic, and so lacks the defence of the gallery.

Over the past few years, government policy hasled to a new breed of public art, which is leavingits mark on cities, towns and villages across theUK. This new breed of public art is different topublic art of the past, and indeed from otherforms of contemporary art.

Today’s public art has new funders: state andquasi-state bodies, such as local authorities, theArts Council, the National Lottery, developmentcorporations and arts consultancies. Together, thisgroup could be described as ‘the regenerationindustry’: it funds public art on the basis that itwill help regenerate communities, by forging newconnections and public identities, and improvinglocal economies. Contemporary public art isdeveloping its own aesthetic, and there is anew generation of artists who are sustained bypublic art commissions.

Theregeneration industryHowever, today’s public art is not really theexpression of community values or desires: it’s drivenby officialdom, and its spirit springs from the policyspecifications of bureaucrats. Such art is aboutofficialdom’s image of the public, not realcommunities of living, working men and women.It’s anodyne art: offering a soothing kind ofparticipation and the affirmation of local identities.Just because an artist has proved to the Arts Councilthat he or she has consulted a community about asculpture, that doesn’t mean that it genuinelyrepresents that community.

No wonder that many of these new artworksgo almost unnoticed.They are often local curiosities,obstacles that pedestrians have to navigate like alamppost or a tree, but rarely the focus for publicpassion.Once it is unhinged from officialspecifications, public art can help to humanise ourtowns and cities, and express public desires. It alsoprovides new aesthetic possibilities, and potential fora more productive relationship with an audience.

PatchySurveysPublic art today is funded by a network oforganisations, which collaborate closely in thefunding and organisation of projects.Though theyare coordinated at putting public art up, theseorganizations are not so coordinated at keeping trackof how much they are putting up or how much theyare spending.All the indications are, however, that it

amounts to big numbers and big bucks.In 2002, the National Lottery reported that in the

previous six years it had spent £72.5 million on 1500public art projects. High-profile projects come withchunky price tags. £986,500 was spent on public artfor Bridlington promenade alone; Coventry’s nine-piece Phoenix Initiative cost some £1million.

For a national picture, we have to rely on patchysurveys from art research bodies. These suggestthat the numbers of public artworks startedincreasing dramatically in the mid-1980s. In 1984,there were an estimated 550 works of modern artin Britain; by 1993, it was estimated that 750public art installations had been created over theprevious 10 years.

In the decade of the 1990s there were over sixtimes more sculptures than there were at the highpoint of ‘statuemania’, between 1900-9.The officialaim is to regenerate communities, both economicallyand socially. Indeed, the hopes for public art oftenverge on the delusional, with claims that thesesculptures will, like a magic wand, transform the area– creating cohesive communities, conjuring up a newimage and a vibrant economy.

CreatingnewidentitiesToday’s public art is very much led by an elite –much more so than in the nineteenth century,when it was largely funded by public donations andcampaigns. Artists are told to go and create publicidentity, or encourage participation, however theysee fit. Neither are public artists under muchpressure from local communities, most of whomdid not even know that they wanted a publicartwork until they got one. As a result, theregeneration industry has become a law unto itself,developing its own standards and methods forevaluating public art.

Today’s public art policy is a historical novelty.Broadly speaking, we can divide British public artpolicy into three periods: art as propaganda; art asbeautification; and now, art as regeneration.

Art as propaganda lasted between the earlynineteenth century and the early twentieth century,and resulted in statues of royalty, localphilanthropists and military figures. Many workswere funded by public donation. If somebodywanted to put up a statue, he or she would oftencall a public meeting and open an account forsubscriptions.

Art as beautification held sway from the earlytwentieth century onwards, but particularly between1945 and the 1970s.Art was used to enhance thepublic environment.Art was also seen as a markerof economic prosperity.

Art as regeneration was a new approach to publicart which emerged in the 1970s and 1980s.Whereasin previous periods art was seen as the expressioneither of political values or economic self-confidence,now art was invested with the power to create newidentities, and spark economic development.Therewas an idea that public art could change people’ssense of themselves; give them a suitably strongself-image, and project that image to others.

There was another use of public art, though, thistime from the left. By getting a community’s creativejuices flowing, artists hoped, their political juicesmight start flowing too and ‘stimulating a sense ofbeing able to create something in an increasinglyfrustrating and alienating society’.Today’s public artpolicy has absorbed the policies of both right and left– it seeks both to stimulate the economy, and tostimulate political action. It has boomed in the1990s and 2000s, a time of growing publicdisengagement from politics and political life.Whenthe elite was at a loss about how to reach a sullenand atomised electorate, public artists offered theirservices as mediators. As the business of politicalengagement began to seem like a highly complicatedtask, public artists said that it was only their specialbrand of ‘creativity’ that would work.

WhatpublicartcandoPublic art does have a role today, though it ishampered from playing this role by the patronage ofthe regeneration industry. Our cities are indeedempty and soulless, made up of too manyanonymous streets, traffic islands and walkways.Mostly we pass through space without thinking, orwhile plugged into our iPods. A good public artworkcan interrupt you, make you think; and perhapsrepresent something of what you feel or believe.

This also provides new opportunities for artists –opportunities that perhaps Antony Gormley, of allartists, has exploited to the full. Public art shouldprovide the disciplining and sobering pressure ofmaking art for an audience, a group of people whohave to live, work and play around your work. Publicsites also offer a whole new series of aestheticpossibilities; not only good light, but an opportunityto play off and express a whole variety of differentlandscapes, from woods and cliffs to public squares.

The reason why Gormley succeeds, and hasbecome so popular, is that he doesn’t make phoneyattempts to create public identity. He does workthat is both personally meaningful and keys intothe zeitgeist.

We should break up the cosy consensus that hasemerged around public art between the state andquasi-state bodies in the regeneration industry.Thenwe might see the production of more public art thatactually means something.•JosieAppleton isconvenoroftheManifestoClub,agroupthatdefendsfreedominall its formswww.manifestoclub.comA full version of this piece appears in ‘CultureVultures– Is UKArts Policy Damaging theArts’ Edited byMuniraMirza and is available as a download from:http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/138.pdfArts at theHeart is grateful to JosieAppleton,MuniraMirza and Policy Exchange for allowing us to printthis extract.

FrancesWattIn Derbyshire, five years ago, a group of artsofficers decided to combine resources to create awebsite which would not only be a ‘What’s On’guide to publicise the diverse arts activities inthe area, but would also link and networkcreative practitioners across the county.The idea for the artsderbyshire website -www.artsderbyshire.org.uk - was born.Five years later, its statistics for its first full yearof operation speak volumes for its success:• Over 15,000 unique visitors• 25,000 visits• 750 artists, arts organisations and clubs signedup to the arts directory

• Over 2,000 arts events profiled• Over 8,000 inbound links from other websites

The idea for the website came about in 2003,when what was the then ‘Derbyshire Arts OfficersGroup’ discussed ideas to try and work morecollaboratively together. They wanted to betteranswer the needs of artists and creativepractitioners in this huge urban and rural countybordering Manchester, Yorkshire,Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire.

In 2004, Arts Council England changed itsfunding structures and the Derbyshire ArtsPartnership (DAP) came into being bringingDerbyshire and Derby City arts officers into acloser network. DAP’s focus was on ‘the creativeeconomy’, and the artsderbyshire website wasagreed as the major project to play a role innetworking across this vast area and promotingthe arts activities, events, artists, organisationsand businesses that are present here.

Contributors would include everyone from the“big players” such as the Buxton Festival, to smallvoluntary arts groups operating from village halls.

The criteria for making a listing or an entry onthe site’s arts directory are simple – if you areinvolved in the arts in Derbyshire – you are in. Ifyou are running a venue that could take anaudience of five hundred or fifty, your venue canbe included, giving clear information aboutlicences, capacity, access issues and more. Peopleputting on a large or small-scale event can list allthe information on a simple form, which is thenchecked over and uploaded by the editor into anevents diary. Artists, arts organisations, clubs andcreative practitioners can create their own listingin the arts directory, including adding an image.Artsderbyshire now also offers artists a “mini-site”. This is free web space with its own ‘html’address and as many images and pages asdesired by the artist or arts organisation.

The“DarkArts”All listings are free and the site enables membersof the public and creative practitioners to accessinformation across the whole of the county, in areadily accessible way.

The route to the website’s creation was notalways simple, however. Many officers had toundergo a steep learning curve in what wouldsometimes seem to them like “the dark arts” ofweb design and technology.

“Themajordifficultywasthetranslationbetweentechnical limitationsandtheabundanceofcreativityandflexibilitydemandedbytheartsofficers!”

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WeavingtheWeb

Art in the Dome Lower Gallery, Derby

From the outset, there was a realisation that“brokers” or “translators” between the designersand arts officers would be needed. During thefirst phase, web consultant Kieran Cooper wasappointed to work on the brief and iron outexpectations on both sides. After this there wasa long period of discussion about the technicalspecification of site. The key element wastranslating the ideas and goals of the artsofficers into the technical language of thewebsite developers.

After Kieran Cooper had drawn up the briefand the web developers, Futurate in Sheffield,had won the tender, a dedicated Project Managerwas appointed. Debbie Porter of Essential NewMedia acts as broker between designers andofficers, ironing out problems and sorting outerrors (or ‘bugs’) which inevitably appear in awebsite of this size and ambition. On a projectof this scale you need someone who canunderstand the technical demands of the webdevelopment and foresee the problems thatcan come along.

TechnicalmeltdownAfter a long development period and consumertesting, the website was promoted via roadshows and training courses and eventually went“live” in October 2006 – three years after theidea was first discussed.

And of course, this is when all the littleproblems came along…ranging from the major(the site completely crashed when what seemedlike a small editing error led to a technical meltdown) and the minor - artists forgetting theirusername and passwords to access and edit theirentries, remains the most frequent user problem.

After eighteen months, the website has gainedan excellent profile and support from thecreative community it serves. The BBC evenstreams artsderbyshire listings into a large openair Big Screen in the centre of Derby’s busyshopping area.

It now profiles individuals and groups, offeringthem publicity and marketing web space. Manyartists and organisations have been contacted bynew clients offering them work after readingabout them on the site. Clubs and societies haverecruited new members, and events have beenreaching new audiences. The site also establisheslinks between artists for collaborations andgeneral networking and we know users havebeen finding that particularly useful.

In addition to the content generated by theusers - the site also offers advice, informationand news pages, giving up to date informationon jobs, commissions, opportunities, funding andtraining. This is all reinforced by fortnightly e-bulletins that registered users can sign up to(all free). The public can also sign up for a generalmonthly “What’s On” e-bulletin drawn fromthe events listing information.

Artsderbyshire has also brought localauthorities together, with arts officers working

collaboratively on a joint enterprise. The artsofficers are able to point queries and suggestionsfrom people in their areas to the site and assistmembers of public to find information. They canalso direct council colleagues, who may want touse artists or arts facilitators to the site.Councillors and officers can see instantly thewealth of creative activity in Derbyshire and ithas become a powerful and tangible advocacytool for arts in the county.

As for the future, its part-time editor's posthas local authority funding for three years, andthere will be further funding drives to develop

the website to become more interactive. As wellas maintaining the networking and informationrole of artsderbyshire, it is hoped to develop thesite as a basis for other digital arts technologyprojects in the future. Derbyshire Arts Officerssee it as strategic tool for arts development, andthe aim now is to persuade future funders thatthis is the case.•FrancesWattDerbyshireArts PartnershipManagerDerbyshire County CouncilTel: 01773 831394 Email:[email protected]

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MakingDiversityWork

TheInterculturalcitiesConference,1-3May2008,Liverpool Rachel Kirkwood and PhilWood

Inthecitiesof todayandtomorrow,howcanpeoplefromdifferentcultures really live together– rather thanjust rubalongsideoneanother?

This is the central theme of this three day conferencetaking place in Liverpool, European Capital of Culture,from 1-3 May 2008.

Although a large majority of people in the UK and restof Europe think living with people of other cultures couldenrich their life, somehow the thought doesn’t alwaystranslate into action. And given that the road toseparation is a blind alley, new thinking is needed onhow diverse communities can co-operate in productiveharmony instead of leading parallel or antagonistic lives.

The conference will take a fresh look at how, in aworld of increasing mobility, people from differentcultures can make diversity and mixing the engine thatdrives the prosperity of their cities. Key issues for ourage, especially for those responsible for planning andregeneration, the local economy, community cohesion,education and culture services.

During the three days, leading speakers from acrossEurope, the UK, and also the US, Canada and Australiawill provide real examples of how being interculturalworks, bringing social, cultural and economic advantages.

Engageand interactThis however is no happy-clappy, rainbow nation plea.The conference message to the political, business andcommunity leaders of Europe’s cities is that the stakesare high. The places that not only accept diversity as afact but actively go out to make it work will graduallyoutpace the cities that fear or ignore it. Some of themost exciting and innovative parts of London,Amsterdam, NewYork and Toronto – but also someof their most nurturing neighbourhoods – are atthe forefront of this new trend for interculturalurban spaces.

And the conference will be under no illusions thatthis intercultural city will be an easy environment toattain. Being an active citizen here demands that youengage and interact; that you question and areprepared to be questioned by others, that you listenand are listened to; and that you are not afraid todisagree but you will go the extra distance to workthrough and solve a conflict to get a commonsolution. It also implies a recognition that themanagement of conflict is a skill which can andshould be acquired, not just by a few specialistsbut by all who play a role in the routineoperation of the city.

The conference will offer models of creativeconflict resolution in neighbourhoods; casestudies of how planning, architecture and

urban design can encourage mixing; examples ofincentives and policy measures which make co-operation amore attractive prospect than indifference or suspicion.Much of the substance of the programme derives frominternational research conducted by PhilWood and CharlesLandry for their book,The Intercultural City: Planning forDiversity Advantage, recently published by Earthscan.

Intercultural inventionBecause dialogue is the watchword, the conference will be

highly interactive. ‘Headline’ speakers will be available tomeet and debate with delegates, who will in turn have thechance to make presentations and influence the agendaand outcomes.The conference will conclude with a set ofrecommendations on how Europe’s cities can achieve theirown diversity advantage through being more intercultural.

The conference also marks the UK’s commitment to theEuropeanYear of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.Interculturalism is a new and generally misunderstoodterms in the UK. It seeks to replace the term‘multiculturalism’ which has been seen to encouragedifference and separation.The new ‘intercultural’ approachseeks cohesion and integration.

It is no coincidence the conference is taking place inLiverpool. Once one of the world’s great ports and a focusfor international migration, it is now redefining itself inresponse to changed circumstances. The conference willallow delegates the chance to explore this process firsthand with visits to civic, community and business projects.It is also one of the highlights of the Culture Company’s“Cities on the Edge” programme, a cultural partnership ofsix European port cities – Liverpool, Bremen, Naples,Marseilles, Istanbul, and Gdansk. As historical points ofdeparture and arrival for millions of people, these citieshave become important places for encounter andexchange, and for intercultural invention, in areas rangingfrom dialect and music to food and architecture.

Of course with Liverpool being European Capital ofCulture, conference delegates are promised an excitingrange of treats beyond the conference programmeincluding dinner at Anfield, the shrine of football, the AlbertDock world heritage site where Tate Liverpool gallery isbased, and the pleasures of Liverpool’s acclaimed night lifeand music scene.

The conference is organised by Comedia and Euclid, inassociation with Liverpool 08, with support from theEuropean Commission and the Council of Europe.•RachelKirkwoodEUCLIDTel: 0161 245 3235Email: [email protected]: [email protected] information on the conference, including prices, andto book a place please visit http://inter.culture.info/icc , [email protected] or call the EUCLID office 0161 245 3235.Otherusefulwebsite includewww.interculturaldialogue2008.euandwww.liverpool08.com

Speakersat the Intercultural citiesconference include:• Globalization guru Saskia Sassen,• NewYork Times writer Gregg Pascal Zachary whoargues cities and business must ‘mongrelize or die’

• the world authority on cultural diversity and cityplanning Leonie Sandercock,

• Lord Bhikhu Parekh who says it is time to rethinkmulticulturalism

• Keith Khan, Head of Culture for the 2012Olympic Games.

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Clare Cooper of theMission,Models,Moneyprogramme outlines the findings from their three yearstudy and outlines the plans for their next phase -MMM:Designing for Transition

Survival of the fittestIn the last fifty years, the UK not-for-profit arts andcultural sector has rightly been regarded as one ofthe world’s leading producers of high quality, popularand challenging work. Indeed many believe that thelast 10 years has been a golden age for arts andculture in the UK, helped in part by the doubling ofcultural funding by the Labour government.

However, in common with other parts of theworld such as the USA and Australia where not-for-profit organisations are a primary delivery vehiclefor cultural experience, the sector in the UK isfacing major structural changes brought on bytechnological advances, global interconnectednessand shifting consumer behaviour. A watershed hasbeen reached where organisations must adapt toevolving technologies and the different ways thepublic are engaging and participating with artsand culture or risk finding themselves marginalised.Navigating this change is no easy matter.

Hundreds of not-for-profit organisations criticalto both our historical and contemporary culturalcanon, the creators and producers of this ‘goldenage’, are over-extended and under-capitalised. Oftenwith high fixed costs and inflexible business modelsmany are highly dependent on annual public sectorgrants to survive as patterns in attendance andearned and fundraised income from the privatesector change.This scenario, whilst allowingsurvival, offers very little scope for fundamentaltransformation into more responsive, adaptive,sustainable mission-led businesses deliveringcultural excellence to an even wider general public.Yet this ability to evolve has never been so essential.

MMM’s work during the period from 2004 to2007 has found that the challenges faced by thesector fall into three broad categories: respondingto rapidly accelerating changes in the widerenvironment, building the skills and knowledgebase and re-aligning existing financing, fundingand organisational development structures.You canread the report and recommendations from theirthird phase at www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk

IntelligentFundingWinston Churchill spoke of how “we shape ourbuildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us”.Our financial structures influence our behaviour, sodo our organisational structures and our mindsets.

The evidence from the MMMAction Researchunderlines that it is by no means only arts andcultural organisations that need to respond tochange faster and drive up performance. Serious

levels of misalignment are evident in fundingmindsets and mechanisms and there are knowledgeand skills gaps which also exist in the currentcapacity building infrastructure.

There are concerns that the original mission andexisting roles and structures of the main publicfunding agencies and some intermediary organisationsare no longer ‘fit for purpose’. Public funding andbusiness support agencies are taking insufficientaccount of the business development needs ofmature non-profit arts and cultural organisations.

Cultural organisations are reporting that thequality of organisational development support isnot good enough and that there is confusionaround which support agency offers what service.Public and private funders are helping to sustainthe under-capitalisation of the sector throughworking practices that contribute to overextensionand undercapitalisation. and the continuingfragility of those they fund.

Cultural policy itself defines structures thatdiscourage or encourage certain behaviours andfunding practice has a profound effect on theecology of the arts. John Knell argues persuasively,in a provocation paper, for more intelligent fundingof the arts and cultural sector on our website.

Opportunity for rapid evolutionDespite these challenges, the MMM programme hasfound a great appetite for change across the sectorand many examples of new methods of operationand new business models are already emerging asdemonstrated by the growth of freelancers,facilitators, networkers and producers. Theubiquitous charity legal structure which most non-profit arts and cultural organisations operate underis being recognised by many as inherently tooconservative and risk averse. New legal structureswhich enable different kinds of funding andfinancing flows such as Community InterestCompanies are being actively explored whilst asmuch interest is being shown in expanding thespectrum of income sources available to include

other forms of financing beyond grants anddonations. There’s an informative article on thepotential use of new and alternative financialinstruments by arts and cultural organisationson our website.

MMM’s next phase of work ‘Designing forTransition’, which is currently itself in design phase,is proposing to run a series of pilots with arts andcultural organisations and funders in the use ofnew and alternative financial instruments, thedevelopment of new kinds of collaborationsincluding shared services, and the creation of moreintelligent funding communities made up of bothpublic and private sector funders. These and otherprogramme strands will all be feeding in to a majorpiece of policy work on how a healthier arts andcultural sector can be created and sustained.

The MMM group believe that the responsibilityfor developing new responses and enablingcontinuous adaptation to our ever-changingenvironment lies with all those who make up ourecology.With arts and cultural organisations, withthe agencies, organisations and individuals chargedwith building their capacity and those responsiblefor devising the frameworks of public and privatefunding which support them.

Our collective challenge is to accelerate thisstill fledgling cultural evolution. Abraham Lincolnfamously said: “The dogmas of the quiet past areinadequate to the stormy present. The occasion ispiled high with difficulty, and we must rise to theoccasion”. So too must we.•Clare CooperMission Money Modelswww.missionmodelsmoney.org.ukTel: 07914 375226 Email [email protected]:www.missionmodelsmoney.org.Towards a Healthy Arts and Cultural Ecology:www.missionmodelsmoney.org.JohnKnell:http://www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=712,719New and Alternative Financial Instruments:http://www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=712,724

AdaptorDie

So what does a Local Authority Arts Officeractually do? How do you respond when a friendor relative asks you that? In this new regularfeature, we intend to lay the profession bare! Tokick it off, Arts At the Heart Editor, Paul Kellyspoke to Swindon Borough Council’s Head ofArts - Helen MiahMondayI started on Monday morning with a meeting withthe Director and General Manager of SwindonDance to discuss the Local Authority’s funding ofthe company for the next three year period, nowthat we are pretty confident of their Arts Councilsettlement.Then I spoke to one of my Councillorswho is on the Board of Swindon Dance as there wasa Board meeting that evening, which I alsoattended. So quite a lot of time was spent lookingafter them. I also had to proof read the copy for thelatest Artsmad Newsletter. Artsmad is our “agency”for arts and children and encompasses both formaland informal learning settings.

TuesdayWe had aWiltshire and Swindon Arts Allianceinception meeting with our new projectmanagement consultants and then I had an ArtsServices Management Team meeting.One of thethings we talked about was business emergencyprocedures, so looking at where do we store andaccess all of our key data and information.Weagreed a new system for where we storeeverything, so if only one of us was able to get intothe office they’d be able to find everything theyneeded easily to cancel shows, inform the publicand generally keep the service moving.WednesdayI had my annual budget meeting with the seniorFinance team looking at next year’s revenuebudget, always a challenging meeting! Then I had ameeting about the BBC Big Screen. Swindon willhave the first BBC Big Screen in the South – apermanent one. It’s part of the regeneration ofWharf Green, which is being transformed tobecome a vibrant lively outdoor space. It’ll be like agiant television and will always have something on.And we’re hoping to showcase locally made filmsand use it for things like interactive games – reallyfun stuff like imaginary football where the ball is onthe screen and the kids have to run around andimagine where the ball is. The big screen is reallyexciting. I also had a long conversation with myboss. I’m also organising a party for a culture adminworker who’s taking early retirement and had todeal with 60 replies to the invite today.

ThursdayIn the morning, I had a meeting with Steve wholooks after Artsminds for me which is our networkand forum for creative artists and we had usefulplanning session and review of where we are withit. And then I had a 1:1 in the afternoon with myMarketing Manager, Nicki. One of things we lookedat was the consultation we’re about to undertakeusing ‘Swindon People’sVoice’ which is arepresentative sample of Swindon’s population -they are paid a small amount and they come in anddo questionnaires and focus groups.We’ve got thenext issue for the arts and we’re looking to find outmore information about what they know aboutwhat we do and what they like and what they’d liketo see more of.We also want to know do they gooutside of Swindon to access things that we couldprovide, and do they even know about all the thingswe do? This will provide invaluable baseline data forthe new arts Performance Indicator, which fingerscrossed, looks like being included as one of the top28 PI’s in our LAA2.FridayI had an awayday with my Group Directorate whichis Environment and Regeneration.We spent the dayworking with the senior management team on thebones of next year’s business plan.That mightsound like we spent all day talking budgets. Butactually we spent most of the time talking aboutwhat are the priorities for us as a group and howcan we deliver on them.A lot of it related to theLocal Area Agreement looking at what the bigheadlines are.We agreed that there would be apriority around embedding arts and culture in keystrategies, policies and plans. And we also spentsome time looking at how the Directors and Headsof Service work together. It’s not always asstraightforward as it might seem on paper.

I didn’t have any evening things last week, whichis unusual. I normally have a couple of eveningevents or meetings as well.•To find out more about what I get up to you canread my blog, which also includes a potted careerhistory and some rather embarrassing photos,follow the links from www.swindon.gov.uk/artsandculture

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TheSocialEntrepreneur- Making CommunitiesWorkby Andrew MawsonAtlantic BooksISBN 978-1-84354-661-0

Many of us are children of a welfarementality with the built-in notion thatsocial care is impossible without statesupport and management. This is the idealon which public funding for the arts is alsobuilt. It’s a noble ideal and particularly aptwhen there is mass poverty, significanthealth and mortality issues and a damagedprivate sector - as was the case in Britain inthe 1930s and 1940s. But, argues AndrewMawson in his splendidly readable andsometimes inspirational book, ‘The SocialEntrepreneur’, the welfare model andmentality that goes with it can createstasis, obstruction and failure – both ofimagination and delivery.

Mawson moved to Bromley-by-Bow, adeprived part of East London nearly 25years ago, not as a social worker, but as aPresbyterian Minister. Over time he felt thatall the public sector produced was policyreports, task forces and committees. Butnone of these actually changed anything. Byworking with people on the ground andusing skills and materials in quite low keyways, he was able to start an extraordinaryprocess of transformation. But the key to itwas also to insist on the best and not tosettle for anything less.When he arrived hefound a dilapidated church with 12 elderlyparishioners and £400 in the bank. Today,the three acre Bromley-by-Bow site housesthe first integrated health complex of itskind, a new landscaped park, a‘communiversity’, with over 700 students,

a business centre with over 22 socialenterprises – all of this employing 140 staff.

Creativity, says Mawson lies at the heartof social entrepreneurship. “Socialentrepreneurs,” he continues, “…do notfollow conventional ways of working. Theirview of the world begins with people,passion, experience and story – not politics,statistics and theory.”They “… ‘re-arrangethe furniture’ in ways that unsettle,challenge and confront…”And Mawsonsees art as central to the regenerationprocess. “Art projects,” says Mawson, “canbreak the patterns of failure with whichplaces like Bromley-by-Bow becomeassociated by raising expectations andencouraging people to look at theirsituation with fresh eyes.” And his projecthas shown the meeting point of excellenceand access, “We have always focussed onworking with practising artists, rather thanart teachers.” He explains. “Our artists makehigh demands on the people they workwith; they don’t tolerate mediocrityor half-heartedness.”

Written in an easily readable style, ‘TheSocial Entrepreneur’ shows how the arts canbe integrated with wider communitydevelopments and gives an acute analysis,by example, of the problems of bureaucraticparalysis. His eye-opening book suggeststhat Local Authority arts officers arebudding social entrepreneurs, if we butknew it. Spend a tenner and get inspired!

Paul Kelly

AromaBingoby David GaffneySalt Publishing @ £12.99(ISBN 978-1-84471-342-4)

David is a national representative for ACEon the nalgao Trustees Committee, andmembers may be interested to know thathis second book of prose has beenpublished. His first book, Sawn-off Tales,was a critical success, and his secondvolume packs a similar punch, full ofsurreal tales and flights of fancy.

Each story is like a small, neat parceland you just want to keep on openingthem. Often ultra-short (with mostobservations being just a page long), thebook is compulsive, addictive, and youwant to read just one more – so you stayup and finish the whole thing in onesitting. This is compelling reading,challenging the mind, imagination andperception – often humorous, sometimesdisturbing but never disappointing. ThinkLeague of Gentlemen, or Flann O’Brien, oreven The Mighty Boosh – these stories arelike fireworks waiting to go off, leaving youwith a new urban myth – weird, comic,absurd and often disturbingly true.

Pete Bryannalgao administrator

TheLastWordIf you are worried that the McMaster report on excellence will summon a return to old fashioned elitism, we can put your mind at restand reveal that his intentions have been well and truly gazumped - by popular culture. The average ticket price paid by fans to see theMidlands rock group Led Zeppelin’s reunion concert at O2 (built with £900 million of lottery players money), the average ticket pricemind, was £7,425. Now that’s what we call elitism!