The ACE funding landscape – how does it look now for the independent sector?
Yesterday I used my journey to and from Huddersfield to reflect on an extraordinary week in the arts. In between trains I met with a dynamic group of ITC touring companies at the Lawrence Batley Theatre who inspired me with their optimism, realism, knowledge, experience and generous willingness to share with each other.
On Wednesday (ACE decision day) I made a conscious decision not to add to the twitter stream. There was a lot to take in and it was bizarre (thanks to the massive technical crash at ACE that meant even their phone lines were down!) to have to rely on tweets to get the overall picture on their decisions. Eventually a dedicated assistant from ACE National office delivered a paper copy of the detail by hand – Thank you for that!
So – the results as they affect the independent sector (ITC ’s membership). As far as we can make out 24 ITC RFOs have lost all their funding and they are as follows: Theatre Is, Trestle, Reckless Sleepers, Box Clever, Collective Artists, DanceUK, Henri Oguike Dance, Moti Roti, New Work Network, Nitro, Quicksilver, Cholmondleys & Featherstonehaughs, Vayu Naidu, Webplay, Yellow Earth, NTC, Fuse, Spike, Forest Forge, Oxfordshire Touring, Theatre Absolute,
Foursight, Third Angel, Natural Theatre Company. (Apologies if we have missed anyone and do let us know – ACE does not provide a list of ‘cuts’).
Some other companies such as: Red Ladder, Out of Joint, Shobana Jeyasingh, Theatre Centre and Action Transport have had a partial cut between 20-50%
Some ITC companies will become new NPOs including Theatre Bristol, Blind Summit, High Tide, Clod Ensemble, Open Clasp and 20 Stories High.
Some have received uplifts, for example: Unlimited, Hoipolloi, Spare Tyre, Tutti Frutti, The Albany. Oval House, Theatre Royal Stratford
The majority of ITC NPOs will be cut by 11% (which is actually standstill in real terms).
The information we can not get from anywhere, except from the individual organisations, is who applied (as a non RFO) and was turned down? We need to know to build a picture of how our sector fared and how much potential was lost this time. ACE has been at pains to stress that they had to reject some excellent bids. Furthermore they are keen to keep open the dialogue with and maintain recognition of the arts sector beyond their portfolio. We want to help them do that. For many companies the NPO application was an opportunity to appear on the ACE radar – we don’t want those exciting ‘bleeps’ to disappear off it now.
We are still trying to get a clear picture of this new landscape but if pressed for some views at this early stage I would raise the following questions and concerns:
- Rural Touring seems to have taken a bit hit (NTC, OTTC, Forest Forge and Proteus) and many Companies are questioning the wisdom of awarding an uplift to NRTF (National Rural Touring Forum) in that context. Can an agency fill the gap left by producing companies?
- Young People were one of ACE’s priorities yet companies at the coal face of producing work for young people have lost out (Quicksilver, Box Clever, Trestle, Webplay and Theatre Is – and they had only just created Theatre Is!). I hope ACE does not think they have this covered by funding the
National Skills Academy - I still think ACE could have been a bit braver with the bigger organizations such as ROH & RSC. Vivien Duffield’s generous gift, just before the announcements, surely shows how capable they are of attracting philanthropy.
I have spent a great deal of time in the past 48 hours on the phone with members. Some are still struggling to get over the shock but I am heartened by how strategic and clear-thinking many are being. Red Ladder talked about ‘staying flexible’ whilst Trestle were ready with their ‘survival instinct kicking in’.
What do you think? And what can you share with us to help us gain a fuller view of this landscape?
Hope to talk soon Charlotte, but first impressions are that the experimental theatre sub-sector is looking a less well represented in the new NP.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard to be completely objective about the new funding announcement by ACE, particularly as I am currently Co-Artistic Director of a company which has received an unexpected 100% cut from 2012: Foursight Theatre. When speaking with Charlotte at a recent Artistic Director’s forum prior to the announcement my feeling was that the Arts Council were in an impossible situation, as the severity of the cut passed onto them by central government could hardly allow a positive message of encouragement to ring through the arts world on March 30th.
ReplyDeleteWhilst it is fantastic to see a handful of organisations, such as Slung Low, Clod Ensemble and Red Earth, receive new support, my overall sentiment at the moment is a feeling of sadness. It seems that so much potential is inevitably being stymied and so many artists will be feeling that all the hard work and planning they put into their applications, not to mention in-depth research, partnership development, thought, care, creativity and time that goes into the development of a 4 year business plan, will have been in vain.
For companies such as Foursight, situated in deprived areas of the country, the reach of the work and opportunity created by the company’s existence stretches a lot further than merely its core team… Foursight Theatre was founded more than 24 years ago and creates mid-scale, small-scale and site-specific work, and in-depth education projects, all inspired by the lives and passions of women. The company regularly employs freelance actors, directors, musicians, technicians and designers. We have just completed two tours of an international co-production with the Portuguese company, Teatro do Montemuro, which has been invited to Portugal’s National Theatre in Lisbon in June. We are also currently developing a co-production, ‘Bette and Joan’ with the brilliantly resourceful Jacksons Lane, London, supported by mac, Birmingham and have just completed an in-depth schools project looking at Maths and Drama. In addition we regularly co-produce with regional partners, Black Country Touring, The Courtyard, Herefordshire’s Centre for the Arts and Warwick Arts Centre, who co-produced our flagship show, ‘Thatcher the Musical!’ which took the company onto the mid-scale in 2006/7… A much as ACE hope that projects like this might still continue via project funding, philanthropy and other funds, it is impossible to continue the long-developed infrastructure of a company of this nature without core support. And Foursight is just one of 206 companies that have been axed. The impact of this mass obliteration can clearly not go unnoticed.
I sincerely hope that the thousands of artists up and down the country that have been affected will find the strength and resources to find new ways forward and channel these energies elsewhere. My fear, however, is that much work, across the board, from pure artistic creation to community cohesion and development projects will simply not happen, and the country will be culturally poorer because of it.