‘Ambitious but achievable’ plan
Darren Henley’s strategy to ‘build bridges and blow up barriers’
When Darren Henley gave his first speech as the chief executive of Arts Council England (ACE) at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull in May, there was a lot of focus on the 5% increase in lottery funding to the English regions, which he described as a “significant shift”.
There was rather less emphasis on his desire to build a 25-year vision “for developing creative talent across the country”.
Grace Davies, the regional development coordinator for Visual Arts South West, part of the national Contemporary Visual Arts Network, says the 5% increase is not a “significant shift, it is a little bit more money”.
She says the change is welcome but it is unclear how much of an impact the extra money will have. ACE’s projected lottery investment in 2015-16 is £242m, which is getting increasingly closer to the £256.7m it will invest in its National Portfolio Organisations, even if you include the £22.6m for Major Partner Museums.
John Orna-Ornstein, the director of museums at ACE, says this shows how “lottery funding has held up while grant-in-aid has gone down”. And as ACE has just taken on an in-year cut of 0.35% to its budget for 2015-16, it is clear that this balance is not going to change any time soon.
“Increased investment outside London will come from lottery revenue, which now makes up around half of our funds,” said Henley in his speech. “But lottery revenue is not guaranteed – and we don’t expect it to go up. It’s hard to make the sustained commitments that our regularly funded National Portfolio Organisations require without the certainty of government funding.”
Most people Museums Journal asked about a 25-year vision for ACE pointed to the need to set out the arguments for core funding in a persuasive way, looking at the challenges facing local authorities and the pressures on public sector funds over the next three to four years. Henley referred to local councils’ funding of the arts in his speech.
“We understand that local authorities have to make tough decisions,” he said. “But we know how much they value the role that culture brings to their communities. When local authorities stand by the arts, we will stand by them. And one firm commitment attracts another. That is how confidence is built and investment is attracted.”
Hilary Wade, the director of the Cumbria-based Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, would like to see an investment in people working in museums, “breaking
down barriers and encouraging strong leadership for the sector”.
This chimes with Museums Association (MA) director Sharon Heal’s concern that the workforce is becoming less diverse from the point of view of ethnicity and social class, so it should look at entry to the sector and career choices.
There is also a need for long-term strategic thinking around collections, says Iain Watson, the director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. He believes that the arts council should look at the need for more obvious joined-up thinking for the distribution of arts lottery and heritage lottery money.
In his speech, Henley said his plan was ambitious, but achievable. “It will require us to build lots of bridges and blow up lots of barriers. But from my work for the last two governments in both music education and cultural education, I know that it is possible.”
Darren Henley will be a keynote speaker at the MA annual conference and exhibition, which takes place on 5-6 November in Birmingham.
There was rather less emphasis on his desire to build a 25-year vision “for developing creative talent across the country”.
Grace Davies, the regional development coordinator for Visual Arts South West, part of the national Contemporary Visual Arts Network, says the 5% increase is not a “significant shift, it is a little bit more money”.
She says the change is welcome but it is unclear how much of an impact the extra money will have. ACE’s projected lottery investment in 2015-16 is £242m, which is getting increasingly closer to the £256.7m it will invest in its National Portfolio Organisations, even if you include the £22.6m for Major Partner Museums.
John Orna-Ornstein, the director of museums at ACE, says this shows how “lottery funding has held up while grant-in-aid has gone down”. And as ACE has just taken on an in-year cut of 0.35% to its budget for 2015-16, it is clear that this balance is not going to change any time soon.
“Increased investment outside London will come from lottery revenue, which now makes up around half of our funds,” said Henley in his speech. “But lottery revenue is not guaranteed – and we don’t expect it to go up. It’s hard to make the sustained commitments that our regularly funded National Portfolio Organisations require without the certainty of government funding.”
Most people Museums Journal asked about a 25-year vision for ACE pointed to the need to set out the arguments for core funding in a persuasive way, looking at the challenges facing local authorities and the pressures on public sector funds over the next three to four years. Henley referred to local councils’ funding of the arts in his speech.
“We understand that local authorities have to make tough decisions,” he said. “But we know how much they value the role that culture brings to their communities. When local authorities stand by the arts, we will stand by them. And one firm commitment attracts another. That is how confidence is built and investment is attracted.”
Hilary Wade, the director of the Cumbria-based Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, would like to see an investment in people working in museums, “breaking
down barriers and encouraging strong leadership for the sector”.
This chimes with Museums Association (MA) director Sharon Heal’s concern that the workforce is becoming less diverse from the point of view of ethnicity and social class, so it should look at entry to the sector and career choices.
There is also a need for long-term strategic thinking around collections, says Iain Watson, the director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. He believes that the arts council should look at the need for more obvious joined-up thinking for the distribution of arts lottery and heritage lottery money.
In his speech, Henley said his plan was ambitious, but achievable. “It will require us to build lots of bridges and blow up lots of barriers. But from my work for the last two governments in both music education and cultural education, I know that it is possible.”
Darren Henley will be a keynote speaker at the MA annual conference and exhibition, which takes place on 5-6 November in Birmingham.