Worries over Newcastle Cultural Investment Fund
No ‘plan B’ says Newcastle City Council
A source close to Newcastle City Council said that reports that the Newcastle Cultural Investment Fund (NCIF) had not attracted any funding since it opened last September were “a worry for everyone”.
The NCIF, a fund set up last year in response to the council's proposals to axe its arts budget, is administered by the Community Foundation. The council has pledged £600,000 a year to the NCIF from 2015/16.
Adam Lopardo, head of cultural partnerships at the Community Foundation, said: “We haven’t asked anyone for money yet. We are developing the fund at the moment, the council is working on its vision for culture, and we will have details later this year. The fund will open for 2015/16.”
Lopardo confirmed that the fund had received no funding yet apart from a “regular, small donation” from one member of the public.
Asked what would happen if the fund failed to attract any other investment, a Newcastle City Council spokesman said: “We will still make a core investment of £600,000, but there is no ‘plan B’. This new way of funding is a risk, but we believe it will be a success.
The Community Foundation is currently carrying out a closed test application process, which the council is funding with around £100,000, to fine-tune the criteria and guidelines for the fund.
The Great North Museum, which will lose its council funding in April, is one of five organisations asked to apply, and is bidding for £75,000 to fund its core learning programme for schools, the same amount that it received from the council in 2013/14.
The council also cut its subsidy to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums by 14% last year, affecting the Laing Art Gallery, the Discovery Museum and the Great North Museum.
Museums Journal has learned that, as government funding for culture becomes increasingly squeezed, a number of other councils have made informal enquiries about the investment fund to Newcastle City Council and the arts council.
The fund is due to have a Westminster launch later this year, alongside Newcastle City Council’s vision for culture, which is scheduled to be completed by April.
Update
17.01.2014
Subsidy to TWAM was cut by 14% last year, not 44% as originally reported.
The NCIF, a fund set up last year in response to the council's proposals to axe its arts budget, is administered by the Community Foundation. The council has pledged £600,000 a year to the NCIF from 2015/16.
Adam Lopardo, head of cultural partnerships at the Community Foundation, said: “We haven’t asked anyone for money yet. We are developing the fund at the moment, the council is working on its vision for culture, and we will have details later this year. The fund will open for 2015/16.”
Lopardo confirmed that the fund had received no funding yet apart from a “regular, small donation” from one member of the public.
Asked what would happen if the fund failed to attract any other investment, a Newcastle City Council spokesman said: “We will still make a core investment of £600,000, but there is no ‘plan B’. This new way of funding is a risk, but we believe it will be a success.
The Community Foundation is currently carrying out a closed test application process, which the council is funding with around £100,000, to fine-tune the criteria and guidelines for the fund.
The Great North Museum, which will lose its council funding in April, is one of five organisations asked to apply, and is bidding for £75,000 to fund its core learning programme for schools, the same amount that it received from the council in 2013/14.
The council also cut its subsidy to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums by 14% last year, affecting the Laing Art Gallery, the Discovery Museum and the Great North Museum.
Museums Journal has learned that, as government funding for culture becomes increasingly squeezed, a number of other councils have made informal enquiries about the investment fund to Newcastle City Council and the arts council.
The fund is due to have a Westminster launch later this year, alongside Newcastle City Council’s vision for culture, which is scheduled to be completed by April.
Update
17.01.2014
Subsidy to TWAM was cut by 14% last year, not 44% as originally reported.