Arts Council England (ACE) yesterday announced new investment proposals that would see Major Partner Museums (MPMs) rolled into its National Portfolio funding programme, which is open to all types of arts organisations, from 2018.
The arts council also proposes that National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) be divided into different bands related to the size of their annual grant.
The proposed bands are £40,000-£250,000, £250,000-£1m, and more than £1m.
Organisations in the £250,000-£1m band would face similar expectations and have similar responsibilities to current NPOs. Organisations in the lower band would have fewer expectations than they currently do, while those receiving over £1m a year would be expected “to play an active leadership role within the art and culture sector”.
ACE proposes to offer 4-year funding agreements running from 2018 to 2022, while acknowledging that its settlement from the government only covers the period until 2020.
ACE believes that integrated funding will stimulate greater collaboration between arts organisations, museums and libraries, as well as “healthy competition for funding”.
The proposal document adds: “We will work with other national funders such as the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to be clear about who supports what."
Organisations and individuals are invited to share their views in an online consultation which will be open until 20 March.
The proposals also involve a review of ACE’s lottery-funded Grants for the Arts (GfA) programme and its strategic funds.
Museums and libraries would be eligible to apply for the GfA project funding where it contributes to ACE’s strategic goals. Previously museums were only able to apply for GfA funding for arts activities.
Strategic funding would also be reviewed under ACE’s proposals. Arts, museums and libraries would all be able to apply for strategic funding.
Currently museums are able to apply for the Museum Resilience Fund, which awards £10m a year, and two smaller strategic funds, but are not able to apply for other strategic funds that use arts lottery funding.
The arts council proposes focusing strategic funds on its key priorities of low audience engagement, diversity and skills, children and young people and resilience and sustainability, as well as “place-based approaches”.
The document says: “Investment in art and culture demonstrates value through the effect it has at a local level, in our towns, cities and communities."
Museum professionals welcomed some aspects of the proposals, but said that much would depend on the detail of how they were developed. There is some concern about the possibility that museums may end up with less funding overall.
John Roles, the head of Leeds Museums and Galleries, an MPM, said: “The suggestions to band funding seem sensible. If you are getting £25,000, you should not be expected to deliver the same as an organisation getting £1.5m”.
On the proposal to merge the MPM and NPO funding programmes, Roles said: “My concern would be that dedicated museum funding may be lost by being diluted into the wider arts pot. The loss of any further sector funding on top of the ongoing reductions in local authority funding would present a double whammy."
Tony Butler, the director of Derby Museums Trust (which is also part of the MPM programme in a consortium with Nottingham Museums and Art Galleries) said that proposals to fold museums in with other arts forms had “quite a lot of merit” and said that the increased emphasis on place-based funding “might offer opportunities for a bit more joined-up thinking about culture in cities”.
He said that there was a need to understand that museums operate under different conditions to other arts organisations, as they often offer free entry and tend to be more reliant on local authority funding.
“There is a need to understand that museums operate a slightly different business model to other arts organisations because they are collections-based institutions,” said Butler.
He added: “A lot will depend on how arts organisations as a whole, including museums, are able to work with each other, and their councils, within their localities.
“I don’t necessarily see it as a threat at all, and it may well be beneficial. A lot will depend on the detail."
Butler continued: “There is a broader discussion to be had about how the arts council and HLF work more closely together."
Keith Merrin, the director of Woodhorn Charitable Trust, which manages Woodhorn Museum and several other heritage sites and services in Northumberland, tweeted: “Looks like a huge step forward in a more logical approach to national funding of local #museums from @ace_national.”
John Orna-Ornstein, the director of museums at ACE, told Museums Journal that he did not believe that museums would end up with less funding overall, and felt that the proposals could well benefit the museum sector.
“We are trying to open up more opportunities for museums,” said Orna-Ornstein. “At the moment, nearly all MPMs are large organisations, and what we all know is that there are excellent museums at all scales.”
“It might be that there’s somewhere where there aren’t arts organisations that are operating effectively, and therefore we can make a decision to fund museums there, that we couldn’t fund as MPMs.”
He believed that current MPMs would remain “just as competitive” in the proposed new setup as beforehand, saying: “It doesn’t mean that every MPM will be funded, but they will have very strong cases to make.”
He said that he hoped to use the consultation to gain input from the sector on how to maintain a fair balance of funding between museums and other organisations, saying: “We might have to put some limits in place – that’s part of our job.”
Regarding strategic funding, Orna-Ornstein said: “We would like museums to be able to access a greater range of strategic funds. What we would like to do where possible is move away from museum-specific funds.”
He added: “We’re not going to have more money, but we can use it more strategically”.
Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, welcomed the consultation and said that she hoped that it would listen to the views of the sector and any concerns that those who work in museums might have.
“Allowing museums and galleries to apply for GfA and strategic funding is a step forward. However, the integration of the MPMs into the National Portfolio needs to be treated with caution. It doesn’t follow that allowing museums to apply to be NPOs will lead to greater collaboration at a local level – in fact it could have the opposite effect with arts organisations competing against museums for funding,” said Heal.
“I hope that there is an opportunity in this consultation to shape future investment in museums. There is a crisis in some regional museums and the arts council needs the capacity and the strategic ability to intervene, as it can with other art forms, where services to the public are at risk.
The emphasis on diversity is welcome and should extend to widening engagement and working in partnership with diverse audiences."
Links and downloads
ACE proposals for public investment in art and culture from 2018
The arts council also proposes that National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) be divided into different bands related to the size of their annual grant.
The proposed bands are £40,000-£250,000, £250,000-£1m, and more than £1m.
Organisations in the £250,000-£1m band would face similar expectations and have similar responsibilities to current NPOs. Organisations in the lower band would have fewer expectations than they currently do, while those receiving over £1m a year would be expected “to play an active leadership role within the art and culture sector”.
ACE proposes to offer 4-year funding agreements running from 2018 to 2022, while acknowledging that its settlement from the government only covers the period until 2020.
ACE believes that integrated funding will stimulate greater collaboration between arts organisations, museums and libraries, as well as “healthy competition for funding”.
The proposal document adds: “We will work with other national funders such as the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to be clear about who supports what."
Organisations and individuals are invited to share their views in an online consultation which will be open until 20 March.
The proposals also involve a review of ACE’s lottery-funded Grants for the Arts (GfA) programme and its strategic funds.
Museums and libraries would be eligible to apply for the GfA project funding where it contributes to ACE’s strategic goals. Previously museums were only able to apply for GfA funding for arts activities.
Strategic funding would also be reviewed under ACE’s proposals. Arts, museums and libraries would all be able to apply for strategic funding.
Currently museums are able to apply for the Museum Resilience Fund, which awards £10m a year, and two smaller strategic funds, but are not able to apply for other strategic funds that use arts lottery funding.
The arts council proposes focusing strategic funds on its key priorities of low audience engagement, diversity and skills, children and young people and resilience and sustainability, as well as “place-based approaches”.
The document says: “Investment in art and culture demonstrates value through the effect it has at a local level, in our towns, cities and communities."
Museum professionals welcomed some aspects of the proposals, but said that much would depend on the detail of how they were developed. There is some concern about the possibility that museums may end up with less funding overall.
John Roles, the head of Leeds Museums and Galleries, an MPM, said: “The suggestions to band funding seem sensible. If you are getting £25,000, you should not be expected to deliver the same as an organisation getting £1.5m”.
On the proposal to merge the MPM and NPO funding programmes, Roles said: “My concern would be that dedicated museum funding may be lost by being diluted into the wider arts pot. The loss of any further sector funding on top of the ongoing reductions in local authority funding would present a double whammy."
Tony Butler, the director of Derby Museums Trust (which is also part of the MPM programme in a consortium with Nottingham Museums and Art Galleries) said that proposals to fold museums in with other arts forms had “quite a lot of merit” and said that the increased emphasis on place-based funding “might offer opportunities for a bit more joined-up thinking about culture in cities”.
He said that there was a need to understand that museums operate under different conditions to other arts organisations, as they often offer free entry and tend to be more reliant on local authority funding.
“There is a need to understand that museums operate a slightly different business model to other arts organisations because they are collections-based institutions,” said Butler.
He added: “A lot will depend on how arts organisations as a whole, including museums, are able to work with each other, and their councils, within their localities.
“I don’t necessarily see it as a threat at all, and it may well be beneficial. A lot will depend on the detail."
Butler continued: “There is a broader discussion to be had about how the arts council and HLF work more closely together."
Keith Merrin, the director of Woodhorn Charitable Trust, which manages Woodhorn Museum and several other heritage sites and services in Northumberland, tweeted: “Looks like a huge step forward in a more logical approach to national funding of local #museums from @ace_national.”
John Orna-Ornstein, the director of museums at ACE, told Museums Journal that he did not believe that museums would end up with less funding overall, and felt that the proposals could well benefit the museum sector.
“We are trying to open up more opportunities for museums,” said Orna-Ornstein. “At the moment, nearly all MPMs are large organisations, and what we all know is that there are excellent museums at all scales.”
“It might be that there’s somewhere where there aren’t arts organisations that are operating effectively, and therefore we can make a decision to fund museums there, that we couldn’t fund as MPMs.”
He believed that current MPMs would remain “just as competitive” in the proposed new setup as beforehand, saying: “It doesn’t mean that every MPM will be funded, but they will have very strong cases to make.”
He said that he hoped to use the consultation to gain input from the sector on how to maintain a fair balance of funding between museums and other organisations, saying: “We might have to put some limits in place – that’s part of our job.”
Regarding strategic funding, Orna-Ornstein said: “We would like museums to be able to access a greater range of strategic funds. What we would like to do where possible is move away from museum-specific funds.”
He added: “We’re not going to have more money, but we can use it more strategically”.
Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, welcomed the consultation and said that she hoped that it would listen to the views of the sector and any concerns that those who work in museums might have.
“Allowing museums and galleries to apply for GfA and strategic funding is a step forward. However, the integration of the MPMs into the National Portfolio needs to be treated with caution. It doesn’t follow that allowing museums to apply to be NPOs will lead to greater collaboration at a local level – in fact it could have the opposite effect with arts organisations competing against museums for funding,” said Heal.
“I hope that there is an opportunity in this consultation to shape future investment in museums. There is a crisis in some regional museums and the arts council needs the capacity and the strategic ability to intervene, as it can with other art forms, where services to the public are at risk.
The emphasis on diversity is welcome and should extend to widening engagement and working in partnership with diverse audiences."
Links and downloads
ACE proposals for public investment in art and culture from 2018