Vox pop: January 2009

"To give arts and heritage their rightful place at the centre of social and economic policy. They have proved the case again and again for the positive impact of the arts on regeneration, city centre renewal, education, ethnic diversity, and above all tourism .

To restore national lottery funding for the arts and heritage. Since 1997 combined lottery and exchequer funding to arts and heritage has fallen by £276.3m.

To look again at that perennial issue of tax incentives for giving - we have envied the US system for too long- lets get on and do something.
Fewer and lighter touch government funded programmes with simpler more straightforward ambitions."


"To combine access and excellence for a wide and enthusiastic audience. Providing critical appreciation and discourse around the meaning and value of photography and art forms in our lives.

To ensure risk and innovation are at the heart of everything we do - we cannot afford to be complacent. It is crucial that the work shown challenges our audiences' expectations of what the visual arts and photography can express and be in the twenty-first century.

To encourage deeper and more meaningful partnerships between corporate, trusts and foundations and cultural organisations. Long-term, worthwhile value for the arts in the UK is developed through these partnerships."


"Most curators I know are only too pleased to share their knowledge and understanding of the collections. It is certainly the case that sophisticated collection management software will enable more collections based information to be harvested in the future.

Technology will enable museums to increase the depth and breadth of collections information they record and make more of this available via the web. What is most exciting for me is how this data might be used by a range of different researchers."


"I would like to see culture valued for itself, a commitment to creating a climate which provides freedom for arts organisations to be creative and produce quality experiences with less resources consumed by bureacracy.

The vital role of the arts for learning, leisure, building communities, giving people a sense of identity and place and supporting the economy needs to be very strongly affirmed.

Broadening participation and ensuring access to the arts for all. Financial investment through programmes such as Renaissance, support for organisations in developing sustainable practice and new incentives to give to the arts in difficult economic times.

Local Authorities to have a mandate to continue to fund culture and a commitment to work with LAs to develop financial frameworks that would allow arts organisations to have different business models."