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Investment in combined arts 2015-18

‘Combined arts’ describes the place where artforms meet; where art is experimental

– and playful. It’s at the forefront of publicly accessible arts, where people often

become involved for the first time – at festivals and in free work outdoors in cities,

towns and rural areas, and often with arts that reflect particular cultures and

communities.

This creative liberty is reflected in the variety of venues where combined arts

happens; from pop-up spaces and temporary sites to long-established arts buildings

– a wide range of spaces where artists and communities experiment and explore.

All our investment streams are crucial to the Combined arts portfolio, and the Grants

for the arts programme plays a particularly significant role. Many festivals and

carnivals are funded through Grants for the arts – as are individual artists and

producers.

The National portfolio provides and maintains the principal arts infrastructure, and we

are pleased that investment in combined arts has remained fundamentally stable,

with some exciting investments in festivals, outdoor arts and arts centres.

The portfolio for 2015-18 contains 178 organisations – the largest number in any of

the artforms the Arts Council supports – and investment for combined arts over the

three-year funding term will rise from £176,405,555 to £180,641,930.

The most common annual scale of award is between £100,000-250,000 annually:

only five organisations will receive more than £1 million per annum. This shows how

many individual and community initiatives we support.

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In some cases we have reduced funding, in order to focus more on areas of work

that we believe require further attention; 18 organisations have left the portfolio and

nine organisations have come in. We will work with those organisations leaving the

portfolio to see if they can be supported through other funding streams.

The portfolio makes a strong contribution to the Arts Council’s goals, particularly

excellence and reach, using innovative forms and cutting across geography, social

class and age. We believe that the organisations in the portfolio reflect and in many

cases help define contemporary English life.

Participatory and community arts are well represented, with strong leadership from

organisations such as Sandwell-based Multistory, which promotes narrative

storytelling through photography, film, exhibitions, publications and digital media. In

addition, a significant proportion of ‘mainstream’ organisations – among them the

Bluecoat, Roundhouse and Watershed – have developed artistically excellent

community or engagement programmes. This emphasis on participatory arts practice

is a testament to the development of work in this field – and a clear sign that the Arts

Council and its partners are supporting new practice where it is emerging.

Arts centres have been identified as strong contributors to talent development and

innovation, often within a particular community or aligned to social engagement. A

network of strongly led venues has been maintained across the country –

organisations such as ARC in Stockton, the Albany, Jacksons Lane, Stratford Circus,

Watermans in London and Cambridge Junction. In addition, we have supported

newly built arts centres in Doncaster (Cast) and Manchester (Cornerhouse/Home);

both of these offer important approaches to commissioning across artforms, and new

ways of working with communities.

We will continue our partnership with the BFI in the network of combined arts and

media venues that we jointly fund – including Watershed, Derby Quad and Broadway

Media Centre – with a focus on joint education and programmes for children and

young people. There will be further work with our BFI colleagues to align our funding

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agreements: this will improve the impact of the cross-artform and creative media

aspects of the portfolio. Many arts centres programme independent films; this digital

screen network already makes a good contribution to increasing access – and could

do more.

There is a small but significant set of specialist digital and creative media

organisations in the new portfolio, including Abandon Normal Devices, which

promotes an energetic festival of cinema, digital culture and art. This will augment

the work of other internationally recognised ‘digital innovators’ in the Combined arts

portfolio, such as Blast Theory, FutureEverything and Watershed. These

organisations complement artist-centred festivals such as Fierce and the Be Festival.

All help create good conditions for talent and practice development.

Much progress has been made in relation to outdoor arts, and it’s becoming firmly

established as part of our work. New organisations SeaChange Arts and Corn

Exchange Newbury will strengthen content through commissions and spaces

dedicated to creative work. Existing festivals such as Norfolk & Norwich, Stockton

International Riverside Festival and Lumiere Durham remain in the portfolio and

there will be further strategic support for outdoor arts over the next three years.

Manchester International Festival has been awarded a significant increase in funding

in order to allow more international co-commissioning and to ensure it remains one

of the world’s most significant arts festivals.

There have been some positive advances in diversity, with diverse led organisations

remaining or being added to the portfolio, while increased funding for the Asian Arts

Agency will allow them to have an impact on the national picture for diversity.

We have made some significant changes to our investment in carnival but it remains

an important contributor to combined arts and we recognise its value both locally and

nationally. The new portfolio retains the carnival organisation Kinetica, which is

relocating to bigger premises in Thurrock, and we have brought in Sunshine Arts. In

addition, many carnival organisations will continue to be funded through Grants for

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the arts and we will also be ring-fencing £500,000 of strategic funds annually to

support further diversity within the portfolio, working with our partners across the arts

and cultural sector.

With its emphasis on new practice, on participation and on community, festivals and

outdoor work, and its commitment to regional arts centres, we believe the Combined

arts portfolio offers a platform for increasing public access to the arts over the

coming years.

For more information about our 2015-18 investment visit:

www.artscouncil.org.uk/investment