I am not sure that Liz Forgan gets it quite right in her interview with the Daily Telegraph. Whereas it is true that many politicians see the arts as an "add on", I suspect that attitude is shared by people in general.
The kind of view she expresses about the Bristol Old Vic as an integral part of Bristol is not commonly recognised. In Brent, I would say the Tricycle Theatre can play that sort of role for Kilburn High Road. The new Civic Centre could act as a regeneration magnet, and the new Willesden centre might be able to do the same for Willesden High Road, but not sure that is widely appreciated.
I am also not sure that I sympathise that the "new rich" should be the mainstay of arts funding. If arts activities really provide wide social value, which I think they do, what is wrong with them being funded from public funds? Do we really need to fund from grotesquely overpaid bankers? In fact aren't such charitable donations just a way of covering up gross inequalities that should not be there in the first place?
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