Councils Helping the Arts

Following the retreat of Newcastle from cutting all their arts funding, and the more recent debate on creative industries in the Commons, how Councils support the arts is becoming a hot topic, so I thought I would blog about some of the things they can do.  I take the value of such support as read, and just go through some of the ways in which it can be provided, and a few of their pros and cons.

Venues
Most Councils have a variety of potential performance spaces.  In principle, this could include any park, but also a variety of Council buildings.  These work best if designed for the purpose, such as "folly" erected on the site of the former Dollis Hill House.  In Brent we have three major venues identified in our Arts Strategy. These are the Tricycle Theatre, Willesden Library Centre and the Civic Centre.

Willesden Library Centre is a cautionary tale in terms of designing such spaces.  It is now being totally rebuilt in what will hopefully be a far more effective form. The 1980s original had some performance spaces without any sound proofing, meaning that they could not be used as the neighbours complained of the noise.  I suspect the same was true of the outdoor space at the back.  The cinema there was originally intended to be a theatre, but was built without any dressing rooms.

The Civic Centre should be a much better venue, albeit still with some problems.  The atrium has already hosted some worthwhile events.  The meeting rooms in the drum are designed to be as flexible as possible, and of course there is the libraries.

Brent libraries are a key part of our Arts supports in this and so much else.  Now that they are all available 24 hours a day, it gives much greater flexibility for events, with virtually no cost to the Council.  Lots of the Brent Dance Month events take place in libraries for instance.

The final way in which the Councils can support arts through buildings is Meanwhile spaces.  This is problematic as you either have to pay the business rates direct or forgo the revenue, which obviously costs either way.

Direct Funding
Councils can also give direct funding, as Brent does to the Tricycle Theatre for example.  The days when you just gave money to people are long gone, so these grants are subject to agreed objectives and monitoring.  This kind of thing is becoming more and more difficult as central government cuts the budgets.

Indirect Support
Indirect support is not as obvious, but could be valuable.  For example, I suggested to the library service recently that they could do specific displays around each of the Tricycle's productions as they came up.  The new Artistic Director seems to have a penchant for plays with many layers of meaning, which should give plenty opportunities for book stock on lots of different themes.  It is also possible to give a bit of publicity and communications support.

Support via Planning
There are also ways to support the Arts through planning.  Some capital can be made available through planning gain, like the IKEA football.  This can be controversial, as art is such a subjective business.  More interestingly, planning policy can be used to build some arts provision into an area, a bit as has long been the case with community space.