To Oliver Dowden (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), Sir Nicholas Serota (Chair), Darren Henley (CEO) and all our colleagues and Board members at Arts Council England

We write on behalf of those working in the field of participatory arts, social engaged arts, and community arts who throughout the Covid-19 crisis have continued to work in solidarity with and at the heart of neighbourhoods, places & communities. Throughout this period we have continued to use the powerful tools of the arts to strengthen individual and community resilience, fulfil potential, share experiences and ensure that a diversity of voices are heard - as we have been doing for many years. This has rarely been more needed than in the present moment.

We are still excited at the possibilities for change that ‘Let’s Create’ opens up for England, our people, communities and places. We welcome the ambitious vision of living in a country ‘in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences’, a place of ‘healthy close-knit communities’ supported by a ‘cultural workforce representing contemporary England’. When it launched, we felt that the moment had come for genuine Cultural Democracy. It seemed that, at last, the importance and vitality of those organisations and practitioners who support and enable the creativity and cultural production of all citizens was placed at the centre and heart of the long-term strategy for culture and creativity in this country. This was significant progress for our sector.

You have responded with purpose and urgency to the immediate crisis which the cultural sector is facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As we enter this new period of what you describe as ‘Stabilisation’ there are some key issues we would ask you to consider and act upon.

We would like to take this moment to remind you that, in our view, the ambitions of ‘Let’s Create’ cannot be delivered without a community of skilled participatory arts practitioners and arts organisations working both within and outside of institutions to create environments for diverse people of all ages and generations in our villages, rural areas, towns and cities to engage in making their own culture. We are using the powerful tools of the arts to equip people to fulfil their potential, share their experiences and to make their voices heard and have been doing so for many years.

We can share countless examples of transformative practices from all over the country. We are delivering ground-breaking artistic work with older people in care homes, making empowering theatre with learning disabled people, developing the visual arts skills of prisoners, offering incredible opportunities for children and young people inside and outside formal education, improving the health and wellbeing of people experiencing mental health issues and creating mind-blowing dance with BAME young people. We are often working for social justice, in the margins and edges of society, with those who haven’t traditionally had a voice and with those who have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and are likely to be badly affected by the economic recession. We are embedded in places and communities and have enduring relationships built on trust and a deep understanding of their challenges. Our work will be crucial in contributing to social recovery post Covid 19. Added to this is the fact that our sector has historically been at the forefront of artistic and cultural innovation, which has then been hugely influential in the mainstream. Without our work, how will the mainstream ensure that they are relevant? Those whom we work with are generating the culture of tomorrow. We are fundamental to the ambition in Let’s Create’ which proposes that, as a nation, by 2030, we could experience universal levels of cultural participation in all parts of our diverse country.

We know that there are competing demands on your attention and there will be difficult decisions to make about which organisations will be supported as part of your ‘Stabilisation’ phase and beyond. Given this landscape, we welcome your stated intention to ‘protect the full range and diversity of our thriving cultural sector in ‘Let’s Create’. We ask that you hold onto your commitment to invest in the participatory arts sector in these difficult times as you look towards the NPO application round in 2021 and the final ‘Rest’ stage of recovery. We are urging you to give serious consideration to how the freelance workforce and network of small and even micro-organisations who make up the participatory arts sector can best be supported and we would like to suggest a Three-Point Plan which we believe would help to protect those who work in this area and underpin the ambitions of Let’s Create’:

1. Continue talking: There is a real need to consult with a more diverse range of people and organisations from the sector. We know ACE has held ‘Sector Recovery sessions’ about participatory practice, but the format has been quite restricted and those who’ve participated have tended to be those with whom ACE has regularly worked and those in sector-support roles. We think it would be of greater value to have more open-ended conversations, to mine beneath already established groups and bring in new voices, young voices, more diverse voices. These conversations could identify what freelancers and micro-enterprises really need to do in order that they can continue to work through this period of ‘social distancing’ and what resources and guidelines they need to safely begin to offer participatory arts activities (outdoors and indoors). There is also scope for ACE to engage with informal peer-to-peer networks like Artschain and Artworks Alliance which are self-organised but offer an infrastructure for the sector to begin to build a stronger professional support for resilience.

2. Identify specific funds: ACE should develop specific well-funded support programmes with flexible models which will enable this sector to develop their community leadership skills and build the resilience they need to continue their work to meet the challenges of the 21st century. There is an urgent need to build some sort of support package for individual creative participatory arts freelance practitioners, who are at huge risk of losing their livelihoods or resorting to work in other sectors, thereby losing their knowledge and experience altogether. While this is also being asked by other sectors (e.g. theatre industry) the needs of this workforce are likely to be distinct and would easily be revealed in a well-framed set of conversations.

3. Help strengthen the sector: One of ACE’s action plans / delivery plans should focus on strengthening and broadening the participatory arts sector, addressing long-standing sector issues around working conditions, fair pay, diversity, dangers of professional burnout and continuing professional development and inspiration. The NPO application process should also involve asking core questions about what this portfolio of organisations will do to support continual professional development, employment and contracting of those who work in the sector, with ACE requesting specific plans in this area.

This is an initial outline plan of action, co-created by the signatories below. It would be a stimulus for further conversations and not an end destination. The ultimate goal would be to make this sector stronger, fit-for-purpose and ready to work alongside people and places and other partner organisations to shape our future cultural lives in our fast-changing country.

You will already know about the value and richness of this sector and the way these practices, now highly developed, improve people’s lives and build more inclusive communities and places. We have, however, asked each individual and organisations signing this letter to add (if they can) a link to their website which will help to illustrate the points we make in this letter.

We want to work in partnership with you and other relevant funding and development agencies, local authorities, Trusts and Foundations and civil society organisations to give an enormous boost to this sector who are crucial for the cultural ecology of this nation and to get to a point where our 64 million artists feel they are truly ‘creative people living in cultural communities in a creative country’

We would welcome a further online conversation with you to talk through what we have laid out in brief in this letter and a formal response to this letter. Please reply to gerri.moriarty@artschain.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.

The undersigned individuals and organisations are in support of this statement and the action plan laid out in this letter:

MESSAGES

Reply from Sir Nicholas Serota,
Arts Council England

Before the letter, a brief note from Artschain:

ArtsChain welcomes this swift and positive response from ACE. We are encouraged that ACE recognises the role of our sector in the arts ecology and understands that the way our sector works with communities means we are well placed to address some of the serious challenges currently facing our society. We welcome the fact that the criteria for National Lottery Project grants will align more closely to the aims of Let’s Create and hope that this will result in many more awards to community, participatory and socially engaged arts organisations and community organisations. We are also heartened that Sir Nicholas Serota notes what we have said about the need to strengthen our sector and that ACE are considering how best they can support this and nurture ongoing learning and professional development.

Many thanks to everyone who has signed this letter and made their concerns and hopes for the future known.

Next Steps

• Please continue to add your signature to the letter, if you have not already done so and encourage others to do so. It is becoming a valuable document that illustrates the breadth and depth of this work and the support for it. The messages sent provide us all with a sense of solidarity, hope and valuable advocacy material. We will hold it open until July 31st.

• ArtsChain has taken up the offer of a meeting with an ACE Director but wants to be able to make the best and most detailed case possible when that happens. We will be sending people who have signed the letter a short survey and would be really grateful if you could respond to it as soon as you can, telling us more specifically what ACE might be able to do to offer support or influence others

• DCMS and ACE are not the only funders of the arts in this country. Consider whether you might be able to use the letter and Sir Nicholas’ response to lobby those who can fund or support your own work, for example, with local authorities, local education partnerships, commissioning bodies, Trusts and Foundations, the private sector, your friends, supporters and allies. ArtsChain can only make a small contribution – but together we can do a great deal more

Dear Gerri,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us on behalf of those working in the field of participatory arts, socially engaged arts and community arts.

I would like to reassure you that although these are challenging times, we are as committed to the delivery of the new strategy, Let’s Create, as we were before the lockdown.

Like you, we are excited at the ambition of the strategy and recognise that if we are to achieve this, we will need to work in a wide range of partnerships; participatory, community and socially engaged arts will be an important part of the ecology if we are to reach more diverse communities across England. I agree with your reflection that the way the sector works with communities means they are well placed to address some of our current challenges.

We were already investing in the work of organisations and artists working in these sectors, through our NPO programme, our strategic programme funds and through our Project Grants. We would expect to continue to do so as we embark on the next ten-year journey. We are revisiting our delivery plan for the first three years of Let’s Create and we hope to be able to publish this at some time in the new year. This will inform our approach to the next NPO round as well as any specific programmes we invest in. We are pleased to say however that we are imminently relaunching our National Lottery Project Grants and the criteria will be more closely aligned to our new strategy.

You are right that there are some specific challenges to be addressed in the short term and through our Emergency response funds to date we have invested £64.8 million in cultural organisations and individuals (not including NPOs and CPPs) to address immediate issues. The success rate for applications was around 70% and conversations with my area colleagues confirm it included organisations in the participatory, community and socially engaged sectors. It also included organisations who are new to Arts Council funding and some of them community organisations. It is worth saying that our Emergency Response Fund is exactly that and is entirely distinct from the next NPO round. It is not an indication of success or otherwise in 2021.

Your observations about strengthening the sector and the importance of ongoing learning and professional development are helpful and we are thinking about how we do this ourselves and support the sector to do so. This too will most likely be reflected in our delivery plan.

We are always happy to talk and have been having many conversations with organisations both known and new to us; some of these have begun to explore the issues you mention, and we would be more than happy to engage in a conversation with your network too if you would like to invite us. Let us know and we will arrange for one of our Directors to meet with you.

Thanks again for taking the time to write.

Best wishes,

Reply from Nick Capaldi,
Arts Council Wales

ArtsChain sent copies of our letter to Arts Council Wales, Arts Council Northern Ireland and Creative Scotland, in solidarity with our colleagues working in the devolved administrations and have received this heartening response from the Chief Executive of Arts Council Wales. We welcome his emphasis on the challenges facing individual artists and creative freelancers and the value ACW places on the creativity of individuals.

Dear Gerri,

Thank you for sharing your open letter to the DCMS and to our colleagues at Arts Council England.

We’d very much support your analysis of the importance of the creative individual. The larger (usually) performing arts organisations have tended to be the ones that have dominated the media headlines. But we know that it’s not just organisations who are struggling – many individual artists and creative freelancers suffered an immediate loss of income when Covid-19 kicked in. Freelance artists and creators are the ultimate “gig workers”, moving from project to project to find the next pay cheque. Often, they’re doing this without the benefit of employee protection, and without any significant savings to draw on in times of crisis. Most creative freelancers have had 100% of their work cancelled. They are without income and without promise of work. Part-time and freelance workers continue to be denied the protections that their employed counterparts take for granted.

There’s also the fact that there’s a differential impact on some individuals that reinforces inherent inequalities.

The suspension of live performance and public cultural activity is one of the most comprehensive shocks to society’s sense of well being, as well as to the economy. But public health crises aren’t equal opportunities events: the poorest, most marginalised and disabled are generally the worst affected, while the wealthy, connected and healthy are usually better able to weather the storm.

This is why, earlier in the year, we put in place one of the largest support packages we’ve ever organised. So far we’ve provided just under £1m to Individuals, with a further round of applications following on from this and likely to deliver a further £1.5m.

Thank you again for your note – and all good wishes for your continued campaigning.

Best regards

Nick

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Blog post from Arts Council England Chief Executive, Darren Henley

Although this is not a direct response to ArtsChain’s letter and the many passionate messages added by those who have signed it, we are heartened by its emphasis on the importance of participatory arts organisations and its recognition of the challenges faced by individual practitioners.

In a blog post welcoming the £1.57 billion of grants and loans for cultural, arts and heritage institutions across the UK, Arts Council England’s Chief Executive Darren Henley says ‘ This funding will be focussed on supporting cultural organisations through the coronavirus pandemic. This will include bricks and mortar organisations such as theatres, museums and galleries. And it will also include organisations such as dance companies, orchestras and participatory arts companies that might not have their own buildings, but that still play such a vital role in towns and cities across England. By investing in organisations across our cultural ecology, the government investment will help to support the people who work for and with them.’
He goes on to say ‘ We’re very aware that this crisis has also shown the value and the vulnerability of the creative army of freelance artists, performers, curators, technicians, writers,directors, producers, makers and other workers who make up the majority of our workforce. For that reason, when we re-open our Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants for applications on 22nd July, it will have a focus on supporting artists and individuals and we are urgently thinking about what else we can do to strengthen our support for freelancers in the coming months. directors, producers, makers and other workers who make up the majority of our workforce. For that reason, when we re-open our Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants for applications on 22nd July, it will have a focus on supporting artists and individuals and we are urgently thinking about what else we can do to strengthen our support for freelancers in the coming months

Read the piece in full

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