The value of everyday creativity
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The Arts Council recognises, advocates for and invests in art and culture that enriches the lives of individuals and communities across England. We also believe that there is increasing awareness of the potential for art and culture to reimagine and regenerate our villages, town and cities.
We currently support and invest in a range of activity that serves the growing popular appetite for creative expression. The need to acknowledge this was highlighted in the Warwick Commission’s report into Cultural Value.
In particular, our flagship Creative People and Places programme funds activity in 21 places across England and aims to encourage greater involvement in creativity and culture with by and for the public, both as audiences and as participants. The public are also encouraged to engage as decision makers. We are learning how to apply this approach more effectively and the lessons will be valuable in shaping our approach to future projects.
We want to do more to engage more people actively in art and culture, wherever they live, and however they participate.
Members of the Royal Voluntary Service taking part in a singing and ukulele session with Sage Gateshead’s Silver Lining programme and bait. Photo © Jason Thompson / bait / Woodhoorn Museum and Northumberland Archives.
However, to do more, we need to know more. In this spirit, we commissioned 64 Million Artists to gather a wide range of views on our role as a funder, a development agency and an advocate for supporting everyday creativity.
Over five months, the authors of the report met with more 300 professional artists and practitioners; everyday artists, academics, staff from arts and cultural organisations, Creative People and Places, local authority staff and volunteers in twelve towns and cities in each of the English regions.
We welcome their thorough and thoughtful report, which highlights strategic dilemmas, expresses many important principles and also contains practical ideas on the role that funders, cultural organisations and their partners can play in encouraging widespread participation and everyday creativity.
Transported Art’s Taking Part workshops. Photo © Phiona Richards / Transported Art.
We are in sympathy with many of the suggestions in the report, and already work in many of the areas referenced. For example, in addition to Creative People and Places, our work includes:
- Our open access Grants for the Arts programme supports public participation and everyday creativity. For instance, York Libraries have recently been awarded £99k to work with the public to explore the potential of ‘DIY/disruptive’ technologies across performance, visual arts, music and dance.
- Working with our partners across government, local authorities, business, charities to articulate and build on the aspirations of local communities, bringing a ‘place-based’ focus to our collective investment. This has been seen for example in the success of Hull.
- Working with partners in the charitable sector, we fund activities that engage older people in art and culture. In July, we will be launching a new programme that will encourage wider everyday participation as well as involvement in decisions around programming.
- We support the Voluntary Arts Network which works to promote and increase active participation in cultural activities across the UK and Republic of Ireland. We are also active partners in the Get Creative campaign.
- Arts and cultural organisations are increasingly engaging with their audiences and communities in the democratic way advocated in the report. For example on Teesside, mima is producing exhibitions and focused around community issues and encouraging creativity from local people. Stratford East Theatre also has a long history of involving the community in decision making.
- We are interested in the potential of a public facing campaign to encourage participation in everyday creativity as suggested in the report. However, we need to consider how this may relate to existing campaigns such as Family Arts, Get Creative and Fun Palaces.
- The report highlights the potential social, health and community benefits of engaging with art and culture. This is intrinsic to our advocacy, and is at the heart of the holistic case for public investment in art and culture. We are always seeking more opportunities to demonstrate the benefits of participation in art and culture.
- Our Research Grants programme is supporting innovative projects that will increase our understanding about the impact of art and culture in all our lives - and will help us to make a better argument for investment.
Images from the reherasals and performance of Batley Does Opera, a participatory opera project as part of Creative Scene in collaboration with Opera North and Batley Business Association. Photo © Len Grant.
We want to go further, and ensure that everyone can have access to the pleasure, and the transformative power that comes from participation in art and culture. We believe that the network of contributors that has emerged as part of this consultation led by 64 Million Artists can help us to strengthen the arguments for public investment in art and culture by demonstrating the everyday benefits in all our lives.
We would like arts and cultural organisations, artists and other stakeholders to read this report, to think about its recommendations and to give their feedback to the authors. We are especially interested to learn the response of the Creative People and Places group, and would welcome examples of everyday creativity in action.
Give your feedback and join the conversation using #EverydayCreativity
Share your thoughts with 64 Million Artists on Twitter @64M_Artists and Facebook.com/64millionartists
