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Delivering on our promise to see England transformed into a truly creative nation

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Darren Henley

As we publish the first delivery plan for our strategy, Let's Create, our CEO Darren Henley introduces the first part of our roadmap to a truly creative nation.
16 September 2021

Posted by:

Darren Henley

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No-one could have known as we published our new ten-year strategy, Let’s Create, just one month into the New Year of 2020, the incredible challenges we were soon to face because of the pandemic. As with other parts of society, artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries were deeply affected, and our sector’s very survival was only possible because of the unprecedented response of the government through the creation of the Culture Recovery Fund. This £1.96 billion investment championed by the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden with the support of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak is the single biggest public investment in the cultural life of our nation since the Second World War. It recognises the tireless ingenuity of those who work in, and with, cultural and creative organisations.

This summer marked our 75th anniversary and there are similarities to the mood that led to the creation of the Arts Council by the wartime coalition government. As we enter our second autumn of living with coronavirus, and as there was in the year of our founding, despite the struggles still to overcome, there is a sense of purpose and determination.

It is against this backdrop that we are setting out the detailed actions of how we intend to deliver on the ambitions and promises of Let’s Create. Our new strategy was written before the impact of coronavirus was felt, but the vision Let’s Create sets out holds true and, if anything, is even more critical now: by 2030 we want England to be 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.

Despite the uncertainty born out of the pandemic, and as we continue to deliver the latest round of the Culture Recovery Fund, we need to keep our eye on the horizon, shaping the type of creative and cultural sector we want to see in the future, working with our partners in the sector, government and beyond, to do that.

Because creativity and culture brings people together, supports local economies and makes our lives better

In Let’s Create we said we wanted to give more people the chance to experience amazing culture wherever they live. As part of the Arts Council’s commitment to play its part in delivering the government’s programme of Levelling Up, our Delivery Plan names the 54 places that will be some of the first we think are ready to help achieve that promise: from Mansfield to Medway, Great Yarmouth to Gosport, Walsall to Wigan, and Barrow-in-Furness to Brent. These are places where we believe there is the potential for us to make new investments and to connect with communities, artists, arts organisations, museums, and libraries to develop new audiences. We also want these towns, villages and cities to improve the opportunities for children and young people to access the best in culture and help them realise their creative potential. They are all places where there is a will to make a positive difference and to effect a real change. At the same time our commitment to these places does not diminish our existing, and future plans, across the country to support those communities that are already showing how a rich and diverse creative and cultural offering can be truly inspiring and nurturing for everyone. 

As we said in Let’s Create: we want to make sure that the creative talent of every person in every village, town and city can flourish, because talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, and because creativity and culture brings people together, supports local economies and makes our lives better. 

Throughout the pandemic I have been impressed to see the creative ways cultural organisations have adapted, showing creativity in the way they serve audiences and communities even when they were physically separated. It is that spirit of imagination, excellence, effectiveness, innovation, and dynamism that we would like to see continue, and be built upon, as our society begins to reopen. The Investment Principles outlined in Let’s Create are there to support the development of the sector, to be the best it can be. The incredible way our sector responded to the challenges of the pandemic makes me optimistic. I believe together we can make the vision of Let’s Create a reality and that artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries will continue to excel at what they do.  

When we published Let’s Create we described it as an invitation. Our new Delivery Plan is the first part of the roadmap of how we get to the eventual destination: an England transformed into a truly creative nation. I hope you will join us on the journey. 

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