What the 2023-26 Investment Programme means for creativity and culture
Posted by:
Each and every day across England amazing work is being done by artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries. Our job at Arts Council England is to support, develop, and champion that work. The incredible breadth and depth of the applications we had for the investment programme shows the high quality of art and culture that’s produced in every corner of our country.
That’s made choosing the 990 National Portfolio and Investment Principles Support Organisations who’ll get a share of the £446m a year investment we’re announcing all the more difficult.
All the decisions we have made in this National Portfolio are rooted in the vision set out in Let’s Create. It was born out of the conversations we had with people all over England that helped us shape that 10-year strategy. Time and again they told us they wanted to see and experience the best creative activities and cultural events in the places where they lived. And they wanted their families, friends and their communities to share in the benefits access to creativity and culture can bring. But what does that mean for this investment round?
The money we invest is not our own. It comes from the taxes we pay and the National Lottery tickets we buy. But in some places our funding has been too low for too long. Those include some of the towns and cities which were the powerhouses of the industrial revolution. They are also rural areas which inspired countless poets and artists. And they also include our seaside resorts that are as integral to our cultural heritage as their names are to the sticks of rock sold there. This investment programme changes that. Wigan, Gloucester, Stoke, Blackpool, Mansfield and North Devon are among 78 places where organisations will receive a share of £130 million over the next three years.
It will mean new names joining our portfolio for the first time – including, I am delighted to say, Blackpool Illuminations. It’s a name that has been world famous since the first eight lights lit up the Promenade in 1879. Now the Illuminations welcome more than 3.5 million visitors a year. We are funding it to collaborate with artists and lead a network of light festivals across the North of England. It will mean even more people will get to share in the kind of magic the Illuminations are known for.
It’s also a great example of how varied this portfolio is in terms of our investment. We are welcoming a record number of new organisations – 276 to be precise. These new names to our portfolio will take their place alongside the currently more familiar ones of established icons such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. All of them share a commitment to providing high quality experiences for their audiences and visitors. They include the National Football Museum in Manchester which has a reputation for championing equality. It wants to do more to tell the important story that women have played in the history of the beautiful game. Another new joiner is Unlimited based in Wakefield who commission and showcase extraordinary work from disabled artists. And we will continue to invest in innovative and pioneering work including that done by Ballet Black. Its award-winning productions and tours offer inspiration and opportunities in ballet for people of Black and Asian heritage including widening participation and access for children and young people.
Providing opportunities to the youngest in our society is a big part of this portfolio. More organisations will be doing even more work to give children and young people the chance to take part in inspiring creative and cultural activities. Gloucestershire Libraries, another new joiner, is known for helping to do just that. The funding we’ll provide will mean they can continue and expand that work. And Rotherham based Grimm & Co are getting more money to nurture creativity and writing among children and young people. While Mish Mash based in Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire introduce pre-schoolers to the world of classical music.
It’s taken the best part of 2022 to complete the process of applying for and deciding upon this new National Portfolio. We’re investing taxpayers’ and National Lottery players’ money so it’s absolutely right and proper that the process is rigorous and fair. For organisations it’s meant long hours gathering the information they need to make an application. For our Arts Council colleagues it’s meant equally long hours assessing those applications so that decisions could be made by our National Council and our five Area Councils.
I know this whole process is tough on everyone involved. I know too that today will be hard for those organisations who had hoped for a different decision. For those organisations who are leaving the portfolio there will be the chance to apply for help from our Transition Programme. And our new Transform programme will be available to help current National Portfolio Organisations, who have seen their funding reduced, to reshape their business model. We will be announcing more details on this shortly. There are also other funds which can support organisations creating, making and producing outstanding work – such as our National Lottery Projects Grants.
This announcement is all about delivering the very best in creativity and culture to as many people in as many places as possible. The organisations in this portfolio are from every part of our country. This investment programme is fairer in its distribution, richer in its variety, and more widespread in its reach than ever before.
We are living through tough times but investing in creativity and culture brings benefits and pays dividends. Not only economic ones like boosting growth and creating jobs. But ones that seem less tangible but are just as important. Instilling pride in our communities, bringing us closer together, making us happier, improving well-being, and inspiring us. Working with the organisations in this portfolio, we can deliver these benefits to lots more people. These are the promises we made in Let’s Create.
That is why I am optimistic and excited about what lies ahead. Because I believe that everyone, wherever they live and whatever their background, deserves to share in the benefits that creativity and culture can bring.
