On 1 July 2016, in stations and shopping centres and high streets, men, women and children in every corner of the country came face-to-face with ghosts. To mark the centenary of the First World War, Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and National Theatre director Rufus Norris joined forces to create we’re here because we’re here, a monumental public artwork that stretched the length and breadth of the land. Hundreds of volunteers, of all ages and from all backgrounds, trained in secret before taking to the streets in the uniforms of 100 years ago, each representing one of the soldiers who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On benches in Barnsley, buses in Birmingham, and on the Blackpool seafront, long-dead soldiers came briefly back to life. Thousands of people came upon the work in person; millions more saw it shared across the news and on social media. Strangers struck up conversations, children turned to question grown-ups, passers-by were moved to tears. ‘Most memorials, you have to go to,’ said Deller, explaining his wish that the work would step out of buildings and into people’s lives. ‘This memorial will come to you.’

When I think of Arts Council England’s new 10-year Strategy, it’s this image that I have in my mind: crowds of volunteers in stations around the country, motionless amid the evening floods of commuters, bringing concourses to a halt as they burst into song. It seems to me to hold within it both the past and the future: standing as one of the tremendous achievements supported by the Arts Council’s last 10-year Strategy, under which we were able to invest in two exceptional artists to create a work of scale and ambition, while at the same time pointing the way forward.

The boldness of the vision, and its trajectory from public spaces onto social media; the collective creativity of all the participants; the partnerships, local and national, that brought the piece to life; and perhaps most important of all, the dissolving of barriers between artists and the audiences with whom they interact: these are the elements that our new Strategy supports.

It will value the creative potential in each of us, provide communities in every corner of the country with more opportunities to enjoy culture, and celebrate greatness of every kind. It marks a significant change, but an evolutionary one: honouring and building upon the successes of the last decade while confronting the challenges and embracing the exciting possibilities of the next. These challenges – inequality of wealth and of opportunity, social isolation and mental ill-health, and above all of these, the accelerating climate emergency – are many.

Creativity and culture have a particular role to play in responding to them: they allow us to reflect and comment on society, to better understand our own lives and those of others, and to occupy a shared space in which we can debate, present alternative views, and discover new ways of expressing our anxieties and ambitions. But in my time as chair of Arts Council England, it has become clearer than ever to me that while the challenges of the next 10 years are momentous, the possibilities are just as great.

Recognition of the part that creativity and culture can play in supporting local economies and talent, health and wellbeing, and children and young people, has flourished over recent years, strengthening our partnerships with local and national government, opening up new avenues for all who work in museums, libraries and arts organisations, and improving the lives of people everywhere.

Understanding of the role of culture in building and sustaining communities has come into clear focus and will sit at the heart of our work over the decade to come. Artists and cultural organisations continue to benefit from international exchange; at a point when this country is redefining its relationship with the wider world, our increasingly diverse culture is a national asset and gives us an international advantage, encouraging us to converse and collaborate freely across borders.

Our new Strategy will support artists and organisations to go further in all of these areas: to strengthen and extend the work that is already underway in involving wider audiences; to ensure that this country’s diversity is fully reflected in the culture it produces; and to inspire and collaborate on the international stage.

And of course, in realising the opportunities of the next decade, we must look to artists themselves. This Strategy deepens our commitment to supporting individual curators, librarians, producers and artists of every kind and from every corner of the country. We want them to learn, take risks, fail where necessary, and finally to flourish in pursuit of making new work. The support that we give to creative practitioners, particularly D/deaf and disabled people, those from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds, women, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, either at the beginning of their careers or at moments when they are seeking to test different paths, can provide essential time, space, and affirmation precisely when those things are needed most. For individuals, the significance of such support may not become clear until years later, but collectively, its impact across the cultural sphere is profound.

Consider the 2019 Mercury Prize: seven of its 12 shortlisted artists received early career investment from Arts Council-supported programmes. Without this support, their careers would have been more precarious; in some cases, they may not have continued at all. The great artists, performers, writers and curators of 2040 and 2050 need to be nurtured now: our investment in them is, at heart, an investment in a future that we believe can be brighter and better with culture and creativity at its core.

In 1951, the Secretary General of the then-Arts Council of Great Britain characterised the Council’s mission as growing ‘few, but roses’. We have come a long way since then. With this Strategy, we hope to prepare the ground for a blossoming of creativity across the country – and to acknowledge that the surest way to fill the future with every variety of flower is to recognise that we can all be gardeners.