For the arts “to mean more, to more people”, as Arts Council England (ACE) argues that they should, would be excellent. Music, drama, dance, visual arts, poetry and literature are among the most precious human achievements. To live in a country in which these are more widely shared and enjoyed would be proof that we are making progress. The point is not to entertain or educate people, or bring communities together (although all these things are important). Nor is it all about boosting jobs and investment (although this matters too). Imagination has intrinsic value, and research carried out by ACE in the course of preparing its 10-year strategy showed that people from all walks of life value and derive pleasure from cultural activities even if they do not associate these with the “arts”, a term regarded by some as shorthand for opera and ballet.
Positioning itself as a development agency, ACE will now hope to win government backing for a change of direction that orients it away from the biggest and most prestigious national institutions and towards the towns, villages and grassroots. There, it envisions a role for itself “building the identity and prosperity of places”, bringing professional artists together with voluntary groups, particular in areas that have previously not been well represented on the cultural map.
ACE’s chair, Sir Nicholas Serota, cites the first world war centenary project devised by the artist, Jeremy Deller, and theatre director, Rufus Norris, as the epitome of what he wants his organisation to be about. By dressing volunteers as soldiers, and orchestrating their encounters with members of the public in settings across England, the artists succeeded in “dissolving the barriers between artists and audiences”. While the focus on villages and towns is timely, and chimes with preoccupations about England’s growing divides, such thinking builds on longstanding efforts to spread opportunities more fairly and be more inclusive of minorities.
The emphasis on participation – on culture as something that more people should actually do – is newer. This is the difference between being in a play or a band and buying tickets to watch them, and for ACE to play a more active role in promoting the former would be beneficial. This begins in childhood, and ACE clearly hopes that the government will think again about policies that have seen music, drama and other arts subjects systematically downgraded in favour of science, technology and maths. Libraries are another theme, and given the funding pressures that many are under it is a good idea for ACE to support partnerships, building capacity and widening the range of access points to cultural life.
To what extent the vision is realised will depend in part on whether ACE’s ambitions catch the government’s interest sufficiently to influence the upcoming spending review, and provide a counterweight to the scorn poured on the humanities (particularly English degrees) by the prime minister’s adviser, Dominic Cummings. Around £400m has been cut from local government arts budgets since 2010, and ACE cannot plug this gap. The closure of youth clubs and live music venues, and growing financial pressures linked to the property market, are among other reasons for the worrying narrowing of opportunities that have been widely noted in recent years. So far Boris Johnson has offered few signs that he has in mind a starring role for the arts in post-Brexit Britain, although 2022’s Festival of Brexit is one. ACE’s plan should boost all those, in government and outside, who are arguing for more.
