The art of survival

David Cameron's pledge to measure the nation's happiness may be hard for arts and culture organisations to swallow at a time when they face drastic cuts in local and central government funding. His emphasis on the links between culture and wellbeing could be a case of too little too late as many UK arts organisations are fighting for survival. "The cuts could cause a worrying decline in local arts provision," warns Cities Institute director Graeme Evans. "The damage will be done and it will be quite hard to get things going again." He says the lack of a cultural policy at a national level has led to arts projects often falling 'victim' to local authority cost-saving exercises. Arts Council England had its budget reduced by just under 30% in the comprehensive spending review and subsequently has launched an open application process where new and existing organisations are required to apply for funding for April 2012 onwards. Currently Arts Council England gives funding to 850 organisations, but it expects to lose more than 100 organisations by 2015. Meanwhile, it has placed a 6.9% blanket cut on funding for all arts organisations to act as a 'transition period'. "It will affect the cultural landscape of the country," explains Andrea Stark, executive director of Arts Council England east and south east. "It will require us to work very differently so we do not lose some of the cultural development of the last 20 years." Culture-led regeneration through capital investment projects proved successful in cities like Manchester and Newcastle, but the ability to do similar ventures will be 'extremely constrained', explains Newcastle city council leader David Faulkner. He says the council's emphasis will shift to supporting the city's growing creative industries, which are providing an increasing number of employment opportunities. "The last thing we want to do is see the tap turned off," he says. "We need to invest more carefully and share resources more with other organisations and councils." Samuel Jones of thinktank Demos describes culture and arts organisations as part "of the very fabric of society" and says cultural organisations need to develop "a more coherent public message around culture and the role it plays in people's lives.' RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor says organisations are more likely to survive funding pressures if they couch their contribution in 'big society' speak, such as through the way they can build civic capacity and enhance participation. "If you can convince people that the destiny of a place relies on having a vision for that place in which citizens themselves participate in, then the argument for arts organisations is very strong." According to Regional Cities East – a collaboration of six cities in the East of England ‒ if arts and culture are to continue to make an impact in a tough economic climate, cities should focus on investing in key cultural assets and attractions that are expected to reap the greatest benefits. Its latest Bigger Thinking for Smaller Cities report explains that local partners have to define 'functional cultural areas', which would involve them pooling resources into shared cultural services teams. Assis Carreiro, artistic director and chief executive of DanceEast says the £8.9m dance house development on Ipswich's waterfront has not only 'revitalised a forgotten area' but has 'brought a sense of pride' to the town. But she fears funding cuts could jeopardise the centre's programmes as DanceEast is already operating at a loss and finds attracting business investment virtually impossible. "Maintaining our standard is absolutely critical as we are very much in the public eye but it will probably have a knock-on impact on our frontline [services]." In Colchester, the visual arts facility, Firstsite, is due to open next year and is expected to attract 1.5m visitors over the next 10 years. "It's in our interests that we have vibrant, healthy and strong arts venues because they make up a bigger offering for tourists to come and enjoy,' says Colchester borough council chief executive Adrian Pritchard. Rather than cutting this year's grants the council is working with arts organisations to help them become more efficient and encourage them to share marketing resources and back-office functions. "It requires a change in mindset," says Pritchard. "But if we are to survive in a healthy way we need to drive efficiencies otherwise we have to cut [art and culture] back and back.'' Perhaps it is through arts organisations developing this business-minded approach to providing cost effective services that they will start to be seen less as a victim of financial pressures and instead viewed as part of the solution in tackling the economic challenges that lie ahead.