The Arts Council of Northern Ireland s response to: DCAL CONSULTATION ON STRATEGY FOR CULTURE & ARTS

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1 The Arts Council of Northern Ireland s response to: DCAL CONSULTATION ON STRATEGY FOR CULTURE & ARTS Improving society and outcomes by promoting equality and tackling poverty and social exclusion 1. Overview 2. Building on progress 3. Investing in the arts 4. Ambitions for the arts 5. Conclusion 6. Summary of key points 1. Overview The Arts Council welcomes the Minister s decision to develop a new long-term strategy for the arts, based on the ambition to place the arts as central to the lives of everyone in Northern Ireland. At the heart of the present consultation is a commitment to the fundamental right for everyone to have access to arts and culture. The Arts Council fully endorses this principle; it is at the centre of our own five-year strategic plan for the arts, Ambitions for the Arts, We endorse the Minister s assertion that arts and culture are important drivers of equality and tackling poverty and social exclusion and share the determination to see the arts embedded at the heart of Northern Ireland society and economy, enriching everyone s lives. As we enter new times, with new challenges and new opportunities, the arts can take a more central position in government thinking and policy-making. Creating a strategy that will embed the value of culture and arts in government spending will be essential for future Comprehensive Spending Reviews. A strategy supported by the Executive, with engagement across government departments, will raise the profile of the arts, the level of investment, and the capacity for the arts to contribute fully across society.

2 2. Building on progress The central theme of the consultation, ie., how arts and culture can best promote equality and tackle poverty and social exclusion, has been of central concern to publicly-funded arts for decades. This section provides evidential examples of how artists and arts organisations supported by public funding through the Arts Council are delivering the ambitions of each of the five themes grouped under the consultation s overarching theme: Cultural Togetherness. Equality through arts and culture All arts organisations funded by the Arts Council engage fully in Education and Outreach programmes. The programmes they deliver bring a wealth of high-quality opportunities to learn and develop, for younger and older people alike, across Northern Ireland. 112 core arts organisations deliver: 49% of all activity is outreach (21,718 outreach activities delivered at 1,530 locations across NI) 48% of outreach activity is delivered in NI s most deprived areas (10,503 outreach activities) 89% of activity delivered within NI s most deprived areas takes place in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas (9,366 outreach activities) The arts give a voice to vulnerable people and marginalised communities. Arts and culture are prime catalysts in social, creative and economic regeneration. Building Peace through the Arts - Re-imaging Communities Programme Arts-led community regeneration programme operating in economically disadvantaged and marginalised communities throughout Northern Ireland and the border areas of the Republic. neighbourhoods have challenged sectarian and racist attitudes by engaging artists to work with local people to develop public art that promotes peace and reconciliation. 20,000 people have embraced change and, through the arts, realised new potential for their communities Innovative public art symbolizing a desire for peace and reconciliation has been launched in 32 locations. The programme has helped to develop stronger, more active communities that are welcoming and inclusive. Places that everyone can enter and enjoy irrespective of their race, nationality or religious background.

3 There is a direct link between programme outcomes and the four themes of Together Building a United Community: *BPttA: Building Peace through the Arts Re-imaging Communities Programme Arts & Older People s Programme Strengthening the voice of older people by using the arts as a tool to address age-relevant concerns such as poverty, isolation, loneliness and wellbeing. o 9,000 older participants have engaged in arts activities promoting active ageing and positive health and wellbeing for older people living in disadvantaged and harder-toreach communities across Northern Ireland. o leading to positive changes in participants physical and mental health Intercultural Arts Programme Promoting cultural diversity and understanding by bringing our diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds together through shared creative activities. o exploring and celebrating each other s cultural identity and heritage o 3,500 people from marginalised and harder-to-reach communities participated o 5,000 people attended events. Creativity and skills Creative Industries The creative sector is one of our fastest growing sources of competitive strength, wealth and job creation. The arts promote Northern Ireland as a creative place with a creative workforce and as a location of choice for international businesses.

4 Successful economies are characterised by a strong creative sector and the creative industries are recognised across the world for their potential for wealth and job creation. They create wealth and jobs through the development of intellectual property and creative content, produces, services and experiences. The UN has recognised the global strength of the creative industries: The creative economy is not only one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, but also a highly transformative one in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. The Cultural and Creative Industries are the UK s fastest growing industry. The Creative Industries represent 5% of total employment in Northern Ireland (43,000 people) and generate 797m gross value added to the local economy. The focus on the creative economy reflects the shift away from a strong manufacturing base to reliance on service-led industries and the knowledge economy. The success of the information economy, the tourism sector and the prosperity of our towns and cities are intimately linked to creative work. Artists are the lifeblood of the creative industries. The continuing success of the creative industries is contingent upon building the dynamic artistic base upon which the creative industries depend. The growth of indigenous film and television industries, for instance, is built upon the available pool of skilled and talented actors, directors, playwrights, technicians and designers who receive their formative training in the publicly-funded theatre sector, through art colleges and F&HE institutions. There is also a question of how wider economic development will be driven in the absence of a specific investment programme such as the Creative Industries Innovation Fund. Organisations Arts Council-funded organisations provide year-round the full range of professional arts and entertainment services, from carnival and circus skills to theatre and opera. 5,974 employed 3,608 volunteers Belfast City Council estimates a return on investment of 8 for every 1 spent on the arts. Festivals & Events Cultural festivals and events are acknowledged by the NI Tourist Board as key anchors for cultural tourism. Belfast Culture Night attracted 65,000 people to the city centre for 200 free family events, contributing to an estimated 2.5m spend in the city. NITB estimates that five of the big arts events of the Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 together produced 20 return on every 1 invested; 15.5m tourism impact; 330,396 visitors. The 2012 Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen s generated 2m benefit to local businesses; 577,180 tourism revenue; 311 full-time equivalent jobs

5 Venues Arts venues are helping to regenerate our towns and cities, reviving the evening economy and restoring civic pride. The Arts Council has invested over 70m of capital funding to establish dedicated cultural venues in towns and cities across Northern Ireland There is now an arts venue within 20 miles of every citizen of NI Arts and cultural venues outside of Belfast make a significant net economic impact of over 8m each year. Valued arts & culture Whatever is thrown at me in the future, I have learned from Kids In Control that I must not give up when things get tough, as long as I am pursuing what I truly want to be. - Youth member of KIC, a physical theatre company working with young people of all abilities from disadvantaged communities to examine societal problems such as sectarianism, racism, mental health and wellbeing. The arts proactively engage with harder-to-reach and disadvantaged communities. For example: 174 Trust/Duncairn Arts and Cultural Centre serves four of the most deprived wards in Northern Ireland on a cross-community basis, targeting older people, disabled people, young people and BME groups. The Playhouse engages local young people with the PSNI to improve relations, deter anti-social behaviour and re-connect young people with education and training. Sticky Fingers are specialists in Early Years arts and in devising tailored arts activities for children, families, carers, teachers and childcare professionals. The company works with the Cedar Foundation, Irish Travellers Project and Autism Ireland. Voluntary Arts Over half the UK adult population is involved in voluntary arts and crafts. Investing and encouraging participation in the voluntary arts is a cost-effective way of creating social cohesion, a culture of lifelong learning and a healthy nation with an enviable quality of life. Rich cultural expression The arts are inextricably linked to social and cultural change in Northern Ireland. The arts have responded quickly and effectively to the region s changing social and cultural landscape. Through dedicated grants and support initiatives, the arts are successfully promoting cultural diversity and making a significant contribution to the Executive s priority of Building a Strong and Shared Community. Intercultural Arts can also help local government deliver its responsibilities for community planning by creating opportunities for intercultural dialogue. With the re-configuration of local council boundaries and the new powers conferred as a consequence under RPA, the arts are well positioned to help councils achieve strategic objectives in their Community Planning agendas; economic regeneration, community relations & social cohesion, tourism and health.

6 Wellbeing To see a pupil who would normally be so shy that they would cry with unknown people, form bonds and relationships with the actors was inspiring. He found his voice and has been using it ever since! Teacher on Replay Theatre Company s innovative multisensory performances for children and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties. Professional arts organisations contribute across the range of health and care services. For example: Artscare works across the five Health and Social Care Trusts, engaging staff and service users in arts-based programmes. Arts Care s team of Clown Doctors visit 4,000 family members every year, working alongside clinical and nursing staff to improve the hospital experience for sick children. Cahoots children s theatre company brings bespoke theatrical shows to children living with cancer at home with their families. Seacourt Print workshop runs bespoke programmes for older people in residential care, including people with Alzheimer s, fibromyalgia, autism and brain injury. A DCMS study found that arts engagement was associated with higher wellbeing, valued at 1,084 per person per year. 3. Investing in the arts In addition to distributing public funds (c. 10m), the Arts Council is a National Lottery distributor (c. 10m), equating to an overall investment of 20m each year in the arts. 79% of this funding is directed to the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland, helping to deliver social change and build a strong and shared community. If Arts Council investment had been maintained at 2006/07 Grant-in-Aid level, the 2015/16 settlement figure would have been 23,290,000. Based on the actual amount received ( 10,923,000), this represents a loss of 12,367,000 in terms of public investment in the arts. The Arts Council welcomes the Minister s acknowledgement that investment is a prerequisite for improvement: A future looking strategy to bolster arts and culture and help bring about social and economic improvement in wider society will require collaboration and investment. The financial downturn heralded a period of disinvestment in the arts, as in other areas of public life. It is now time to re-invest, with an eye to building for the future. A new strategy and associated spending plan could make a strong bid to substantially increase the current level of government investment in the arts, ideally at least doubled, over the lifetime of the strategy, to recoup the losses incurred over the last ten years and bringing the Northern Ireland investment up to 0.22p per person per week. British and Irish governments have renewed their spending commitments to the arts. In his recent budget statement, Chancellor Osborne acknowledged that, One of the best investments we can

7 make as a nation is in our extraordinary arts, museums, heritage, media and sport. Deep cuts in the small budget of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are, he said, a false economy, with the Treasury calculating that 1 billion a year in grants from DCMS generates 250 billion to the economy. Arts Council Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaion currently invests approximately 0.17p per person per week in the arts, compared with the Northern Ireland Assembly s investment via the Arts Council of 0.11p. Wales, by comparison, invests in the region of 0.34p per person per week. Public funding for the arts has the widespread support of the general public, with 81% of the public believing that the arts enrich the quality of our lives; 79% of adults and 96% of young people engaging in the arts; and 70% of people living in the most deprived areas engaging in the arts. Mixed funding economy The arts are supported through a mixed funding economy, comprising government (public sector investment, awards, grants, Lottery funds), market (private sector investment) and the 3rd sphere (non-profit / voluntary sector). Government (central and local) remains the largest supporter. Alternative sources of funding are limited, as Northern Ireland is disadvantaged by an under-stimulated local market and relatively weak private sector. Audiences NI and Arts & Business play critical roles in helping arts groups to raise revenue and to access the private sector; increased investment in both organisations would strengthen partnerships with the private sector. 4. Ambitions for the Arts This section indicates additional important areas that the consultation delivery group may wish to consider for inclusion in the new strategy. Individual Artists Northern Ireland is blessed with extraordinary creative talent. Our artists bring us distinction, play a positive role in society and help us to articulate and define our experience of life in ways that are engaging, touching, and surprising. In supporting individual artists, we want to make Northern Ireland a place where artists can thrive and achieve the respect their talent deserves. Support for the individual artist is placed at the very core of responsibility by every arts administration across these islands. The development of artists skills and talents should be the starting point of any strategy and of any investment plan, as should the pursuit of excellence in the arts. The quality of the original artistic offering will determine the subsequent strength of impact of the arts on all other realms of social and economic return. In all areas of life, the achievements of the very best act as an encouragement to everyone else. In sport, for instance, support for elite athletes is hard-wired and their personal success applauded as an inspiration to all. Northern Ireland boasts as many notable artists as it does sportspeople and their return is as significant, yet there is little parity of public investment. The new strategy represents an opportunity to do for the arts what has already happened in sport and remove the unhelpful dichotomy that is perceived between accessibility and excellence in the arts.

8 The Arts Council, as the development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland, supports and nurtures our citizen s creative and artistic interests. We do this with public funding. Public investment makes things possible that would not otherwise be possible. It allows us to support artists as they strive towards excellence, and it opens up the arts so that everyone, including the most marginalised and disadvantaged groups in society, can share the benefits of accessing and participating in the arts. Public investment enables society to support the arts for their intrinsic value as well as their social function. The Arts Council supports 217 individual artists through a range of programmes designed to support the full range of needs, from equipment and travel grants to career enhancement and Major Individual awards. The Arts Council currently invests 793,902 per year in direct support and development of professional artists per year. Professional artists across the range of art forms, despite being the lifeblood of the arts, are poorly remunerated for their work, with annual earnings remaining in the region of 7,500 per year. The Arts Council would welcome a commitment in the new strategy to providing continual professional development opportunities and to doubling current public investment in our individual artists. In addition to investing in artistic excellence and supporting artists career development though grant schemes, the new strategy could help to raise the standing of our artists in the civic domain through the introduction of an acknowledgement system of awards that would recognise outstanding achievement and contribution. Arts Organisations Arts organisations play a vital role in ensuring that great arts and culture are available for everyone throughout Northern Ireland. In 2015/16 the Arts Council distributed 13.5m through its Annual Funding Programme to 112 Regularly Funded Organisations, down almost 1m on 2014/15. Underinvestment in the arts continues to exert a widespread, damaging impact on the infrastructure of the region s arts and cultural organisations. The sector requires a commitment to serious financial re-investment over the lifespan of the new strategy. That the sector endures and continues to deliver is testament to the commitment and determination of its workers and supporters. However, this tenacity masks inherent structural vulnerabilities. The sector has, for instance, become increasingly dependent on volunteering and unpaid internships. Many arts organisations are propped up by the support of the many volunteers who give freely of their time and skills. Whilst the level of volunteering in the arts reflects a high level of public support and is to be encouraged because it is individually and collectively rewarding, arts organisations should not have to depend on unpaid volunteers and interns for their existence. The situation is potentially exploitative and counter to promoting equality in the arts. It can disadvantage a wide sector of society who might wish to contribute but simply cannot afford to do so without remuneration.

9 A reliance on volunteers can also suppress opportunities for professional progression in arts organisations; such pathways as are facilitated through the creative apprenticeships programme, run by Creative and Cultural Skills in partnership with the Arts Council and DEL. This is a part-funded, accredited programme of working, learning and training that is designed to cultivate talent and provide fair access to job opportunities. Many arts organisations still do not have sufficient resources available to meet the match-funding requirements of the apprenticeship programme. Arts and education For Northern Ireland to be competitive and capitalise on the success of the creative industries and creative economy, government needs to make a long-term strategic investment in the next generation of creative talent. This commitment needs to be enshrined in the next Programme for Government. The Department of Education would have a key role in encouraging the arts in the curriculum, where the arts could be utilised as a vehicle as well as a context for learning. By making art an integral part of the curriculum we can give the next generation of artists, designers, engineers, creators and cultural leaders the opportunity to develop the imagination and skills that are vital to our future. We can also embed the principle of creative thought and response in all our children. Increasingly, employers emphasise the need for qualities and aptitudes which are synonymous with the arts - powers of creativity, of communication, of empathy, adaptability and social skills. An arts-rich education should to be core to the whole school experience of all pupils. It should be augmented by exposure to the arts outside school as well as interaction with professional artists in the school environment. To develop a coherent approach to skills investment, particularly to harnessing and retaining young talent in Northern Ireland, we need to start with our schools and with relevant careers advice and information about the creative sector. If young people do not know where the opportunities lie, the diversity of young people entering the sector and building a skilled workforce will be affected. This situation could be greatly improved with a coherent programme of investment, offering: relevant advice and information to equip careers advisors to talk about the variety of jobs in the creative sector; programmes of work to better connect education and industry; new routes to qualifications (potentially for NEETs) via the creative sector; the development of pre-apprenticeship and work experience opportunities. The Department for the Economy, through the F&HE institutions, would play a key role in delivering courses that would upskill young people in the creative sector. By the end of the ten year arts strategy we would expect to have 300 young people trained for creative employment. To help Northern Ireland s creative and cultural talent develop to the highest levels possible, we need to adopt an escalator approach, linking the various stages in artists career paths. This would start at pre-school stage, extend through the curriculum, into the F&HE institutions, creative apprenticeships, professional development support programmes, then be sustained in an environment in which careers in the creative sector can flourish and be appreciated.

10 Children and Young People The arts are every child s entitlement and every young person has the right to experience the arts, to fuel their curiosity and heighten their sense of creative discovery. The new strategy has to anticipate the shape of Northern Ireland society in ten years time. That includes recognising that the ways in which young people are engaging with the arts is changing. We are entering a new age of innovation, with people choosing how they consume, share, access and create artistic content, offering previously unimagined possibilities to connect. New approaches to creative content generated for digital platforms move us beyond conventional practice and increasingly redefine how we engage with each other in a digital age. While technology undoubtedly offers the power to connect, access to that potential is not evenly distributed. The new crossdepartmental strategy would need to address the fact that significant numbers of children and young people remain digitally excluded and their access to artistic consumption, creation and distribution is similarly restricted. Arts and a divided society Arts and culture play an important part in defining and preserving cultural identity, of the individual, of communities, and of a nation as a whole. They define who we are, in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world. The arts have a gift for bringing people and communities closer together. They are powerful catalysts for community regeneration. They promote our distinctive cultures in affirmative and inclusive ways and they provide the tools for people to find creative solutions to the legacies of the past. Artists and arts organisations have for decades been active participants at the heart of our most socially and economically deprived and marginalised communities, acting as instruments for positive change. The arts continue to be deeply influential in the process of transition towards a normal, inclusive and stable society in Northern Ireland. Specific arts-led regeneration initiatives such as the Building Peace through the Arts; Re-imaging Communities Programme have involved almost 20,000 people, nearly all new to the arts, who have embraced change and through the arts realised new possibilities and new potential for their communities. The arts are deeply responsive to Northern Ireland s changing social and cultural landscape. The Intercultural Arts Programme, for instance, promotes cultural diversity and understanding through the arts and contributes to the Executive s Building a Strong and Shared Community. Intercultural Arts can help local government deliver its responsibilities for community planning by creating opportunities for cultural exchange. The arts introduce a new dimension to the efforts of government agencies working in the field of social and economic regeneration. These are areas in which the arts have a proven track record of being highly effective. Their contribution could be extended further still through cross-departmental support and investment.

11 Network of Venues The Arts Council and partners have invested substantial capital resources to establish a dedicated arts facility within 20 miles of every citizen of Northern Ireland. These venues, now part of the cultural fabric, have been catalysts in the regeneration of our towns and cities, providing economic anchors and a major source of civic pride. Over the ten-year period of the new strategy, a rolling programme of investment will be required for refurbishment of these buildings, to keep pace with the expectations of audiences. Northern Ireland lacks a major art gallery dedicated to the indigenous collections of Irish and Northern Irish art, which is held in trust on behalf of our citizens. These collections in public ownership represent a rich, unexploited resource deserving of a new, dedicated gallery that will establish Northern Ireland s credentials as a global centre for the visual arts. The collections should be accessible to everyone and presented effectively as possible to both domestic and international audiences. Local government reform With the re-configuration of local council boundaries and the new powers conferred as a consequence of the Review of Public Administration, new ways of working, new resources and new opportunities will be introduced. Devolution of powers to a regional and local level could signal a new phase in cultural-led regeneration. The arts are well positioned to help councils achieve strategic objectives in their Community Planning agendas; economic regeneration, community relations & social cohesion, tourism, health and wellbeing. The Arts Council has an established history of working with local authorities to adapt the arts to local needs. Over the ten-year period of the new strategy it will be essential to anchor local arts provision in the context of local community planning and to incentivise closer working partnerships with local authorities. It is to be hoped that each of the new councils will commit to arts and culture and to harnessing the arts to their agendas on regeneration, inward investment and tourism. As an incentive to lever additional investment in the arts at a local government level, the Arts Council is proposing a Local Government Challenge Fund, whereby the Arts Council will match funds raised by local government partners, providing that funding is new and additional to a council s existing investment in the arts. The Arts Council aims to commit up to 1.5m each year for a period of three years to the Local Government Challenge Fund. We propose that central government match the combined financial commitment of the Arts Council and local government. Partnerships The arts support the work of government partners across departments, helping them to achieve their objectives in, notably: social and economic regeneration; reconciliation; tourism; creative industries; education; health. There is a strong track record of successful partnerships between the arts and government departments and agencies. Partnership programmes have contributed significantly to PfG priorities,

12 to promoting equality and tackling poverty and social exclusion, T:BUC, Delivering Social Change and addressing social justice issues such as promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. Arts-led programmes such as Building Peace through the Arts; Re-imaging Communities, Arts and Older People and Intercultural Arts have all been very successfully delivered in collaboration with government departments and agencies such as OFMDFM, DSD, PSNI, Housing Executive and the Public Health Agency. Transferring responsibility for the arts to the Department for Communities will encourage a range of positive new synergies with, for example, the Community Relations Council. Such partnerships will enhance the ability of the arts to make positive interventions across government departments and should be strategically developed over the lifespan of the new strategy. International dimension Arts and culture are vital ingredients in Northern Ireland s success, both here and overseas. The arts put Northern Ireland on the world map for all the right reasons, raising our profile as the kind of vibrant, creative and forward-looking place where you would want to live, work, and invest. They offer one of the main attractions for tourists to Northern Ireland and, in a competitive global marketplace, the arts distinguish us, make us stand out from the crowd, and give us a vital edge over other places. We are proud of our arts and want to see them flourish and achieve the international recognition they deserve. Strengthening international opportunities for artists continues to be a priority development area for the Arts Council; however, we have limited resources and can support only a very modest selection of international initiatives. These include the Corners international residency with partners across Europe, the Brussels Platform in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels, and the Artists International Development Fund, a joint initiative with the British Council. A strategy that looks outwards as well as inwards will appreciate that the international dimension is an area that that will require reasonable investment if we wish to continue to build Northern Ireland s creative and cultural profile overseas. This will require a range of strategic partners in government. As cultural diplomacy is often a precursor to international investment, the Department for the Economy would suggest itself as potentially a suitable partner to resource and promote future international showcase opportunities for our artists and arts organisations. 5. Conclusion The Arts Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Minister s consultation paper. We hope that our response will help the Strategy Delivery Group to develop a robust arts strategy; one that will indeed secure cross-government co-operation, provide equality for all and lead us towards a civically-engaged, internationalised, vibrant, progressive and cohesive society. As the achievements indicated in Section 2 of this response demonstrate, the Arts Council and the sector are deeply committed to ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland can share in the fruits of the arts and culture that inspire and do so much to define us, in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world.

13 The development of the new strategy comes at a time of central and local government reform in Northern Ireland. This presents a real opportunity to raise the profile of the arts and reposition them at central and district council levels. It presents the opportunity to integrate arts and culture closer to the heart of government and government investment. Inclusion in the new Programme for Government would establish cross-party acknowledgment of the reach and value of the arts in relation to a wide range of departmental responsibilities. It would recognise the relevance of the arts to shaping and delivering key aspects of the work of every department in the Executive. Creativity and the arts are at the heart of what it means to be a fully developed human being. They inspire and enrich all of our lives. The arts have intrinsic creative and cultural value that reaches far beyond readily-measurable outcomes. They are instrumental in raising the quality of our aspirations - everyone s aspirations. The new strategy, whilst emphasising the societal value of the arts, can be equally ambitious for Northern Ireland s creative and cultural life and help our creative talent to flourish. A strategy which respects and values the arts for what they are, as well as for what they can do, and which advances the proposition that the pursuit of equality need not come at the expense of excellence, is in a strong position to achieve the desired balance between quality and access. Without artists there is no arts sector. Without an arts sector there is no arts strategy. Enabling artists to achieve the fullness of their potential is the best way to ensure that the arts remain a valued and instrumental part of our daily lives. Support for artists and arts organisations and the development of skills within the sector must form the nucleus of the new strategy s ambitions. 6. Summary of key points Support for artists must be at the heart of an arts strategy. Excellence in the arts should be the ultimate goal of an arts strategy. The strategy should seek to embed the arts within the new Programme for Government. After a decade of disinvestment, it is time to re-invest in the arts (aim to double current government investment over ten-year lifespan of the strategy). Artists and arts organisations are making a significant contribution to a wide range of government priorities, including promoting equality and tackling poverty and social exclusion. The reform of central and local government presents exciting new opportunities for the arts. The proposed Local Government Challenge Fund is one way of unlocking new combined resources from both local and central government. Integrating the arts fully into the school curriculum would give the next generation the opportunity to develop the imagination and skills that are vital to our future. An arts strategy needs also to look outwards, towards international opportunities to raise Northern Ireland s creative and cultural profile. 4 February 2016