RETHINKING RELATIONSHIPS

Transcription

1 RETHINKING RELATIONSHIPS INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

2 ABOUT THE FOUNDATION The Caouste Gubenkian Foundation is a charitabe foundation set up in 1956 as a private institution of pubic utiity under a specia act of the Portuguese Government. Its Headquarters are in Lisbon and incude the Administration, which deas with grant-giving throughout the word, the Caouste Gubenkian Museum, housing the Founder s art coections and recognised as one of the best sma museums in Europe and the Modern Art Coection, whose hodings incude an extensive coection of contemporary British art. There is aso an Art Library, a book shop, conference has and a concert ha with its own resident orchestra. The Foundation aso maintains a Science Institute near Lisbon, a Portuguese deegation in Paris and the UK Branch. The UK Branch Since its estabishment by Trustees in 1956, the UK Branch has made interventions in the arts and cuture, in socia wefare and in education that have had profound and ong-asting effects in Britain and beyond (see a ist of reevant pubications over the ast 50 years on the inside back cover). The UK Branch of the Caouste Gubenkian Foundation aspires to bring about ong-term improvements in webeing, particuary for the most vunerabe, by creating connections across boundaries (nationa borders, communities, discipines and sectors) which deiver socia, cutura and environmenta vaue. The UK Branch is currenty impementing its strategy, which buids on previous work. Three strands Transitions in Later Life, Vauing the Ocean, and Participatory Performing Arts are underway. PARTIS and Sharing the Stage PARTIS (Práticas ARTísticas para Incusão Socia) is a programme run by Caouste Gubenkian Foundation in Lisbon. It has been designed to support projects that use artistic practices (music, photography, video, theatre, dance and circus arts) as toos to create bridges between communities that normay do not cross paths. Groups invoved with PARTIS incude young peope at risk, prisoners and former prisoners, immigrants, the oney, peope with disabiities and the ong-term unempoyed. Sharing the Stage is a programme run by the UK Branch. It is supporting 10 projects which are each being deivered by a consortia of organisations. The projects are innovative and expore new ways of thinking and working that wi benefit the arts sector and society. From a writing festiva of paywright prisoners, to oder peope in care homes acting aongside professiona actors, these projects are diverse and push boundaries. Representatives of the consortia aso come together as a earning community to share practice and discuss creative soutions to the pressing questions facing arts organisations deveoping participatory work. Front cover photo courtesy Enteechy Arts

3 RETHINKING RELATIONSHIPS THE CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great many peope have contributed to this report and we offer thanks to everyone invoved. Simeon Yates, Sue Potts, Peter Campbe and Stephen Crone from the ICC buit on research undertaken by James Doeser from King s Coege London. Lizzie Crump, Hannah Bird, Hannah Lambert and Care Thurman from What Next? ed on consutation discussions across the country, the artist commissions and the oca area studies. Sincere thanks to the artists Deborah Mason, Rebecca Manson Jones, Say Tonge and Kye Waker and the ead researchers for the oca area studies Kathy McArde, Mary Swan, Richard Caaghan, Marie Nixon and Liam Murphy. Mark Londesborough from the RSA ran a arge consutation conference and two smaer workshops. Sam Cairns skifuy co-ordinated a this activity. A specia thanks to our Advisory Pane and Internationa Reference Group (their names are isted in Annex 2) and to those who heped seect the ocation studies and artist commissions incuding Pau Bristow and Lorraine Cox from Arts Counci Engand; Robin Simpson, Vountary Arts; Say O Nei, Roya Opera House and What Next?; Nei Johnston, Paddington Deveopment Trust; Morag Baantyne, What Next? Gubenkian Advisory Group; Paua Van Hagen, Chats Paace; and Nasheed Qamar Faruqi, Core Feow. Many thanks to our case study interviewees and the many peope who attended our consutation events and conference and to a those who participated onine. We very much hope that you wi continue to engage with us as the Inquiry moves into Phase 2. Many thanks are aso due to the team at Caouse Gubenkian Foundation UK Branch, Margaret Boton, Bridget Gouray and Jess Loring for drafting and additiona research for this report with support provided by Kithmini Wimaasekera and Hiary Cuen. Thanks aso to Maddy Costa and coeagues for preparing the exceent case studies. Pubished in 2017 by the Caouste Gubenkian Foundation UK Branch

5 CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 PART 1 ANALYSIS AND PROPOSALS 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? 10 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY 19 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE 27 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS 35 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 45 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS 57 7 CONCLUSION 67 PART 2 CASE STUDIES OF INSPIRING PRACTICE 1 BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE 70 2 BLUECOAT 72 3 DERBY MUSEUMS 74 4 DUCKIE 76 5 EFFERVESCENT 78 6 ENTELECHY ARTS 80 7 GRIZEDALE 82 8 LIFT 84 9 mima NATIONAL THEATRE WALES ROUNDHOUSE STREETWISE OPERA/WITH ONE VOICE GOOD CHANCE RUIDO PHOTO, SPAIN PELE, PORTUGAL DEEP CENTER, USA BELARUS FREE THEATRE YIRRAMBOI FIRST NATIONS ARTS FESTIVAL, AUSTRALIA IDEAS FACTORY, BULGARIA FORKLIFT DANCEWORKS, USA 108 ANNEX 1 PHASE 1 RESEARCH AND CONSULTATION 110 ANNEX 2 ADVISORY PANEL AND INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE GROUP MEMBERS 112 ANNEX 3 RECENT RELEVANT POLICY PAPERS 113 REFERENCES 114

6 FOREWORD At the heart of our Inquiry ies a question: how can arts organisations better fufi their civic roe? The question is not born from mere curiosity but from ambition; one consistent with the work of the Foundation over decades (see a ist of previous UK Branch work at the back of this report). This ambition comes from a beief in the benefit that participation in the arts confers on a of us vaidating our stories and creating new ones and in the potentia of the arts in a changing word to bridge diverse communities and renew the bonds between us. François Matarasso describes this powerfuy in his book Mirror Images: Art s abiity to ferry us between different shores of understanding is vita in a pubic space dominated by communications that are reductivey simpe, at best, or simpy deceptive. When poitica divisions are daiy widened by words of fear and hatred, the compexity of artistic statements are necessary vita firebreaks. These firebreaks fee yet more reevant in But beyond current poitics, there are some onger-term cutura trends: Uneven educationa achievement this wi eave many i-equipped for empoyment transformed by technoogy, automation and goba competition and force each of us to be more creative, fexibe and productive. Peope feeing denied a voice in how change impacts upon them whie at the same time expecting more from those who govern them. These are just some of the trends, and arts organisations are no more immune to these than others. But the Inquiry, and what peope have said to us, suggests they have a roe to pay. As we progressed the work, we found metaphor a usefu way of describing their potentia roe: arts organisations as coeges, as town has, parks, tempes and home. And we have been struck by the vaue of seeing arts organisations at different stages of deveopment: version 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. (see page 28) Throughout, we have sought to avoid being prescriptive. That is why we chose a consutative, research-driven Inquiry rather than a programme that might fee more rigid. Our ambition has been to find out what woud enabe the arts sector to move beyond addressing issues of diversity and education, often narrowy and separatey framed, to something which fees more hoistic and democratic. Launched in our sixtieth year, I hope this Inquiry wi demonstrate how things can be, and ask questions about how we work together to make that rea. And, in that spirit, we are sharing what we have found to date and asking for your input into the next phase. Andrew Barnett Director, Caouste Gubenkian Foundation (UK Branch) A more diverse popuation with divisions stoked by negative discourse and socia segregation. Communities sometimes unabe or unwiing to repace the earier sense of togetherness derived, in the past, from associative activity incuding reigion. 4 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY If you work in an arts organisation, we hope you wi read this report, consider what it means for your practice and te us what you think. The Inquiry into the Civic Roe of Arts Organisations seeks to increase awareness of the civic roe that arts organisations pay and coud pay nationay and ocay. We want to create a strong and growing movement of organisations committed to demonstrating next practice. We wi work with others to craft recommendations on how poicy change and practica support can strengthen this roe. We wi buid on research and consutation working in partnership with arts and socia sector organisations and the pubic and private sector. From the start, our intention has been to refect your experience and views. This report summarises what you tod us during Phase 1 and sets out our pans for Phase 2. Part 2 of the report contains 20 exampes of organisations aready undertaking inspiring work. Additiona case studies are avaiabe on our website. We want to know what you think. Do our findings refect or contradict your experience? Do our proposed next steps for Phase 2 respond to the right issues in the right way? See Chapter 6 for more detais and specific questions. Visit bit.y/civicroearts to give your feedback. During Autumn 2017, we wi be present at sector events nationay. Look out for dates and venues on our website: civicroeartsinquiry.gubenkian.org.uk We ook forward to hearing from you and working with you to deveop a second phase programme of work that wi make a rea difference. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 5

8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OUR FINDINGS IN BRIEF The civic roe has a ong history, graduay shifting from widening access, to education and community projects, to engaging communities in creating content that refects socia, environmenta and economic issues. Aistair Hudson eoquenty describes this progression in terms of the different phases of museum deveopment: [Version] 1.0 is where peope come aong and see the uxury artefacts and become better human beings for the experience. [Version] 2.0 is one of participation, peope participating in art and participating in the museum, in education and community projects and cafes and shops, but a these things work in support of that primary high-art agenda. [Version] 3.0 is the user-generated version so it s not about peope trying to join in the art in the museum, it s more about the museum trying to join in with what s going on out there [ocay] and what s happening in the word, and demonstrating how art can contribute to some of the main significant socia probems that we have. Aistair Hudson, Director, mima Activity is too diverse for the roe to be stricty defined. Instead, we have drafted a set of principes for consutation (see Chapter 2). We have aso deveoped descriptive metaphors of arts organisations acting as coeges, town has, parks, tempes and home. We want to test these further in Phase 2. Case studies show that arts organisations with a civic roe share common features. They are dedicated to artistic exceence and fostering individua creativity. They have inspiring eaders, committed to a civic roe. Peope and oca communities are centra to their practice. Pace matters. Deveoping reationships and strong connections are centra to their approach. They seek to integrate their work with communities into their artistic programmes. But there are chaenges. We ack a common anguage and cassification system for the civic roe. Leaders appear overstretched and undersupported. Co-production with communities requires particuar skis: producers, curators and artists may require additiona training and support. Approaches to funding and evauation can make sustaining civic work difficut. Participants and staff groups both need to refect the communities in which they work. Opportunities for expanding the civic roe incude aspirations to work in deeper partnership with both pubic and private sector organisations to address the issues of most importance to communities. 6 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NEXT STEPS Over Summer 2017, we are consuting on the foowing possibe next steps (see Chapter 6 for more detais). Supporting the deveopment of practice We want to examine how arts organisations coud pay a connector roe, in partnerships with socia and commercia sector partners and pubic authorities. We are seeking funding partners to hep us deveop modes. We want to share proven approaches, whether from the UK or internationay, that arts organisations might foow to deveop their civic roe. Capacity buiding Working with other funders, we want to expore: options for networking, internationa exchange and a eadership programme; training, support and networks for artists, producers and curators co-producing projects with communities. We are aso proposing to produce guidance and toos for the boards of arts organisations to support them in considering what a civic roe might mean for their organisations. ABOUT THE INQUIRY The Inquiry was aunched in Its remit is arts organisations in receipt of pubic funds working in Engand. The research and consutation for Phase 1 was deivered in partnership with the Institute of Cutura Capita (ICC), What Next? and the RSA. It was supported by two expert groups, an Advisory Pane and an Internationa Reference Group (IRG). We gathered evidence from: iterature reviews; interviews and a survey examining arts practitioners understanding and conceptions of the civic roe ; wide consutation and engagement with arts practitioners across Engand; four oca area studies; and three artist commissions. We are buiding an extensive bank of case studies, providing a rich seam of information about how arts organisations are reimagining their civic roe. Funding We want to examine the funding ecoogy and the potentia for greater coaboration between funders; the need for funding for ight touch infrastructure and capacity buiding; the feasibiity of providing incentives for arge and sma arts organisations to work together and appropriate processes for appication, evauation and accountabiity. Pubic poicy We are interested in heping create a pubic poicy environment conducive to arts organisations fufiing their civic roe. We aready have pans for work to identify potentia evers for making a difference. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 7

10 The Dance Leeds Made, 6 June Photo: Yorkshire Dance

11 PART 1 ANALYSIS AND PROPOSALS

12 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? This is a time of such uncertainty economicay, poiticay, sociay, cuturay that the need to be creative together as citizens fees urgent. But if that is true, ony the fuest possibe cutura participation everyone wi do. Mark Robinson, Faster but Sower, Sower but Faster, the Arts Counci Engand s Creative Peope and Paces Learning The impetus for the aunch of the Inquiry into the Civic Roe of Arts Organisations in May 2016 was a view that the reationship between arts organisations and the pubic is changing and is ikey to change even more dramaticay because of socia, poitica, economic, environmenta and cutura trends. Poitica events since its aunch have made the Inquiry even more saient, as we seek to respond to concern that the country is divided aong ines of geography, income and opportunity, ethnicity and age. As Mark Robinson says, the need to mobiise to seek soutions fees urgent. 2 The Inquiry aims to hep arts organisations review and probaby renew their reationship with the pubic to support such mobiisation. This report is a ca to action. Through the case studies, which are its core, it highights the ways in which many arts organisations are re-invigorating their civic roe in imaginative and inspiring ways and asks others to consider emuating their practice. It invites you to hep us to deveop a coaborative programme of work to encourage, support and promote the civic roe of arts organisations in order to secure a better future. This report marks the end of Phase 1 of an ambitious programme of work which wi have three phases. This means it is the first staging post on a journey. Best described as a stocktaking exercise, this report surveys the issues and questions raised in Phase 1 of the Inquiry. These wi be expored and tested in greater depth in Phase 2. Dropquote: We want to make the word better not just by making beautifu things, but by changing peope s ives and pubic services in a considered, measurabe, rigorous way. Eoise Maone, Effervescent 10 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

13 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? WHAT IS THE INQUIRY ABOUT AND WHAT IS IT DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE? Our starting point is that arts production by itsef, divorced from any civic intent, is a pubic good deserving of pubic support and investment. We beieve in the inherent vaue of art and the richness it uniquey brings. Not a arts organisations wi want to engage with agendas that extend beyond the arts, nor shoud they be forced to do so. But we have been so impressed by the civic practice of a number of arts organisations that we want to examine and ceebrate it and faciitate its deveopment. The focus for the Inquiry is pubicy funded arts organisations, incuding museums operating in Engand. This does not mean that we have no interest in the broader arts and cutura ecoogy incuding ibraries, heritage buidings and micro or soey vounteer run arts organisations or the wider ecoogy of support for, and connections within, oca communities. Rather the purpose of this report is to infuence the practice of pubicy funded arts organisations, encouraging them to understand the infuentia roe that they pay or coud pay in their ocaities through being aware of and responding to opportunities to work with other community partners, incuding those from other sectors, to meet oca needs. We aso recognise the invauabe contribution of individua artists and arts practitioners, but our focus is arts organisations and how they conceive of, and demonstrate, their civic roe. Whie our remit is arts organisations operating in Engand, we have sought to earn from inspiring practice across the UK and internationay. This report incudes a few internationa case studies, incuding one from Portuga where we have cose ties. Our case study bank on our website wi provide more exampes. A significant difficuty with this project has been anguage or terminoogy. Civic roe, ike an eephant, is recognisabe but difficut to define precisey and even more difficut to corra. In this report, we have sought to describe it as opposed to defining it. However, at its root civic roe reates to how organisations engage with the pubic, whether that be oca peope (neighbours), a community of interest (poetry-sam enthusiasts) or a combination of both. We are interested in the positive difference these organisations make in the pubic sphere through and aside from the production and presentation of artistic work. Taking the ead from the experts, incuding artists, producers and curators, we asked for suggestions for those arts organisations aready re-imagining their civic roe in highy creative and impactfu ways so that we coud describe next practice (distinguished from best practice in being orientated towards the future and based on discipined imagination 3 ). We found that the organisations recommended are seeking both to engage more deepy with and invove their different pubics. We aso found that they are paying a number of different civic roes and are deivering outcomes (more or ess tangibe) in a number of different domains. Based on discussion with the Advisory Pane we deveoped metaphors describing these domains to give the project an anchor. As our research progressed we added to the origina ist. It now encompasses arts organisations as: coeges (paces of earning); town has (paces of debate); parks (pubic space open to everyone); tempes (paces which give meaning and provide soace); and home (a pace of safety and beonging). So, what do we want to achieve with the Inquiry? We want to: capture and give a patform to the inspiring practice we have exposed in our case study research, increasing its profie; expore how earning can be shared and the most promising approaches repicated; buid the capacity of arts organisations to engage civicay; engage with poicy makers and funders to create a more conducive poicy and funding environment. By doing a of this, we aspire to faciitate the deveopment of a growing movement of arts organisations committed to their civic roe. This is in order to create an environment that: enriches everyone s artistic and cutura ife, and improves webeing; is a means to coectivey understand our pace in a changing word; and enabes individuas and communities to be active citizens. We beieve that arts organisations have a power that other organisations with missions to achieve socia change do not. Arts organisations have a particuar capacity to draw out the best in us, to engender hope, to prompt empathy, to encourage kindness, to create safe, neutra paces for the discussion of tricky issues and to inspire us to mobiise to create positive change. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 11

14 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? WHY IS THE INQUIRY NEEDED? One of our aspirations for the Inquiry is to hep arts organisations future proof by enabing them to consider and respond to significant socia, economic and environmenta trends: Changing patterns of arts production and consumption The ways in which we produce and consume the arts have changed dramaticay over the ast 30 or so years, as a resut of new technoogy, shifts in pubic attitudes and expectations, and changing demographics. New technoogy has transformed how the arts are presented, consumed and created by both professiona artists and amateurs. Arts organisations have aso had to respond to an expectation that they shoud be more engaged with and engaging of their audiences and communities, and that the diversity of these communities shoud be refected in the work produced. These trends are ony ikey to become more marked. The pace of technoogica change is acceerating, the pubic appears to have an increasing appetite for participatory or immersive experiences and, regardess of Brexit and future eves of immigration, our country wi become progressivey more diverse. Britain in 2030 is expected to be amost as diverse as the USA is today. 4 Goba migration is shaping our popuation in new ways and we are increasingy aware of the compexities of peope s identities; for exampe, mixed parentage is now the fastest-growing ethnic minority in Britain and by 2050 it is projected that a third of the popuation wi not be white. 5, 6 As a sector, we are more aware that some sections of society have been traditionay under-represented in arts production and consumption. There is an imperative for the arts to incude and represent everyone, and to be more reevant to society. Fisca restraint and funding cuts In the 70 years since the estabishment of the Arts Counci, there has been significant debate about both the rationae for and the extent and focus of pubic funding for the arts. Comment has reguary surfaced that more shoud be spent on back and minority ethnic (BAME) arts, amateur arts and on smaer and emerging arts organisations and ess shoud be spent on high profie London-based arts organisations. Within the context of harsh pubic spending cuts, fisca restraint and a crisis in oca authority funding, the debate becomes ever more intense. Cuts in pubic spending, particuary at the oca authority eve, are having a serious impact on services. In some areas, this is eading to cuts, sometimes dramatic, in funding for arts organisations. Nationay, this is stimuating interest in, and debate about, the responsibiities of organisations that receive pubic funding. Some arts organisations are depoying their creativity to hep oca authorities achieve better outcomes (for exampe, in heath and socia care) with stagnant or reduced budgets. Dropquote Growing disiusionment with conventiona poitics Poiticians are now ess trusted than estate agents. 7 At the same time, poiticians and the media are asserting that the pubic no onger trusts experts. 8 And, we ive in an age of fake news. Unti recenty there had been a trend of eections having disma turnouts, particuary oca eections. For exampe in 2016, just 33 per cent of those entited to vote in oca eections did so. And, whie the recent referendum on EU membership saw turnout at a near record 72 per cent, it is considered that a proportion of those voting did so to register a protest. In the recent snap eection of 2017 the turnout was aso high, however it resuted in a hung pariament which suggests a ack of nationa consensus. One striking aspect of our first consutation discussion was the eve of scepticism about the abiity of conventiona poitics to make a positive difference and a strong beief in peope-powered oca action. I have seen arts and cutura activities deiver better outcomes than some medicay focused therapies. Sue Gaagher, NHS Lambeth 12 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

15 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? The suggestion was that the emphasis shoud be on inspiring and supporting oca peope to recognise and buid on their assets, incuding skis and capabiities. Arts organisations have the creative processes and staff with the skis and attributes to enabe and faciitate this. Some of the data reinforces the opportunity here. Vounteering in the UK is stabe, with around 40 per cent of the popuation offering their services for charitabe and community causes at east once a year, and evidence suggests that young peope are keen to 9, 10 do more. TELL US What woud peope-powered oca action ook ike on the ground? How might it best be supported? On the downside might it be open to manipuation, corruption or popuism? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk Goba competition and a changing abour market The OECD provides educationa attainment rankings based on tests taken by 15-year-ods in over 70 countries. In the research pubished in 2016, the UK is ranked 27th in maths and 22nd in reading. 11 Generay, over recent years the UK s performance has remained more or ess stagnant. The quaity of our education system in part determines our capacity to be productive and to compete in goba markets. Chidren s participation in the arts is beieved to increase educationa attainment. Athough the Educationa Endowment Foundation asserts that more research is required to support this caim, major studies in the US suggest that chidren earn more and achieve better quaifications when the arts are an integra part of education. 12, 13, 14 Yet the Warwick Commission concuded that the arts and creativity are being squeezed out of schoos. 15 One roe of arts education either deivered formay through schoos or informay through chidren s participation in the activities of arts organisations is to foster creativity. Looking ahead, technoogica deveopments are ikey to mean that ony the most creative wi be abe to gain and keep empoyment. Some suggest that deveopments in artificia inteigence (AI) coud mechanise up to 30 per cent of jobs. 16 The 2015 NESTA report, Creativity vs. Robots, found that 87 per cent of highy creative workers are at ow or no risk of automation, compared with 40 per cent of a workers. 17 Increasing inequaity In a report pubished in 2016, the Socia Mobiity Commission concudes that in Great Britain for this generation of young peope in particuar, it [socia mobiity] is getting worse not better. 18 It aso says that it is not just the poorest in society who face barriers to progress. Other research demonstrates that chidren s ife chances are significanty affected by the quaity of cutura education they receive: After-schoo music and drama essons, and trips to the theatre or concerts, provide access to cutura capita that can matter as much as academic achievement in getting on ater in ife. 19 Midde-cass famiies depoy this cutura capita to give their chidren an advantage and to increase their empoyabiity as aduts. 20 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 13

16 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? Shrinking pubic space There has been a notabe trend towards the privatisation of pubic spaces as strapped-for-cash oca authorities se up. A 2014 report by the Heritage Lottery Fund found that 45 per cent of oca authorities are considering either seing parks and green spaces, or transferring their management to others. 21 Many pubic spaces are being repaced by privatey owned pubic spaces (POPS), which are burring the ines between pubic and private. As these are not pubic spaces, their owners have the right to refuse entry to members of the pubic at any time. Exercising this authority, Broadgate Estates, which owns the 32- acre zone between Bishopsgate and Liverpoo Street in London, rituay coses the gates to the Estate once a year. 22 POPS are managed by private security companies. They can prohibit protests, photography, or bringing food into the space, or require visitor spending. This has triggered severa demonstrations, incuding a mass trespass in London in At the same time, this is couped with an increased emphasis on crime and safety in pubic spaces, in ight of both increasing concerns over terrorism, but aso refecting attitudes towards young peope and peope on ower incomes. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2007) argues that strategies adopted to design out crime, incuding for exampe security cameras, antioitering devices and ack of or uncomfortabe seating, can end up designing out peope. 23 We aow peope to buy their sandwiches in Tesco and sit in our garden as a counterweight to huge swathes of the city where it s no onger possibe to just be yoursef, because they re owned or controed by commercia interests. Deveoping a sense of community and beonging More and more of us ive aone. The popuation is ageing and there is a chronic probem of oneiness amongst oder peope. Research shows that 63 per cent of aduts aged 52 or over who have been widowed, and 51 per cent of the same group who are separated or divorced, report feeing oney some of the time or often. 24 Work supported by the Jo Cox Commission on Loneiness shows that feeings of oneiness are not imited to oder age groups. 25 In previous centuries, organised reigion heped to buid a sense of community, providing socia and practica support for their congregations. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, there has been a massive decine in engagement with organised reigion. In 2010, 50 per cent of British peope had no reigious affiiation, compared to 31 per cent in However, community remains important. In , 68 per cent of peope agreed that their neighbourhood pus together to improve the area, up from 63 per cent in and 60 per cent in In , most peope (89 per cent) agreed that their oca area is a pace where peope from different backgrounds get on we together, the highest eve recorded since Some of this data paints a very positive picture of community and community cohesion. However, the Brexit vote has generated concern about faut ines in British society between those who consider they have benefited from iving in a reativey prosperous country and those who fee excuded from those benefits. Many arts and socia sector practitioners see this as a burning issue to which civi society in genera, and arts organisations in particuar, shoud seek to respond. Consideration of these trends ed us to deveop our metaphors (see Chapter 2) which we then tested through the consutation and in our case study research. In preparing this report we have aso considered the poicy context. Annex 3 summarises some recent reevant poicy papers. Mary Coake, Buecoat 14 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

17 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? HOW HAVE WE DELIVERED THE INQUIRY? When we aunched the Inquiry, we wanted it to be highy consutative. We wanted to hear a wide range of opinions, incuding opposing views. As a resut, there have been many ivey and some heated debates in the ast year. evidence-based, robust but accessibe; open, incusive and engaging; making connections across different sectors; giving those who are vunerabe or underserved a voice; The main focus for Phase 1 has been foundationa research and engagement with arts organisations. Phase 1 has comprised: internationa; innovative. the aunch and maintenance of a dedicated website and e-newsetter, and a socia media presence; promotion through sector umbrea bodies and networks and the speciaist press; two iterature reviews; 13 oca area or speciaist consutation meetings; a nationa consutation conference; Dephi anaysis and survey work with arts organisations to estabish a baseine and coect their views on the concepts associated with a civic roe; three artist commissions exporing how the pubic, particuary those who are typicay underserved, view the civic roe of the arts; Partnership is one of our core deivery principes. Phase 1 of the Inquiry has been deivered by a partnership of organisations and individuas working with the Caouste Gubenkian Foundation UK team. King s Coege London undertook the origina iterature review for us. Subsequenty, the Institute of Cutura Capita (ICC) became our Inquiry research partner. What Next? was our consutation and engagement partner. It ran consutation meetings across the country. It aso ed on the artist commissions, which sought to engage underserved individuas and communities, and the oca area studies. The Roya Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) organised our nationa conference. Arts writer Maddy Costa and coeagues undertook the case study research. Thank you! BOX four oca area studies; the deveopment of 40 UK and internationa case studies highighting next practice. (Annex 1 provides more detai about the research and consutation undertaken to support the Inquiry.) The Inquiry has been supported by an Advisory Pane of 32 expert practitioners from the arts, civi society, and the pubic and private sectors. We have aso benefited from the wise advice of an Internationa Reference Group (IRG) of 11 internationa experts. (See Annex 2 for the membership of both the Pane and the IRG.) When we aunched the Inquiry, we set out a number of operating principes. These have guided our approach: focused on creating positive change; deivered in partnership; Thank you A arge number of individuas kindy gave up time to contribute their views and expertise to the Inquiry. 437 peope participated in our Advisory Pane and Internationa Reference Group, took part in workshops, fied in our onine survey and attended our conference. In addition, a significant number contributed onine. We woud ike to thank everyone who got invoved. The experience has been inspiring for us. We hope to continue working with you during Phase 2 of the Inquiry. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 15

18 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? A note on diversity Over the ast 15 years, there has been much work to increase the diversity of the arts sector with a focus both on workforce and audiences and on the content of exhibitions and productions. However, according to the statistics coated by the Arts Counci Engand s Creative Case for Diversity, the probem remains stubborn. We have strugged at times to fuy integrate diversity into the Inquiry. We found it difficut initiay to form a Pane that incuded voices from a communities, with a diversity of ethnicity, gender, age, sexuaity and disabiity. In a meeting about this report, some members of the Pane tod us it needed to refect the diversity of our society more accuratey. We have done our best to achieve this within a context in which many of the eaders of arts organisations are mae, white and midde cass. TELL US Dropquote on diversity The ack of indigenous eadership in the sector is not just a consideration from the point of view of representation. It aso means that the content and acceptabe narratives for indigenous creative expression on Austraian main stages are shaped by other, more dominant narratives. Jacob Boehme, artist and coaborator of the Narangga and Kaurna nations of South Austraia How can Phase 2 of the Inquiry do a better job of incorporating a broader range of voices? What work shoud we seek to do in Phase 2 to support and encourage diversity? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk 16 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

19 PART 1 1 WHAT, HOW, WHY AND SO WHAT? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT? This report marks the end of Phase 1 of the Inquiry. The brief for Phase 1 was: To map the territory. Our intention was to expore what is meant by the civic roe of arts organisations, and to examine the history of such activity in the UK. To put the civic roe of arts organisations under a microscope. We set out to find exampes of inspiring or next practice and to expore the barriers to, and opportunities for, its deveopment. The report summarises the findings and concusions from Phase 1 and sets out for consutation our proposas for Phase 2 of the Inquiry. Our intention is that Phase 2 wi provide both funding and capacity buiding support for arts organisations re-imagining their civic roe. See Chapter 6 for how you can get invoved in heping us design this programme. Our primary audience for this report is arts organisations. A secondary audience is funders and poicy makers. During Phase 2 of the Inquiry we intend to cast the net wider and engage with a broader range of stakehoders, incuding other community and vountary organisations, pubic sector bodies and the private sector. FINDING YOUR WAY ROUND THIS REPORT This report is spit into two parts. Part 1 contains seven chapters, incuding this introduction and the Concusion (Chapter 7): Chapter 2, Defining the territory, discusses how the term civic roe is understood and proposes principes for consutation. It expores in more detai the metaphors we use to iustrate the different ways in which arts organisations can pay a civic roe. Chapter 3, Back to the future, ooks at how embedded a civic roe is in arts organisations from the first pubicy funded museums and ibraries in the Victorian era, to participatory arts and community based projects, to a new emphasis on user-generated content. Chapter 4, Describing the civic roe of arts organisations, is argey based on an anaysis of our case studies. It discusses commonaities, appies our metaphors and starts to create a taxonomy of practice. Chapter 5, Chaenges and opportunities, considers topics such as eadership, partnership, funding and diversity. Chapter 6, Summary of findings and proposas, suggests next steps and, importanty, requests your feedback on these. Part 2 contains 20 case studies of arts organisations identified by experts as demonstrating inspiring practice. These are the core of this report and you may want to start by reading them. They are part of a bank of 40 case studies which wi be pubished on our website to coincide with the pubication of this report. We wi be adding to these over the course of the Inquiry. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 17

20 Photo courtesy Battersea Arts Centre

21 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY CIVIC ROLE : A CONTESTED TERM The terminoogy the civic roe of arts organisations is itte used or understood. Ony 31 per cent of arts organisations responding to the ICC survey said that the term was part of their organisation s vocabuary. Simiary, our work found the pubic aso did not understand the term (see the box A terminoogica soup, page 20). The term is aso contested. It provoked a wide range of responses from the arts organisations who participated in the research and consutation. Some arts practitioners approved, describing it as muscuar, for exampe. Others considered that it had unhepfu connotations of state power and contro and the dominance of cities. Some kicked against its impication that arts organisations might have civic duties and responsibiities. Many considered it an od-fashioned term; this was a positive for some, a negative for others. When discussion at our consutations turned to whether there was preferabe terminoogy, a few suggestions were made for aternatives. These incuded, for exampe, the community roe of arts organisations, civic vaue or civic intent. Our fina assessment was that civi roe with a its difficuties was better than the aternatives. However, we agree that the onus is on us to better describe what we mean by the term. We prefer civic roe because: it suggests the importance of pace and pacemaking, to which the arts and cuture are vitay important; it suggests the importance of active engagement in the pubic sphere, perhaps most particuary, active engagement in democratic processes. When we use the term civic, we re not seeking to priviege the urban over the rura, or state over independent action, or estabished forms over new. We are seeking simpy to emphasise the importance of arts organisations acting as pubic as opposed to private organisations, ones with responsibiities for their communities and to society more generay. In using the term civic roe, we wi stress the positives from its past and re-invent it as appropriate to arts organisations in the twenty-first century. The ICC survey of arts organisations finds ony 32 per cent have discussed their civic roe at board eve, whie ony 31 per cent say that the term civic roe is part of their organisation s vocabuary. Despite the term not being part of the exicon of most arts organisations, 62 per cent of those responding to the ICC survey see fufiing a civic roe, as either a very important or an important part of their mission, and 75 per cent pan to pay a bigger civic roe in the future. This indicates that, athough arts organisations may want to debate appropriate terminoogy, generay there is support for the notion that arts organisations shoud engage with the civic. For a discussion of terminoogy, and the views of arts organisations and the pubic, see the box, A terminoogica soup (page 20). Chapter 5 discusses further the issue of anguage and communication. BOX soup it is associated with civic virtues (discussion of which dates back to ancient Greece and Rome) and their vita ink to education; it is associated with great Victorian phianthropists and pioneers who sought to make the arts avaiabe to a; INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 19

22 GEOGRAPHY MAKES A DIFFERENCE Our review of the iterature suggests that geography makes a marked difference in concepts of the civic roe of arts organisations. The US iterature is more substantia than the European iterature. It sometimes uses the term civic roe which is not used in other countries. On occasion it refers to the work of art in the word, 35 making a ink between it and education in civics. Over recent years, some US arts practitioners have aso paced an emphasis on communities not audiences. 36 This bois down to strategy and mission. The impication is that an arts organisation might reconsider its mission, buid partnerships with other oca organisations, and focus on the needs of its community and how it can meet them, whie at the same time pursuing its artistic ambitions. Obviousy, this is a governance issue and a matter for boards. It requires community-aware and engaged trustees and board members. Recent continenta European iterature tends to emphasise the roe of arts and cutura organisations as poitica activists or supporters of activism, eading campaigns on socia, economic and environmenta issues. Its roots are perhaps in Centra and Eastern Europe where, once the Soviet regime fe apart, there was a fowering of poiticay engaged artistic activity. Many organisations with a bias towards the civic in continenta Europe are deemed to have common features. These incude a hybrid nature with commercia, subsidised and community activities rubbing shouders within the same organisation. A terminoogica soup In poitica theory, the civic is the pubic sphere. It is distinct from the private domain of the individua and the famiy. For some, it is associated specificay with cities and their governance. For others, it is concerned with the state and the paraphernaia of government. Some academics refer to civic poitica cuture, associating it with bureaucracy and an unwiingness to chaenge the status quo. 29 Others write about civic engagement, for exampe, describing it as: comprised of actions and attitudes associated with democratic governance and socia participation. 30 Another reated term is active citizenship, where individua citizens fuy engage with society, accepting responsibiities, supporting others and contributing taents and skis. 31 In recent years the concept of citizenship has been extended to organisations and the term good corporate citizen has been appied to private companies. 32 During the consutation, some asked why we had decided to use civic and not civi (in the sense of civi society ). Definitions of civi society are as, if not more, contested. However, it tends to be regarded as synonymous with associationa ife, divorced from the profit motive and independent from government. 33 We preferred civic because it can encompass partnership working which burs the boundaries between the vountary, private and pubic sectors. How arts organisations conceive civic Participants in the consutation workshops organised by What Next? were asked what words or phrases they most associated with civic. They said: Service to community; charitabe; benefits the wider pubic Sociay engaged practice Socia responsibiity, incusivity, engagement, empowerment Active citizenship, diaogue; istening Citizens heping peope be citizens How we make sense of the word Opting into persona responsibiity Co-production; mutua; equaity and accessibiity Integrated approach: state intervention and grassroots up Pubic and private Inspiration and aspirationa Accountabiity Pubic understanding What Next? ooked at what different communities think the civic roe of arts organisations is or shoud be through three artist commissions. Generay, the response echoed that of the arts organisations. The pubic did not understand or necessariy reate to the terms civic or civic roe. For them the work was about making positive change in their oca area. Neither did they reate to the term arts. Their characterisation of the work they participated in creating was that the experience was enjoyabe. This echoes Grayson Perry s advice to artists in his 2013 Reith Lectures to remember that the arts is something that ordinary peope engage with in their time off INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

23 PART 1 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY Such organisations are aso characterised as aternative, not necessariy concerned with nationa cuture or the artistic canon, and as adopting new organisationa structures and ways of working. 37 In the UK, reevant iterature is scant. What there is emphasises neither poitica activism nor the power of the arts to mobiise campaigns and achieve poitica change (the common feature of both the continenta European and the US iterature). Rather, the civic is framed as concerned with individua sef-reaisation and the reationship between the individua and their community and wider society. In fact, our research and consutation suggests that there is some resistance amongst arts organisations to the notion that a civic roe might mean engaging with poitics and poitica processes. This may be because of a deepy fet concern that art pus poitics equas propaganda, which in turn equas inferior art. But François Matarasso argues that: Art is an antidote to poitica sogans and dangerous simpicities. It makes things more compex, not ess. It heps us see things from other points of view. François Matarasso, Making Nothing Happen: Art and Civi Society in Troubed Times 38 He suggests, in other words, that art does not give us pat answers. If it did, it woud not be art. Instead, it heps us to consider things in a their compexity from different anges. It aows us to come to our own view. In this way, it is the opposite of propaganda. Whie the iterature is nuanced in how it conceives the civic roe, one common feature spans the different geographies: the beief that in such turbuent times, there is an urgency about arts organisations being supported and encouraged to think and act civicay. A DISTINCT FOCUS The particuar ens through which we see the civic roe of arts organisations is that of organisationa mission and strategy. For us, it is a matter of organisationa vaues, governance and eadership. It is about the ethos of the organisation, how it sees its roe in the word and whether it thinks and acts in ways that demonstrate concern for its community and society more generay. Much of the feedback from the consutation chaenged our framing of the project. Notaby, many respondents stressed the importance of individua artists and arts practitioners and their vita roe in enabing arts organisations to re-imagine and exempify a civic roe (see the box, The importance of individua artists and practitioners, page 22). Whie acknowedging the egitimacy of these contributions, our concern has been to keep the project manageabe and focused enough to be meaningfu. On this basis, we have decided that our focus shoud continue to be pubicy funded arts organisations. In the consutation, some suggested that the project shoud encompass cuture more broady (covering, for exampe, work concerned with food and horticuture). Whie our focus continues to be arts organisations, we are interested in how the communities they engage with choose to frame this engagement and this may we be through aspects of broader cuture. This seems cruciay important, given that one of our themes is istening to peope and putting them first: The strength and diversity of oca cuture often seems invisibe to our eyes, because we fai to recognise it as cuture. Going into somewhere ike Tottenham, the idea that there s no cuture there is just absurd: it s fu of cuture, it s just not cuture ike our cuture. It s cuture around food, it s cuture around music, it s cuture around bock parties, it s cuture around carniva. A of those things are reay exciting; they aow us to think about working there in different ways, rather than just making another theatre show. Mark Ba, LIFT One chaenge that has emerged is the difficuty of getting peope to think beyond individua projects to the civic stance of an organisation. To iustrate, when we initiay canvassed for inspiring exampes of arts organisations re-imagining their civic roe and at the cutting edge of practice, most suggestions were of individua projects, the majority participatory performing arts projects. Reativey few were exampes of arts organisations taking a strategic approach. BOX practitioers INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 21

24 PART 1 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY ELUDING DEFINITION The iterature review King s Coege London competed for us before the aunch of the Inquiry, says: A rea chaenge at the heart of this work is defining precisey what is meant by civic roe. It brings to mind poitics, community, rights and responsibiities. 39 After reviewing the reevant iterature, the researchers hazarded the foowing definition, that the civic roe encompasses: The ways in which arts organisations animate, enhance and enabe processes by which peope exercise their rights and responsibiities as members of communities. The Dephi work, undertaken by the ICC, buit on the King s Coege London research by estabishing a ist of conceptions of a civic roe. These were tested in a foow-up survey competed by arts organisations. They associated the term with community, power, poitics and pubic discourse, socia responsibiity, duty and virtue, individua engagement and pride and identity and image of a pace. But the foowing consutation discussions indicate some unease with these associations. As mentioned, some are uncomfortabe with poitics being part of the mix. On the other hand, a few suggest that art is aways poitica by its very nature, i.e. arts organisations do not need a civic frame to make it so. Others are uncomfortabe with the notion that arts organisations might have duties and responsibiities. This may perhaps be because of concern that these might be imposed by externa agencies and, further, that arts organisations might be corraed to deiver government priorities. There is significant resistance to the attempt to estabish a definition of the civic roe of arts organisations. Some describe such an attempt as reductive given the numerous ways in which arts organisations might enact and consistenty re-invent their civic roe. At the same time, there is a consensus that any description or characterisation of the civic roe of arts organisations shoud highight the unique contribution that the arts make to civic ife and underine that their ife bood is creativity and imagination. It shoud aso scrupuousy avoid encouraging instrumentaism. The importance of individua artists and practitioners Inspiring individua artists and arts administrators are key in enabing arts organisations to engage with the civic. High-profie exampes incude: Sir Matthew Bourne OBE is a choreographer of contemporary dance and dance theatre. He has received numerous honours and awards incuding Laurence Oivier Awards, Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Award. Notabe productions incude his Swan Lake with an a-mae corp-de-baet of menacing swans, The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands. Every year, Re:Bourne, the charitabe arm of his company, engages thousands of peope of a ages and abiity, as we as emerging artists across the UK. In 2014, the nationa tour of Lord of the Fies visited 13 cities, engaging over 8,000 young peope in dance activity, many for the first time. It had 80 performances. Re:Bourne aso deivers a range of projects to support heath and webeing. In partnership with Dementia Pathfinders, it works in care homes to ead dance workshops for peope iving with dementia. Jeremy Deer is a conceptua, video and instaation artist. Much of his work is deveoped and deivered in coaboration and has a strong poitica aspect. He is perhaps best known for his Batte of Orgreave, a 2011 re-enactment of the batte between miners and the poice during the 1984 miners strike. This invoved amost 1,000 peope and was fimed by Mike Figgis for Artange Media and Channe 4. In 2016, We re Here Because We re Here, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Batte of the Somme; this was a coaboration between Deer and Rufus Norris, artistic director of the Nationa Theatre. It invoved 1,600 vounteers, a men, dressed in repica Word War One uniforms, who appeared in groups at raiway stations, shopping centres and other pubic paces. Each vounteer represented an individua, named, sodier who died on the first day of the batte. The event was produced by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Nationa Theatre, with vounteers trained and supported by regiona theatres. The pubic reaction was overwhemingy positive. 22 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

25 PART 1 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY Principes for consutation Based on our research, we have identified the characteristics and operating principes that tend to be shared by arts organisations who have a strong civic roe. They: Demonstrate strong and effective eadership and governance. The civic is part of the DNA of their directors. It is not an add on. It is how they deiver great art. Their boards of trustees are fuy committed to the civic and engaged in creating inks with other oca civic organisations. Are rooted in oca needs. These organisations understand their roe in their ocaities. They are aware of and respond to opportunities to work with other community partners, incuding those from other sectors to meet oca needs. Deveop community agency. The oca community pays a significant roe in determining the artistic programme. Buid capabiity. These organisations are effective in deveoping community skis, capabiities and creativity. Buid socia capita. Often significant vounteering opportunities are provided. Sometimes these organisations focus on encouraging kindness, empathy and understanding of others. Champion artistic quaity. This is quaity in both process and in artistic output. These organisations tend to beieve that, to have a positive socia impact, the art produced must be of the highest possibe quaity. Champion diversity. They aspire to fuy represent their communities, to te untod stories and to give a patform to peope and issues which may often be ignored or insufficienty recognised. Provide chaenge. They encourage discussion and debate, often on difficut issues. They chaenge prevaiing orthodoxies and ways of working. Are open and refective. They engage in ongoing refection and diaogue, and are open to chaenge. (These principes are based in part on materia produced for the Pau Hamyn Foundation s Our Museum programme.) In the absence of a definition, we have decided to focus instead on the characteristics or operating principes which distinguish arts organisations for whom a civic roe is fundamenta. We are presenting these for consutation (see the box, Principes for consutation, above). We aso deveoped metaphors to iustrate the civic roe of the arts (see the foowing section) and coected a bank of inspiring case studies (see Part 2). This shifts the emphasis from definition to description. BOX principes TELL US Do you agree with our suggestions for the key characteristics and operating principes of arts organisations with a strong civic roe? What woud you add or take away from these suggested principes? It may be unreaistic to expect arts organisations to adhere to a these operating principes, if this is the case, are some more important than others? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 23

26 PART 1 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY DEVELOPING THE METAPHORS In the absence of a definition, and in response to push back on the associations identified by the ICC, we deveoped metaphors to describe the civic roe of arts organisations. These emerged from Advisory Pane discussions about the potentia of arts organisations to hep communities cope with fast and unpredictabe socia, economic and environmenta change. They are an attempt to convey the creativity integra to arts organisations and their abiity to hep us imagine and create more positive futures. In Chapter 4, we have appied these metaphors to our case study organisations. BOX think COLLEGES arts organisations as paces of earning Learning is about skis and creativity and aso about knowedge and experiences; it is in part based on experience of the word and its compexities, knowedge that acquaints us with our history and cuture and that of others. Emphasis has righty been paced on creative earning and what happens in schoos. However, we aso earn outside forma educationa settings, and throughout our ives. The arts are integra to this. Arts organisations have a roe as paces of ifeong earning, enabing everyone to reach their potentia. TOWN HALLS arts organisations as paces of debate Art has aways stimuated and refected current debates about issues as diverse as human rights and strife between different generations based on weath inequaities. Pressing issues today incude cimate change, increasing inequaity and the impications of our withdrawa from the European Union. Trust in organisations is waning and there is scepticism about experts. There is a risk that some issues are regarded as too big, and therefore insoube. Arts organisations provide safe paces for considering and debating difficut issues. They can present issues in their fu compexity and give them a human texture. They can go further and mobiise campaigns. PARKS arts organisations as shared space open to a Having shared pubic space is important. In some cities, there is a sense that there is very itte non-commercia pubic space eft. Peope fee crowded out. Pubic parks are perhaps the best exampe of an open community resource in which a can gather. They hep to maintain and deveop a sense of community. Parks offer peope choice: to read quiety, to pay footba, to have a picnic, to mix or to remain soitary. Simiary, arts organisations can hep to create a sense of community by providing open and non-judgementa pubic space. 24 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

27 PART 1 2 DEFINING THE TERRITORY TEMPLES arts organisations as paces of enightenment and soace Roger Scruton suggests that, during the Enightenment, as reigion started to ose its centra pace in our society, art and iterature repaced it. 40 For some, arts organisations are tempes of cuture, reguary visited on days of rest. 41 In a secuar society, arts organisations provide us with an opportunity to contempate mora questions about how we ive and how we reate to others. They provide us with an opportunity to refect on what is important, for exampe, kindness and ove. They generate empathy. They provide soace in difficut times and encourage hope. HOME arts organisations as paces of beonging In the Victorian era, the new city museums and gaeries were regarded as a new kind of domesticated pubic space (aongside parks). 42 The idea was that they provided a sphere separate from industria capitaism and offered refuge, beauty and moraity. Eary supporters of the Sunday opening of these museums and gaeries contrasted the pubic house with the pubic home. 43 Today, museums and gaeries provide diverse groups of peope with the opportunity to create work based on their experiences and aspirations. They provide a pace in which peope s experiences are egitimised and vaued. They provide them with a home. What do you think? We d ike to know what you think about our metaphors. They are our initia attempt to describe the distinctive contribution that the arts make in the civic sphere. They suggest the socia outcomes that arts organisations deiver, for exampe, increased poitica engagement and active citizenship, greater community cohesion and improved emotiona heath and webeing. During the consutation, it was suggested that we might incude the metaphor hospita to refect the contribution that arts organisations make to heath and socia care. However, we considered that the distinctive contribution that the arts make in this arena is reated to emotiona and spiritua heath, for which tempe was a better metaphor. Some Advisory Pane members questioned whether these metaphors sti make sense in the digita age. However, we beieve that they can be appied to the digita space. Further we beieve that physica meeting space, anaogous to our town has, parks and tempes is cruciay important in an age in which so many peope fee isoated and oney. What do you think about these metaphors? Do they fuy refect the distinctive contribution that arts organisations make to the civic? Can you reate the metaphors to your practice? Can the metaphors work for digita spaces as we as physica ones? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 25

28 For Me, For You, For Us, Peope United. Photo: Jason Pay

29 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE consistent theme emerging in our research is the importance of history. This is in two senses. First, socia or artistic deveopments, such as the workers education movement, or particuar individuas, such as Ruskin (see the box beow) provide a mode and an inspiration. Second, some arts organisations refer back to a time when they beieve that their organisation was more civicay minded. This chapter reveas how deepy and for how ong a civic roe abeit in evoving expressions has been embedded in artistic practice. John Ruskin ( ) As we were writing this report, it became cear to us that the phiosophy of John Ruskin was refected in the ethos and work of many of our case study organisations. Two specificay mention Ruskin as an inspiration; more have doubtess been infuenced by his thinking or that of his foowers, others by the movements his thinking seeded. Ruskin is commony referred to as an art critic but he was much more. He was a phiosopher profoundy unhappy with Victorian capitaism and the effect it was having on the environment and on peope. 44 Ruskin saw immense vaue even moraity in art. He oved the countryside and beieved it offered spiritua enrichment. He was a passionate advocate of everyday craftsmanship, such as stonemasonry and furniture making. He especiay admired Gothic architecture because of the high status of craftsmen in medieva society, as opposed to the products made by the factories and unskied abourers of Victorian Britain. However, he did not see art as excusivey the domain of the professiona; rather, he thought pursuits such as painting and reading shoud be everyday activities for peope of a casses. 45 Ruskin inspired many. The Victorians who founded the first free museums and ibraries were his foowers, beieving it was important that everyone had access to spaces of beauty and tranquiy. Ruskin himsef did not agree he fet these spaces were not enough to counteract the uginess that the sums and poution of the Industria Revoution were creating. 46 Ruskin s ideas inspired the founding of the Arts and Crafts Movements and the Nationa Trust. He aso infuenced eading thinkers such as Tostoy and Gandhi. What have been the historica infuences for your work? Have Ruskin s ideas infuenced your work? If so, how? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 27

30 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE The first civic arts institutions Legisation in 1845 and in 1850 aowed for the creation of the first free pubic ibraries and museums in some of our major cities. Manchester Free Library The Manchester Free Library was the first pubic ibrary estabished under the Pubic Libraries Act of Under the Act s provisions, at east two-thirds of ratepayers had to vote in favour: ony 40 of the more than 4,000 eigibe voters opposed it. A year after its opening, the ibrarian Edward Edwards reported that it was used by a cross-section of society: But the majority of evening readers and it is in the evening that the Library is most argey frequented have aways beonged to what are popuary termed the working casses. Many, of course, read merey for amusement, but not a few consecutivey, and with an obvious purpose of sefimprovement. 49 Birmingham Museum and Art Gaery A passionate feeing among Birmingham s poiticians, phianthropists and thinkers that oca government shoud create a beautifu and mora society ay behind the creation of its Museum and Art Gaery. 50 Much of the funding was raised by weathy phianthropists. Its operationa costs were subsidised by it occupying part of the new offices of the municipa Gas Department. Once buit, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gaery combined fine and appied arts with an educationa programme and ectures. It is sti in the same buiding and free to enter today. It is home to one of the word s argest pubic Pre-Raphaeite coections and (since 2014) the Staffordshire Hoard, the argest cache of Ango-Saxon god ever found. Aastair Spading, of Sader s Wes Theatre, said at our first consutation event: Our memorandum and artices of association make cear that Liian Bayis s motivation in estabishing Sader s Wes was civic. Over the years we ve departed somewhat from this founding ethos and we need to return to it. Tony Buter made the same point when, interviewed for a case study, he referred to the civic principes that informed the founding of Derby Museums 170 years ago. He expressed his desire to be true to these, whie re-interpreting them in a way appropriate to the twenty-first century: The chaenge that we ve set ourseves is to take that first principe of being somewhere that everybody can access cuture to somewhere that s open and democratic and participatory. David Jubb, from Battersea Arts Centre, refers to more recent history and quotes the community arts movement of the 1980s as an inspiration. One of his ambitions is that Battersea Arts Centre shoud truy refect the oca community, as it did in the 1980s. BOX Ruskin FROM ACCESS TO CO-PRODUCTION It is possibe to chart some significant ebbs and fows in the civic roe of arts organisations in the UK. One characterisation is that the emphasis has graduay shifted from providing access to the arts, to enabing peope to participate in education and community projects, to one now in which the community is more activey engaged in creating content which refects current socia, environmenta and economic issues. Aistair Hudson, of mima, eoquenty describes this progression in terms of the different historica phases of museum deveopment: [Version] 1.0 is where peope come aong and see the uxury artefacts and become better human beings for the experience. [Version] 2.0 is one of participation, peope participating in art and participating in the museum, in education and community projects and cafés and shops, but a these things work in support of that primary high-art agenda. [Version] 3.0 is the user-generated version so it s not about peope trying to join in the art in the museum, it s more about the museum trying to join in with what s going on out there [ocay] and what s happening in the word, and demonstrating how art can contribute to some of the main significant socia probems that we have. This chapter expores this gradua, though uneven, progression from access to user-generated content or co-production. 28 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

31 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE THE ARTS AS A MEANS OF EDUCATION AND CONTROL (VERSION 1.0) Pubic museums, arts gaeries, ibraries and parks, new forms of pubic space, were estabished in the Victorian era (see the box on The first civic arts institutions, page 28). 47 One motivation was concern about drunkenness amongst the arge numbers of workers who had focked to the towns because of industriaisation. Museums and gaeries were regarded as a means of education and contro of the working casses (see the box on Workers education, beow). More positivey, they were viewed as an ideaised domestic sphere: separate from industria capitaism and offering refuge, beauty, and moraity [Whie] the beauty of nature expressed through art was a necessary counterpoint to cities, particuary industria cities. 48 BOX civic insts / workers ed A NEW EMPHASIS ON ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION (VERSION 2.0) Throughout the twentieth century, the major preoccupation was access and participation but argey in support of a high art agenda. The Second Word War created a sense of soidarity and a desire to raise pubic morae which ed to the creation of the Counci for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts. 55 This gave money to baet, opera and drama companies to perform in miitary camps and to civiians. Performances in the UK often took pace in community or church has and overseas in makeshift theatres in camps sometimes very cose to the front ine. Approximatey 2.6 miion shows were staged; for some audience members this was the first time they ever saw baet or opera. This success ed to the creation of the Arts Counci of Great Britain by Roya Charter in Workers education In the 1800s, Mechanics Institutes provided ectures in the arts, sciences and technica subjects and acted as ibraries for working peope. 51 In 1903, the Workers Educationa Association (WEA) was founded. It was committed to widening participation in earning and education with a socia purpose. It is sti one of the argest vountary sector providers of adut education in the country. Exampes of initiatives estabished to educate the working casses which drew wider interest and pubic accaim incude: The Ashington Group of Pitmen Painters The Ashington Group of Pitmen Painters began as the Ashington branch of the Workers Educationa Association (WEA) in After running evening casses in various subjects for seven years, the WEA and Durham University organised for the painter and teacher Robert Lyon to act as tutor in art appreciation. Lyon quicky had the idea of getting cass members to earn by trying the techniques themseves. The scenes the men painted of oca beauty spots and their daiy ives caught pubic attention and they hed their first exhibition a few years ater. During the Second Word War, they painted scenes of sheters and evacuations and Dig for Victory signs. In the 1970s, there was a reviva of interest in the Ashington Group. The paintings were shown in London and ater Germany, the Netherands and China. A pay by Lee Ha, The Pitmen Painters, was staged first by Newcaste s Live Theatre then at the Nationa Theatre before a musica version payed on Broadway and the West End. Whitechape Art Gaery The East End of London in the Victorian era was desperatey poor. Samue Barnett, the vicar of St Jude s, Whitechape, and his wife Henrietta, saw beyond food, sheter and Christianity as a way of caring for the poor. 53 They beieved art woud enrich poor peope s minds and keep them out of pubs. The first exhibition they put on brought in over 200,000 oca peope. They got their first chance to see works by artists such as Constabe, Hogarth, Rubens and the Pre-Raphaeites. The exhibition became an annua event and ed to the buiding of the Whitechape Art Gaery in For decades, the gaery has shown work by artists such as Jackson Poock, David Hockney and Picasso. 54 It sti runs an assortment of community programmes. Genera entry is free. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 29

32 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE The next major andmark is the White Paper for the Arts produced in 1964 by the first Minister for the Arts, Jennie Lee. She argued that the arts shoud be part of everyday ife for chidren and aduts. Her vision remains a raying cry for many artists and arts organisations today. 56 The 1960s were a progressive decade, in which authority was questioned and there was a demand for rights for women and minority groups. In the arts, this manifested itsef in community arts. This marked a departure from traditiona practice because it was rooted in community coaboration and a concern with socia justice. The movement grew graduay during the 1960s and 70s. By 1974, the Association of Community Artists counted 149 different groups; some sti exist today, for exampe, Red Ladder, a radica theatre company in Leeds. François Matarasso, an expert on the community arts movement, says: There was radicaism in the 1970s. Many community artists were invoved in oca campaigns around bread and butter issues ike housing, often working with the community deveopment sector. It s no accident that the community artists spoke of a movement. A high water mark of this period occurred in the eary 1980s in work with communities protesting against deindustriaisation, as Corby Community Arts did in the campaign to save the town s stee works. Esewhere, many community arts groups worked to support mining communities during the 1984 strike. 57 Matarasso aso describes the ater shift from community art, with its connotations of radicaism, to the more paatabe participatory art : The key difference was its attention to individuas rather than communities and its depoiticised response to their situation Peope enjoyed and benefited from taking part in these arts projects but change, such as it was, was mainy persona. 58 Aongside this shift in emphasis from the community to individuas, the 1980s aso saw a growing emphasis on the economic vaue of the arts and attempts were made to fod art and cuture into urban regeneration agendas: Cities, in particuar, sought soutions to economic restructuring and the decine of traditiona manufacturing industry. Taking their inspiration from the experiences of American and European cities, major cities such as Gasgow, Manchester and Liverpoo embarked on ambitious cutura deveopment strategies, often based on fagship capita projects. Michee Reeves, Measuring the Economic and Socia Impact of the Arts: A Review 59 CO-PRODUCTION AND EVERYDAY CREATIVITY (VERSION 3.0) In recent years arts organisations big and sma have shown a renewed interest in faciitating and enabing creativity in their community and in the individua non professiona as artist or curator. As Aistair Hudson from mima says the focus has shifted to usergenerated content. The case studies that we have compied of arts organisations re-imagining their civic roe (discussed in detai in the next chapter, with 20 featured in Part 2), provide many inspiring exampes of co-production with particuar oca communities or communities of interest. For these organisations, creative practice is part of their DNA; they demonstrate it by exporing the issues and concerns of the peope they work with and for. These issues and concerns are broad ranging and incude: housing, immigration, oneiness and isoation, heath and socia care. Our case study organisations demonstrate how creative processes and techniques can generate imaginative soutions to such issues and concerns. Now, arguaby, as opposed to pace-making being synonymous with economic regeneration, there is greater interest in how the arts can make particuar areas better paces to ive, for exampe, by buiding socia capita and contributing to community cohesion. Arts Counci Engand s Creative Peope and Paces programme is one exampe (see the box on Pace-based initiatives in arts and cuture, page 62). 30 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

33 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE There is aso a more genera trend towards recognising and encouraging the artist in a of us, or everyday creativity. This is perhaps best exempified in two reativey recent initiatives: Fun Paaces and the BBC s Get Creative Campaign. In 2013, to ceebrate Joan Littewood s upcoming centenary, a reimagining of her never-reaised idea of the Fun Paace was aunched. 60 Departing from the origina idea for a singe buiding, the twentyfirst century movement supports oca peope, whether cuture professionas or not, to create and curate Fun Paaces of hands-on, active participation in arts, science, crafts, digita and tech, using existing pubic spaces. Since 2014, there have been 572 Fun Paaces across 13 countries, with thousands of peope joining in. CONCLUSION For many of us, our image of the arts is embodied in the grand Victorian buidings ibraries, theatres, gaeries and museums that we might wak past every day. They are part of the fabric of our streets, our towns and cities. We have moved on, perhaps, from Victorian notions of the arts as a form of mora contro. But this brief history shows that the principe that the arts shoud not ony be avaiabe to everyone, but shoud activey improve their ives, has been deepy embedded in artistic practice since the nineteenth century. In the broadest sense, the civic roe ranges from those first pubic museums and ibraries, through participatory practice and community projects, to a new emphasis on usergenerated content. Foowing recommendations in the 2015 Warwick Commission on the Future of Cutura Vaue report, and subsequent conversations between the BBC and What Next?, 64 Miion Artists, Fun Paaces and Vountary Arts, the Get Creative campaign was aunched by a group of cutura organisations in February The campaign aims to ceebrate and support everyday creativity such as crafts, taking photographs and cooking. On its website there is a series of how-to videos demonstrating tips for crafts such as nai art and woodwork. 62 In Apri 2017, it ran a weekend of creativity with arts organisations across the country aimed at encouraging peope to try activities such as origami, pottery and quiting. The box, An iustration, (pages 32 and 33) describes these historica currents through the ens of one art form, theatre.box INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 31

34 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE An iustration a potted history of UK theatre through a civic ens In 1843, propeed by the Victorian urge to contro and educate the new urban masses, pariament finay changed the icensing aws and permitted a theatres to stage straight pays (non-musica pays), hoping both to educate audiences and to encourage high quaity modern paywriting. The unexpected consequence was not more Shakespeare and the emergence of new writing taent, but the burgeoning of commercia theatre, incuding the music ha. Strict censorship meant theatres coud ony stage pays approved by the government. The response was the creation of cub theatres. Audiences paid yeary membership fees, instead of buying tickets, technicay making these theatres private cubs. Cub theatre meant controversia topics coud be staged. One exampe is George Bernard Shaw s Mrs Warren s Profession, which portrays prostitution not as a mora faiing but as a way for poor women to earn a iving. Cub theatre aso gave ife to speciaist and experimenta theatre, as we as producing pays by foreign writers. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, key socia and poitica movements expressed themseves through theatre. The Workers Theatre Movement, which was aigned with the communists, performed on the streets but aso made a home at Unity Theatre in London. 63 It staged pays such as Waiting for Lefty, about New York cabbies striking for a fair wage. The Actresses Franchise League, founded in 1908, toured the country putting on pays about universa suffrage at cub theatres, as we as hoding evening education casses and giving away feminist iterature. 64 At its height, it had groups in a major UK cities. The emerging Labour Party sought to raise the educationa eve and opportunities of the working cass through cutura activities. This ed to the creation of theatres such as Newcaste s Peope s Theatre in 1911, which aimed to stage pays of quaity that the audience might not otherwise see. Repertory theatre ( rep ) was born from the idea that everyone, incuding the working cass and peope in the provinces, shoud have access to the arts. Two phianthropists spearheaded this deveopment. Annie Horniman funded the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester to give the working cass access to Shakespeare. 65 Barry Jackson created the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the first theatre to put on Shakespearian pays in modern dress. It staged debut performances of George Bernard Shaw s pays. Repertory theatre in the provinces grew substantiay in the eary twentieth century. By the outbreak of the Second Word War, it is estimated that there were more than 400 such theatres throughout the UK. 66 In 1968, the Lord Chamberain Act was ifted: pays were no onger censored. The next day, the first Broadway production of the American musica Hair opened in London. 67 Portraying drug use, containing songs about the sexua revoution and featuring nudity, it marked a sea change. It was finay possibe to present uncompromisingy radica content on British stages. The community arts movement of the 1960s and 70s spawned a number of radica theatre companies. Some, ike Red Ladder in Leeds, remain today. Others, such as Scotand s 7:84, which once toured internationay, have foded. Some of these companies adopted the techniques deveoped by Augusto Boa in the 1960s. In his Theatre of the Oppressed, the audience enacted, expored and anaysed their predicaments in an attempt to effect socia and poitica change. Forum Theatre was a manifestation of these techniques. 32 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

35 PART 1 3 BACK TO THE FUTURE Theatre in Education (TIE) started in the UK in It encouraged participation by schoo chidren in roe pay and debate, and became very popuar. Internationa practice started to have more infuence from the 1960s, but the rea breakthrough came with what became the biennia London Internationa Festiva of Theatre (LIFT), founded in One of its greatest achievements was giving voice to foreign theatremakers whose work was prohibited in their own countries. It highighted the unique capacity for ive theatre to pay a roe in exposing injustice and proposing soutions. 68 The 2000s saw the estabishment of the Nationa Theatre of Scotand and Nationa Theatre Waes. Neither work from a buiding but undertake research with their many separate communities to create performances which address oca interests and often invove participation. They aso engage the best professiona practitioners from Britain and internationay. Athough experiments in immersive theatre can be traced further back in time, for exampe to Joan Littewood s work in the 1950s, a deveopment in the current decade is the great interest in and success of theatre companies based on the premise that the audience shoud be part of, or immersed in and interact with the experience. These incude Punchdrunk Theatre, and You Me Bum Bum Train. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 33

36 Eena and Grannies from Dryanovo Viage, Residence Baba Project, Ideas Factory 2015

37 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS We decided not to attempt to define the civic roe of arts organisations in this phase of work but rather to describe it based on next practice (see Chapter 2). To do this, we commissioned case study research from experienced arts writer, Maddy Costa. Our ist was deveoped on the basis of consutation with our Advisory Pane, the Inquiry s IRG and other experts. We asked them to aert us to arts organisations who were re-imagining their civic roe in innovative and inspiring ways. We eventuay whitted the ist down to 40 organisations. Part 2 of this report contains 20 case studies, but we wi be pubishing a 40 on our website to coincide with its aunch, as we as commissioning more. Constant, tireess, persona reationship buiding and istening needs to be in pace in order to create conditions where peope beieve the arts, and the organisations and civic spaces on their doorsteps or in their neighbouring towns are there for them. Lizzie Crump, What Next? This chapter is argey based on an anaysis of the 30 case study organisations working in Engand. However, because we were keen to gather and refect on the most imaginative practice across the UK and internationay, it contains a box which refects on some of our internationa case studies. Dropquote COMMONALITIES The case study organisations have different starting points for their commitment to the civic. For some, the route in has been education or participation or other community projects. Others, usuay the smaer organisations, have aways had strong roots in their communities. However, despite this, a our case study organisations have a number of features in common. First and foremost, they are dedicated to exceence in artistic practice and the fostering of individua creativity. They have inspiring eadership committed to the civic roe of their organisation. Peope are centra to their practice, meaning that their aesthetic is based on working with and in their oca communities, faciitating and enabing them to pursue their interests and needs. Pace is important to them, with pace-making a core concern for some. Fostering reationships and deveoping strong human connections are key aspects of their approach. Finay, they strive against the notion that work in the community and their artistic programmes are two different categories of endeavour. Inspiring eadership One of the most striking things about the case studies is the extent to which they demonstrate the importance of the quaity of the eadership of arts organisations. It is cear in the case study interviews that it is generay the executive eaders of the arger organisations in our cohort who are responsibe for their civic stance. It is their passion and commitment that provides the impetus. A cutch of our cohort mentioned their board s commitment to ensuring that the organisation represented the communities it was seeking to serve. However, in ony a few case study INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 35

38 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS What do you think? What do you think about the roe of boards? Are they key to identifying and fostering connections with other organisations in their communities? Do they see their organisations as concerned with communities not audiences? One of our Pane members, who was aso interviewed for a case study, pointed to the importance of distributed eadership in his organisation. Distributed eadership recognises that eadership skis and capabiities need to be distributed across an organisation. Others, incuding Dawn Austwick, CEO of the Big Lottery Fund, tak about generous eadership. This is the sort of eadership that buids networks, reationships and communities across cutura boundaries. What sort of eadership and governance do arts organisations need to take on a civic roe? What needs to be done to foster such eadership and governance? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk interviews with the arger organisations were boards specificay mentioned as being champions for the civic. This contrasts perhaps with what we know about the US, where it may be better recognised that trustees or management committee members have a crucia roe in ensuring that the organisation connects with and has strong inks to other organisations in the community. Box A focus on peope A number of our case study interviewees referred to the fact that arts organisations are accustomed to istening to professiona artists and heping them to bring their ideas to fruition. They expained that their aspiration was to work in the same way with nonprofessionas, enabing them to reaise their creative ambitions. Generay, our case study organisations are version 3.0 organisations, to use Aistair Hudson s anaogy (see page 28). They have moved beyond providing opportunities for peope to view art, and beyond participation (deivering education projects and work in the community) to user-generated content. A commitment to pace A our case study organisations have a strong commitment to the pace in which they are based or in which they work (some of them are nomadic). This manifests itsef in a variety of ways. Engaging oca peope with art, and bringing art to a particuar audience is a common motivation. This is often conceived as bringing art to communities outside London and improving access for audiences traditionay ess abe or ikey to engage, particuary peope on ower incomes, peope with disabiities and minority ethnic communities. This ambition has a notabe effect on the physica spaces of the communities where art organisations operate. It invites peope to use new or ost spaces, and encourages peope to use spaces differenty. This coud be seen as re-democratising pubic space. Whether a direct aim or not, working with oca peope can often foster a sense of pride in that community. The work and spaces of arts organisations are transformative, physicay changing the environment for these communities in a very positive way. (See the boxes on A commitment to pace and Buidingbased versus non-buiding-based, page 37, and Pace-based initiatives in arts and cuture, page 62 ). 36 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

39 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS Fostering positive reationships It is striking that a number of the case study interviewees refer to what might be termed an aesthetic of care. Some specificay say that they have a mission to promote kindness. Others refer to the quaity and depth of human connection achieved through their work. Generay, the case studies convey the generosity of spirit of our interviewees and their organisations. Respect for a regardess of their circumstances, hospitaity and a warm wecome are recurrent motifs. Many were expicity focused on fostering positive reationships with those in their communities who were ess ikey to fee comfortabe in an arts organisation. An integrated approach The common feature of the eading organisations is that they strive against the notion that work in the community and their artistic programme are two different categories of work. They seek to bring them together and to embed expectations around civic contribution in every aspect of their work. This defines organisationa ethos and vaues. It is supported in a range of different ways, incuding through job specifications, the briefing prospective staff are given at appications stage, and staff training. BOXES com bu A commitment to pace A arts organisations have some commitment to the pace or ocation they work in. Some are formed in response to a specific oca issue; for instance, the Ministry of Stories was set up in Hoxton to reach three of London s most disadvantaged boroughs: Hackney, Tower Hamets and Isington. Many are connected to a pace by the peope that create or work in the organisation. For instance, a group of oca vounteers spent 10 years trying to estabish a oca gaery space, creating The Lightbox in Woking. The gaery continues to focus on its oca audience. This incudes ensuring that its board of trustees is formed of oca community members, heping to deepen its roots in the oca area. At mima, in Middesbrough, director Aistair Hudson has an active phiosophy of ocaism, as the antidote to the internationa bockbuster, endeavouring to shake off the historica idea of a museum as detached, not reevant or inaccessibe to oca communities. Taking this theme iteray, mima curated an exhibition entited Locaism, teing the story of Middesbrough through contributions made by the oca community. Whie, the Hu Freedom Festiva, which transforms the city centre into a iving stage for three days in September each year, has been identified as a key factor that has heped reenergise the city centre a year round. Says Mikey Martins: it s reay puing the city back together in a way... you re seeing a ot more peope hanging out in the centre of Hu and very proud of their city centre now. Buiding-based versus non-buiding-based A few organisations commented on the advantages and disadvantages of having a buiding. Some of the non-buiding-based organisations spoke of the abiity to be nimbe and fexibe. LIFT Tottenham s Mark Ba says it enabes his organisation to reach out further into the community and engage with paces and spaces that are more representative of London. However every space in the community is poiticised, so whichever space you work in you re perceived to be buying into the poitics of that space and you must be aware of that. Tony Buter, from Derby Museums Trust, says there needs to be more fuidity between what happens out there and what happens in here. However, he is happy to be buiding-based: I don t have a probem with being a contact point or being an anchor institution, because if we don t have any anchors in the community everything is postmodern and nothing has a meaning. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 37

40 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS TOWARDS A TAXONOMY OF PRACTICE Whie our case study organisations have much in common, there are aso some dimensions in which they differ. Art and creativity for socia change Each is an arts organisation at its core. However, a of the organisations interviewed aso said that having a civic roe is part of their mission. This was not just in the sense that they regard deivering arts activities as civic; it was that their organisation has socia objectives too. And, as one eoquenty said, it goes further than this: for his organisation the emphasis is on socia progress. Where organisations differed was in the extent to which socia concern was centra to their mission. Arts or cuture? Some of our case study organisations are engaging non-professionas with traditiona art forms, such as dance, and supporting non-professionas, incuding chidren and young peope, to curate. Others are ess concerned with art in the sense of the traditiona art forms and are more concerned to promote cuture. This incudes food, crafts and gardening, and everyday creativity, such as heping non-professiona artists to deveop photography or pottery skis. Internationa inspiration Many of the arts organisations we interviewed cited internationa inspiration for their work. Ministry of Stories is modeed on a not-for-profit organisation in the USA set up by the author Dave Eggers. Situations has been part of a network of internationa organisations for the past 15 years. Enteechy Arts, Streetwise Opera and Battersea Arts Centre were a infuenced in their programmes and approach by the inspiring projects they visited on a study trip to Brazi. Star and Shadow cite as an inspiration simiar radica cinema modes throughout Europe. Buecoat namechecks artist Suzanne Lacy, and in particuar her Ohio Project, as an inspiration for how they think about art, cuture, history and pace. Hu Freedom Festiva is connected to European networks in order to open up progression routes for oca artists and to share resources. It particuary admires the French system s focus on residency. mima s Aistair Hudson co-directs Arte Úti (Art as a Too) with Cuban-American artist Tania Bruguera. It is buiding a bank of case studies on its website ( these are exampes from around the word of art working as a too for socia change. Creativity appied to cuture or creativity appied to ife? As indicated above, a of the case study organisations are primariy concerned with deveoping artistic practice and fostering individua creativity. However, some interviewees described their concern as being ess about appying creativity in a cutura context and more about the appication of creativity to ife. For exampe, Battersea Arts Centre is using creative processes and techniques to hep young peope deveop new socia as we as creative enterprises.box Loca or nationa or internationa? Another dimension of difference in the case studies is the extent to which the organisations operate at the oca or hyperoca eve (see the box on Artist commissions and the hyperoca on page 39, which iustrates the vaue and importance of hyperoca work), or have a nationa or even internationa remit. One feature, though, is that some of the organisations most rooted in a particuar pace tend to have quite strong internationa connections. Notaby, they often appear to have more contact with organisations with simiar concerns or ways of working based outside the UK than they have with organisations within it. BOX 38 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

41 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS Individuas or community or community deveopment? Some of our case study organisations have a focus on the transformation of individuas, for exampe, supporting and nurturing young peope or supporting oder peope though the transitions that midde and ater ife can bring. Others spoke about their work in terms of buiding a sense of community and community cohesion. Yet others took this one stage further; whie they do not describe it as such, they are engaged in community deveopment. By this we mean that they are faciitating and deveoping community organisations and businesses. The objective is to eave a egacy in the community beyond the ife of any one project or event. Short-term or ong-term engagement with communities Many of our case study organisations are dependent on project funding. In some instances this means that they work with different groups over time or that projects may vary in their emphasis. For exampe, whie the focus of the organisation may be oder peope, it might sometimes concentrate on work in care homes whie, at others, it might work with peope with dementia. Other organisations are committed to working over the ong term with particuar peope. One case study interviewee for exampe, referred to working with the same individuas over the course of a 20- or 30-year period. Artist commissions and the hyperoca We were interested in exporing the views of the pubic, particuary sections of the pubic who may be underserved. We therefore worked with What Next? to commission artists to deiver work ooking at what different groups think the civic roe of arts organisations is or shoud be. These commissions (described in more detai in Annex 1) were a hyperoca. Hyperoca means reating to, or focusing on, matters concerning a sma community or geographica area. We came across this term severa times in taking to arts organisations about their work. Usuay it was used to describe working within one sma geographic area, for instance on a particuar housing estate. The three artist commissions were: Sticking Together by Deborah Mason and Rebecca Manson Jones, Southwark Cake and creative conversations by Say Tonge, Shropshire What Next? by Kye Waker (Creative Experts and Contact), Manchester Each artist had a different motivation. For Say, it was to find new ways to tacke the isoation and oneiness experienced by peope iving with dementia in her oca area. Deborah and Rebecca wanted to address the view that civic processes on the Ayesbury Estate have been discredited and invite peope back into those processes. Kye wanted to work with young, unengaged peope to understand what they need to hep them enjoy and engage with the arts. For a the artists, the work was about the quaity of engagement with the participants. Key findings from the artist commissions are that: Peope do not recognise or respond to the term civic or even the arts, their interest is in making positive change in their oca area and doing something enjoyabe. Freeance artists and producers have significant skis and experience to contribute but aso need support (discussed in more detai in Chapter 5 under Skis). Artists can broker inks incuding with arts organisations, they can and shoud work within and across the civic fabric, making inks with community eaders and becoming part of the team. There is a need to reach out across civic society to raise awareness and understanding of the contribution that skied arts practitioners can make. In order to reach peope who typicay do not engage, projects need to be hyperoca, effectivey going to them, to venues in which they fee comfortabe. The What Next? report eaborates this ast point: There are nuanced oca community boundaries, which highights the importance of oca infrastructure and arts organisations buiding reationships with oca communities. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 39

42 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS Moving from the individua to community Abigai Pogson from Sage Gateshead has recenty changed its mission: from enriching ife though music to making change though community, cuture and pace. So from something that we fet [was concerned with the] individua to more of a focus on a) the coective and b) the wider sense of cuture. Caire Doherty of Situations has aso recenty been considering its approach: one of the things she [American curator and thinker Nina Simon] taks about is that in the past we ve thought about targeting or reaching particuar communities [so you] taior the work to that targeted community. And increasingy what s far more interesting [given the post-brexit andscape]... is how you create connections between peope who have different interests, and you create a community around a project that creates those connections. A focus on vunerabe or underserved groups or the genera pubic Working with one or two particuar vunerabe or underserved groups is the focus for some of our case study organisations. Exampes incude young peope iving on estates on which drugs and gangs are a prominent feature, migrants iving in refugee camps, or working-cass peope iving in particuar areas. Other organisations are committed to working with the genera pubic and providing them with opportunities to engage with particuar art forms or otherwise deveop their creativity. Notaby, two interviewees referred to the fact that they woud reay ike to use processes that they reserve for groups traditionay regarded as underserved with the wider pubic. What do you think? An issue that emerged with regard to organisations working with vunerabe or underserved groups was that of anguage. Some of our case study cohort considered that terms and phrases that often go aong with this, such as giving voice to the voiceess, set peope apart and are stigmatising; it is obviousy fundamenta to their practice to reate to each of the peope with whom they come into contact with the same respect and sensitivity. What do you think about this issue of stigmatising anguage? Is there sometimes pressure to abe participants in order to access funding? If there is, are there ways around it? Emai us: civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk 40 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

43 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS APPLYING THE METAPHORS TO OUR CASE STUDY ORGANISATIONS Coeges, town has, parks, tempes and home: the five metaphors we use to describe the civic roe of arts organisations are not prescriptive, rather they are frames which enabe us to see the effect of the work. You can read these in detai on pages 24 and 25. These metaphors indicate the sort of outcomes and the profound socia impact our cohort are achieving. As we anaysed the case studies, it became cear that the work of many arts organisations fits into two or more of these metaphors. Some aso expressed a desire to extend or deepen their civic roe, by adding more opportunities for earning or debate into their programme in the coming years. COLLEGES TOWN HALLS The case studies underine the cruciay important roe that arts organisations pay in education. For peope of a ages, they provide education and skis deveopment (Derby Museums Trust, mima, Poet in the City). For younger peope, they buid confidence and skis and have the abiity to re-engage some of the most disengaged chidren and young peope in earning and skis deveopment (Effervescent, Battersea Arts Centre, Ministry of Stories). Our case studies show education is sometimes formay provided, through instructive programmes and casses, or apprenticeships and structured internships (Grizedae, Poet in the City, Hu Freedom Festiva). A few arts organisations have aso partnered with higher education institutions to deiver quaifications (Effervescent). Other times, the earning is more informa and provided through mentorship or by creating opportunities for sharing: The case studies show arts organisations fostering conversations around migration, discrimination and feeings of insecurity and anxiety in ways which revea and expore their compexity and which generate empathy (Good Chance, Hu Freedom Festiva). They have the abiity to do this in the way that the media and conventiona hustings such as the schoo gates or pubs do not: At a time of socia disharmony, being abe to entertain peope, chaenge them in a theatre is a way of just getting them to think differenty. Not necessariy to change their mind, but to get peope to think sighty differenty about things. I think we fee quite strongy that theatre is a pace of nationa debate. Lisa Burger, Nationa Theatre We try to open them up to the possibiities of writing to [get them to] understand that writing is a fundamenta part of ife, about expressing yoursef, finding your own story, as we as opening up job opportunities. A ot of the chidren that come to us and work with our vounteer writing mentors don t necessariy know that writing is something you can do for a iving....[so they] understand that this is a rea job, and they don t have to be passive receivers; they can actuay step into the roe of being an active creator. Ben Payne, Ministry of Stories INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 41

44 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PARKS TEMPLES Arts organisations as parks stems from a context where funding cuts have cosed or curtaied opening hours for ibraries, youth centres and day centres, and private deveopers have bought up areas which used to be pubic space. This concept is very much in mind for some of our case study organisations, which are activey trying to create paces where members of the pubic can be, without pressure to buy something or do something specific (Buecoat). Many others are invoved in trying to turn pubic spaces into more vibrant areas with art, from creating muras to pop-up performances (Hu Freedom Festiva, LIFT). Often the stated goa is not necessariy to deepy invove every member of the pubic with art, but to energise areas and foster a sense of civic pride. We fee that we re acting as a counterweight to huge swathes of the city where it s no onger possibe to just hang out because they re owned or controed by commercia interests... Buecoat offers [an aternative] in the midde of a very commerciaised city. And we fee that the civic responsibiity we have is to show peope that there is an aternative to going shopping, and that there are other ways in which you might consider spending your time. And we hope as an extension of that peope might at some point consider using our gaery, consider coming to the music we have in the garden, and pursue interests which might open up possibiities for them. Mary Coake, Buecoat Inherenty, some arts organisations such as gaeries are simiar to tempes, in that they offer a quiet space for contempation. Others provide commentary on mora issues through art tacking themes of incusion, empathy and kindness (Good Chance, Nationa Theatre, Peope United). Whether they expicity mention him or not, some organisations expressed a Ruskinian phiosophy (see the box on John Ruskin, page 27). They see the process of creating art as something which feeds the sou. It is something that is communa, which binds peope together, recognising their common humanity: The church at the end of the street, a hundred years ago, everyone who ived in the street woud go to that church, and they don t anymore. They a go to different paces, so what I think we need to do is create the aternative to that church in whatever communities that we re in, because we need that way of coming together and theatre shoud be providing that. Theatre isn t just something that we consume, ike, yeah, it s something that we participate in, in order to understand what it is to be a human being, and what it is to be together with other humans in the room. Simon Casson, Duckie HOME Arts organisations as home suggests that they can be paces of safety and beonging, where peope can fee reaxed and be themseves. Our case study organisations are incusive: You go inside and everyone s wecoming, everyone s accepted. Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, Good Chance 42 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

45 PART 1 4 DESCRIBING THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS Looking abroad: our internationa case studies Athough the Inquiry focuses on Engand, it was important to us to gather internationa case studies. Seven of these case studies are incuded in Part 2 of this report and we refect on some of them here. Work with underserved groups Like the Engish case study organisations, the internationa organisations fee passionatey about working with peope who are generay underserved by the arts. They work with prisoners, young peope, minority ethnic communities and oder peope. In Austin Texas, Forkift Danceworks works with working-cass peope who provide invisibe abour such as sanitation workers. As in Engand, coaboration with such groups generates inspiring practice. Whie working with eders in depopuated viages across Bugaria, Ideas Factory uncovered dozens of traditiona fok songs and a stye of singing on the verge of dying out. Crowdfunding enabed the women to visit Sofia to record the songs: Now a the money from the CD [is] going back to them, so they are abe to trave to festivas, and to show what they have as a cutura heritage because, otherwise, it wi just stay on the recording here, and then we wi ose it as we ost aready, many things. Many aso articuate a desire not to parachute in and then eave but to stay in touch. Hugo Cruz, from PELE in Portuga, points to the benefits: working with other parts of a community and not just one core group means a performance wi be better attended, supported and participated in. Different battes in the same war What is striking about the internationa case studies is that, athough the operating environment is obviousy different in other countries, the same themes surface but in different ways. In Spain, which hasn t had the same eves of antiimmigration racism as other European countries, the focus is on preventing it from deveoping as opposed to mediating its effects. Human rights arts organisation RUIDO Photo has a traveing photography exhibition about the path Syrian refugees are taking to get to Europe. Whenever they insta the exhibition, they go to schoos and coeges and put on a workshop about it. Edu Ponces says: We are working with young peope from 15 to 21 years because we want to fight the hate speech that is becoming common on some media in Europe. High stakes For some of our internationa case study organisations, the stakes are high. For exampe, Ideas Factory was created in 2007 as an artistic intervention against organised crime s attempt to buid on a protected site on the Back Sea coast. A mission fraught with danger. Maddy Costa wi be interviewing more internationa arts organisations over the summer of Those case studies wi be avaiabe on our website in the second haf of civicroeartsinquiry.gubenkian.org.uk Do you know of organisations outside the UK who woud make inspiring case studies? Emai civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 43

46 Baroosoo s ILE O in Griffin Square, Deptford as part of Circuate Photo: Camia Greenwe

47 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES This chapter focuses on what our case study group say about the chaenges they are experiencing in re-imagining their civic roe, the opportunities they identify to deveop this roe and their aspirations for the future. It aso covers the What Next? consutations and contains a box on the What Next? oca area studies, focusing on the most in-depth of these which covers Nottingham. LEADERSHIP The case study interviews iustrate that the executive eaders in these organisations have strong eadership skis. They demonstrate vision, passion, commitment, generosity, humiity and a strong enthusiasm for and beief in their civic roe. A commitment to creating positive socia change emerges from persona experience for a sma number. For a few others, it can be traced back to previous work experience, for exampe as a teacher or support worker, or through experience of working in another arts organisation with a deveoped civic roe. For a number, it is fundamenta to their conception of the arts and creativity and its power and vaue. The interviews suggest that many of these eaders are overstretched. One says specificay, I m reay in danger of burn out. A few refer to how exhausting it is constanty having to justify or expain an approach that meds the arts and creativity and socia concern. One refers to the frustration of reduced funding, regardess of impact, and indicates that most of his time is now spent on fundraising. Another says that what she and others in the arts most need is the time and space to think about and deveop their civic roe: The arts sector is reay imaginative, but peope in the arts never have time to actuay think about this together and tak. One of her ambitions is to estabish itte poos of time and space and resources for hersef and others working in the arts. The dominant impression is that our case study organisations are very dependent on visionary eaders, some of whom coud be better supported in their roes. This support might come from their boards or their peers. One interviewee refers to having a very supportive board and to their vita contribution. A coupe say specificay that they woud ike to buid a nationa network of arts organisations with simiar vaues, so they can increase knowedge and understanding coaborativey. Some of our consutation discussions have aso identified that younger eaders woud wecome the opportunity to ink with those who are more experienced. One says: I do a ot of networking reated to the projects that I m working on, but not about how we deveop our civic roe and, since that s so important to us, it s something that I d reay wecome. PEOPLE AND SKILLS Having the right skis in the organisation is a chaenge. One interviewee says: The other major chaenge that I shoud mention is skis. We find that most of our producers fa into two categories, either peope are reay good at engagement or they come from the gaery environment. Another echoes this: he says that now his organisation ony empoys producers who are equay comfortabe programming performance spaces and running creativity workshops with chidren. Some of our cohort were seeking to make engagement and participation an aspect of every job roe, so as to embed the required attributes and skis in the organisation and make them a fundamenta component of its ethos and operations. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 45

48 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Vounteers A cutch of our case study organisations rey totay on vounteer abour or vounteering is a significant feature of their mode. Ministry of Stories has trained 8,000 vounteers but works with 350 at one time. A teacher in a participating schoo commented on seeing a student stopping one of the vounteers in the street for a chat something she had never seen in 10 years of working there. The vounteer team creates socia cohesion, connecting peope working in the creative industries with poorer chidren from working-cass and immigrant famiies. Poet in the City has about 200 vounteers, with about 70 who engage reguary director Isobe Cochester started in the organisation as a vounteer. Its approach is to put the organisation at the service of peope who want to be part of it. It does not recruit for particuar vounteer vacancies or have defined vounteer roes; instead, it asks prospective vounteers what they woud ike to do with or for the organisation. A vounteer who came to it as a way of getting back to work chose to experiment with podcasting and is now on a traineeship with the BBC. Poet in the City put the organisation at the service of peope who are interested in being part of it. The Lightbox exists because of oca vounteer campaigning, and the vounteer voice remains strong in the organisation at board eve, but aso within the gaery. It has 160 vounteers who work in the gaery. For exampe, they are at the door wecoming peope as they come in, so that no one fees intimidated. The Lightbox has aso been working with homeess centres nearby. Some of that egacy is visibe in the fact that service-users fee so comfortabe in the gaery that they start to vounteer there. Star and Shadow tak about the vounteer team as a microcosm of a totay different, sef-organising and sef-sufficient society. They see vounteering as a rehearsa of different civic patterns to the ones currenty hoding sway. An important aspect of the Hu Freedom Festiva is that it provides the opportunity for everyone invoved to eat together, and that incudes vounteers. Again, this creates a microcosm of a different sort of society, one in which a are wecome and a are equa. A artist stays at Grizedae begin with a week of intensive vounteering doing chores on the farm. This is designed to disrupt the artist s thinking and introduce a more civic approach to making art. Good Chance starts from scratch in each new area and is abe to do so ony because peope vounteer. Vounteers provide skis and experience to support the team. For exampe, in the Junge refugee camp in Caais, an engineer from Syria was abe to hep erect their temporary buiding (a dome) much more quicky than they woud have otherwise been abe. These exampes demonstrate that the more accessibe or porous the organisation the stronger the reationship it has with its vounteers and the wider oca community. Ceary, vounteering is not a one-way street but an exchange, bringing expertise that may be missing from within the organisation. What are your experiences with vounteering and arts organisations? Is there a cear difference between vounteer and participant or beneficiary? How can vounteers be treated fairy and not expoited? Emai civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk 46 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

49 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES One interviewee stresses his organisation s emphasis on training artists: We don t put our dancers into community settings or settings with young peope uness they ve been effectivey trained it takes a very unique set of skis to work in a variety of unique circumstances and settings. Another says his organisation is focused on training artists to work in and for communities. Yet another has an aspiration to deveop training and mentoring on the theme of art and community cohesion. This refects a theme from our anaysis of the case studies the need for training and support to enabe artists, curators and producers to work effectivey with communities to co-produce projects and programmes. One of our interviewees stressed the need to support artists, who are often freeancers and fee quite oney. Reinforcing this, another says, we are a safe haven for artists who don t necessariy fit in esewhere, who are interested in, I hate the term, sociay engaged practice. A third says that one of her aspirations is to: support a new generation of producers who are reay resiient and [have] a range of organisationa skis, but aso engagement skis too. The What Next? report on the artist commissions argues for the need to buid an informa network to identify the compex skis required for practitioners deivering this work and through a series of interventions support the deveopment of these skis in artists. It describes these skis as incuding: brokering between forma and informa structures, working with vunerabe participants, and managing a compexity of needs (for exampe, from carers, vounteers and participants). It points out that there are exceent exampes of next practice across the sector but these are often not pubicised due to the sensitive nature of the work. A coupe of our interviewees suggested that a major barrier is often a ack of confidence or beief in what we can achieve coectivey: One of our barriers was our own confidence about doing it, we were taking a risk to set something ike this up but it was an informed risk. Reay we shoud not be abe to do this... and everyone has said it [but we did it] We need peope to be fearess and do this in their own communities or other communities to be fearess in bringing peope together. The box on Vounteers (see page 46) discusses vounteering in our case study organisations. Box Working with others to secure resources Some connect because they do not have their own buiding and need to partner with various civic spaces. Caire Doherty from Situations, a nomadic organisation, says that a big part of the way we work is aways with oca partners. Mark Ba from LIFT, an organisation with a London remit but a focus on Tottenham and without a buiding, echoes this: we ve had to form ots of partnerships with organisations that have their own spaces. For some, partnerships bring funding. Notaby, however, David Sater from Enteechy Arts, which receives funding from heath and socia care budgets, stresses that his motivation is to bring peope art not to provide heath and socia care. He s simpy responding to the issues that matter to the oder peope that engage with his organisation. This is an important distinction. Wieke Eringa from Yorkshire Dance echoes this. She refers to her mission to enabe everyone to participate in dance and her organisation s history of engaging oder peope. As a resut, the organisation has deveoped projects in care homes and for oder peope with dementia. For most, partnership is a means of reaching out to peope in the community. Mariyn Scott from The Lightbox refers to connecting with expert socia sector organisations in order to work confidenty with a range of different groups, incuding peope from a hoste who have drug and acoho probems. She says this is important because the ony way to be sure that you re not actuay doing harm is to be ed by the experts who understand the medica and socia backdrop. For Poet in the City, partnership is integra to its existence; it coaborates on everything from individua events, to strategy and sharing resources. Criticay, partnership is what has enabed it to buid new audiences for ive poetry particuary outside London. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 47

50 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Partnerships between universities and arts organisations A number of our case study organisations have partnerships with universities. Effervescent worked with Pymouth University to deveop a quaification in art. In 2014, mima became part of Teesside University. Peope United is based in the Canterbury Innovation Centre, on the campus of the University of Kent. They have worked in depth with the Schoo of Psychoogy for over 10 years to expore the impact of the arts on attitudes and pro-socia behaviour, deveoping a bank of evidence on the roe the arts can pay in heping to create a more kind and caring society. Bearus Free Theatre as part of a three-year agreement with Famouth University took up a five-week residency, where they devised and rehearsed a new theatrica production on the stories of persecuted artists. The pay, Burning Doors, has since toured internationay, incuding to other universities. Buecoat has worked with the University of Liverpoo to empoy a phiosopher in residence. She ran casses at the gaery as part of the University s Learning for Life programme. For 2017, Buecoat aso has a University socioogist in residence to investigate its pubic roe. Scientists from the University of Hu run a popuar series of sma experiments and workshops with an emphasis on fun at the Hu Freedom Festiva each year. On a smaer scae, a PhD student is studying Duckie s community practice. What are your experiences of partnership working? Who hods the power? Are these power differentias acknowedged? Are those with the power wiing to estabish fairer, more baanced partnerships? Emai civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk PARTNERSHIP WORKING Our cohort make cear that partnerships are vita to their civic roe. This pays out in different ways for different organisations but generay it heps to secure access to the resources that they need for their work: venues, participants, vounteers and funding (see the box on Working with others to secure resources, page 47). Reationships with oca authorities and other pubic sector bodies are very important to some of our cohort and some receive funding from heath and socia care budgets. However, these organisations tend to be keen to stress that they have not chased this funding for its own sake, rather proposas for it have emerged from the artistic work they were aready pursuing. (For more information about reationships with oca authorities see the box Loca area studies, page 49). Box working iwth others A number of our interviewees, expicity seek to have an impact on quaity of ife in their oca areas. They might for exampe, work on access to empoyment or housing because these issues matter to the peope they work with and for. They deveop partnerships as the best means of achieving this, incuding partnerships with pubic authorities. These organisations might be described as having a iveabiity agenda. For others, deep partnership of this kind is sti an aspiration. One interviewee has a dream to join up oca services, to act as a noda point. His organisation has aready been funded to support oder peope through advocacy. Another interviewee refers to seeking a more embedded and infuentia roe for the arts in decision-making about the ocaity and the services provided incuding in panning; she is ooking at partnering with deveopers. The impression given is that there is untapped potentia for arts organisations to work with oca communities to improve the areas in which they ive and the services they receive. A number of the organisations in our case study cohort have deveoped fruitfu partnerships with universities (see the box on Partnerships between universities and arts organisations, above). These range from arge scae partnerships to sma interventions. They refect a move on the part of universities, ike arts organisations, to respond to changing times by re-invigorating their civic roe. The reationships between universities and arts organisations are exampes of a arger organisation taking a smaer one under its wing. 48 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

51 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Loca area studies In 2016, What Next? co-ordinated four oca area studies, in Basingstoke, Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft, Sunderand and Nottingham. These were intended to be detaied ocation-specific investigations into the roe of arts organisations within their oca community. In a four areas either an arts or cutura strategy had recenty been deveoped or was under deveopment and there was a ink between the oca area studies and the deveopment or panning for impementation of these strategies. The Nottingham study was especiay timey, coinciding with the deveopment of a Strategic Cutura Partnership. This project, co-ordinated by a range of partners incuding the city counci, set out to deveop a oca framework for the cutura and creative industries for the next decade. The What Next? study incuded case studies of oca arts organisations, three pubic discussions, interviews with key thought-eaders in the city and a iterature review. Importanty, it connected key actors, and wi continue to inform the cutura framework as it is deveoped. The reationship with oca authorities is ceary important for arts organisations in the area. However, there was a universa ca from participants that arts organisations shoud not be expected to take up space currenty occupied by [other]... third and vountary sector organisations. In Nottingham, the study began many important conversations, heping to estabish networks between arts organisations, artists, the oca authority, as we as the oca community and audiences. On the basis of the four oca area studies What Next? concudes that a key factor in the success of arts organisations paying a roe in communities is the commitment of key individuas who give a great dea of time and energy to driving the agenda forward (athough these peope are often not eading arts organisations, coaboration with arts organisations is critica); university reationships are important and pay a roe in supporting the civic offer, in paces where there are Creative Peope and Paces projects (see the box Pace-based initiatives on page 62) and Loca Cutura Education Projects, a civic remit is fet strongy. What Next? recommends, amongst other things: a greater eve of investment for arts organisations and strategic partnerships to continue to deveop their civic roe and meet the needs of communities: that opportunities shoud be created for arts organisations, practitioners and communities to try out new ways of working without having to go through bureaucratic processes and support shoud be provided for a pubic facing campaign, coproduced with communities, that raises the profie of the civic roe of the arts. For a brief summary of the work undertaken for a four oca area studies see Annex 1. A coupe of interviewees from sma organisations made a genera pea for arger arts organisations to partner with and support them. For exampe: The smaer organisations [are ] often the innovative, fexibe, adaptabe organisations Now if they can feed in those are the sort of skis that bigger organisations woud reay vaue. Our organisation woud reay vaue the cout of a bigger organisation, the reach, the communications, the ampification of what we do, so I think there must be a way of forging inks. TELL US box oca area TELL US box partners Is your organisation engaged in deivering services under contract to the pubic sector? Are you competing with other types of vountary organisation? Are you working in partnership with them? Do you beieve that as an arts organisation you are offering something distinctive? Emai civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 49

52 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FUNDING Within our case study cohort a few sma-scae community initiatives rey soey on vounteer input. One of these refers to having received a 600 grant a coupe of years ago which has sti not been spent because participants are so generous in donating what is needed. Other interviewees describe a difficut funding environment, but are nonetheess optimistic. One says, I think money foows good ideas. This is not to argue that money, or access to other resources, is not an issue for these organisations: it is. The point is that these organisations tend to work on a broad canvas which enabes them to access a wider range of resources and which aso perhaps means they have a different reationship to money. One refers to reframing the question how can we find the money to pay for that? into how can we deveop peope s potentia to contribute to their oca area; what is their potentia as human beings, as members of the community, what can they contribute? Athough it was not a major subject of conversation, a number of issues about funding practice were raised in the interviews. An emerging theme is a basic incompatibiity between genuiney innovative or deveopmenta work and current funding practice. One of our interviewees says: Funding is one of the greatest suppressors of innovation in civic work, because it requires your output before you know what somebody wants. Funders don t understand that you can ony deveop something through testing it and through hearing what peope are saying and then through going back and redeveoping it. Another says: You can t write to a funder and say, we don t know what we re doing, pease give us some money. But we ve begun to have those conversations. One interviewee made the more genera point that reduced money in the system creates an atmosphere of conservatism, which makes funders ess ikey to fund innovative work. Another issue, highighted by an interviewee, is that of project funding: Why does a this stuff have to be project by project? You have to hod that responsibiity because if you re saying that the art has meaning and vaue in somebody s ife, you can t say here it is and then, oops, sorry, it s gone. Someone ese points to a basic incompatibiity between funder evauation requirements and his organisation s approach: I don t know how you woud evauate the feeing It s an interesting chaenge. We can t give out a survey at the end of the day because it woud fundamentay change the whoe idea when you enter a theatre you are at the beginning of a pay and when you eave the theatre you are at the end of a pay. A second says: It is reay, reay difficut sometimes to express what the outcomes are when they re quite intangibe. And a third says: they want to see metrics on everything you can te stories about peope sometimes they re not aways a number. Another interviewee says that it s difficut to get funding for projects which combine arts and socia change: Often if you try to appy for socia change under arts, they say, oh no you re arts, you shoud go and appy [esewhere] and equay if you appy under arts [and the project is about socia change] you re knocked back. So that s a barrier. 50 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

53 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES COMMERCIALISM Our case study organisations had different stances on the ink between the civic and the commercia. For some, the arts shoud be distinct from commerce and provide a space that is neutra, i.e. with no pressure to consume or move on. Others successfuy run a commercia operation which generates significant amounts of money which they then pough back into their civic work. One interviewee referred to being aware of the ink between artistic activity and a gentrification of the area that is perceived as pricing oca peope out. Nonetheess, he says there remains a concentration of socia housing and famiies on ow income, and it is the chidren in these famiies with whom the organisation works. Another is trying to persuade the oca authority to resist the siren ca of deveopers and commit to providing ow-rent space to artists over an extended period. An interviewee from a rura organisation describes its ambition: What we re proposing is rebuiding oca cuture [which has been] destroyed by tourism A oca cuture that is authentic, rather than the version of it that is [generay] sod, which argey isn t [authentic]. He describes how his organisation opened a tiny shop seing arts and crafts produced by oca peope. Other oca shop owners in the viage were up in arms. They caimed unfair competition. However, now oca residents see that this work encourages more tourism. It is part of the organisation s agenda to deveop socia and cutura enterprises because these wi make the viage a better pace to ive in. For some this has required innovation: but that od mode of receiving work doesn t work for us, and didn t work for our audiences so we had to come up with a different process to deveop the programme, and find other ways to make that work financiay, which utimatey works in your favour but takes time. Another interviewee refers to setting up a socia enterprise at the ast museum that he ran, which did a range of participatory work with oca menta heath charities: There was that sense of being part of this broader network of socia organisations and to me it was [about] buiding socia capita [because] that was the thing that woud make the organisation more sustainabe. For a dance company which often presents its work in commercia as opposed to subsidised venues, its civic work emerged as a resut of a business decision which was based on sustainabiity and risk management and being in receipt of reguar funding. In order to make the best case for this funding, it needed to deveop and evove the business. Another interviewee woud ike the work that she does to be seen in commercia terms. Ony then, she beieves, wi it be vaued and paid at a rate that wi enabe her to achieve her ambition to grow the organisation. For some of our case study organisations, having a civic roe means that they can reach different kinds of audiences to other arts organisations. Because of this, they beieve they tend to have: [more] dynamic business modes, because we think across sector, because we think of different partnerships and because we fundraise in different ways. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 51

54 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES GROWTH AND REPLICATION Some of our case study organisations are determinedy oca. They have an aspiration to work more deepy and with more impact in the oca areas in which they are based. Others are considering whether they shoud have a nationa profie: I think the difficuty then is that you move away from your oca community and you move into not reay caring whether you re deivering for oca peope or not We were probaby seected for [name of particuar prize] because we did have community roots and the diemma for us was how do you retain those whie actuay being a successfu and sustainabe gaery. One case study organisation supports others across the country to adopt its techniques and approaches. It aspires to deveop a training and mentoring strand to its work. Another is heping to set up new services across the country modeed cosey on its own: Since we opened we ve had about 100 enquiries saying, can you come and do it in rura Suffok? Can you come to do it in Waes? So we know there s a rea appetite there, it s actuay just us finding the means to enabe them to do that. The case study research indicates one obvious chaenge with repication: the reiance of many of our case study organisations on their eaders. Another interviewee described two chaenges with growth: maintaining artistic quaity and providing the same rich experience for audience members and vounteers: We must make sure at a times that our artistic deivery is at east equa to our approach to deivering art and incuding peope We re setting up so many schemes at the moment we need to make sure that we re abe to continue... that as we deveop and grow There s a imit to [the abiity] to provide reay rich experiences to peope. A coupe say that, because their organisations work intensivey with peope who are deaing with significant chaenges, the numbers who benefit are very sma. However, the intensiveness of the work pays dividends as regards the impact on the individuas engaged. DIVERSITY One issue that some of our case study organisations regard as both a chaenge and an opportunity is the increasingy diverse communities with which they are seeking to engage: We re continuay thinking, who are we not reaching, and how can we engage with them in different ways? It s an area that is changing fast so it s how we address that: not by saying pease come in and see what we re doing, but going out... and asking what are you interested in, how can we hep you? It s a very deiberate co-creation process with different communities. This issue of going out to engage with diverse communities is an important one. One organisation, reaising that there was a substantia Vietnamese community in its area who didn t engage with it, spent a ot of time with that community discovering how it might want to use its space. Now tai chi is practiced outside one of its buidings. Another organisation programmes in coaboration with different socia groups. When non-white stories are tod, they are aways fagged as such an exhibition of Isamist scientific inventions or women pioneers or African-American artists... The message, when museums produce targeted campaigns or events or exhibitions for non-white audiences is: we acknowedge you as others in our midst. Not as humans, or artists, or scientists, or dancers. As others. Nina Simon, On White Priviege and Museums INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

55 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Two specific exampes of work on diversity Vountary Arts has worked to estabish a stronger connection with ethnicay diverse cutura activity. It estabished a BAME advisory pane, amost a of whom have now become trustees on the main board. It has an expert adviser for each of its staff teams on different aspects of BAME cutura activity. It aso undertook interviews with about 40 groups from different BAME communities to deveop its understanding of their cutura engagement. Robin Simpson says: We asked them what they did and had a very open conversation and what peope said to us was, this is refreshing because you ve come and taken a genuine interest in us and vaue what we do. For the Paraorchestra, its whoe reason for being is to promote diversity. It has two aims says Chares Hazewood to create a patform for outstanding musicians who happen to be disabed, and therefore to change the perspectives of the word so that they no onger think it s surprising to witness word-cass musicmaking where either a the peope on stage or a heathy number of them have disabiities. That fundamentay affects the offer inside the buiding. For exampe, an exhibition about migration and asyum party put together with refugees has resuted in the deveopment of a fu programme for that group. Another programme works because it meets peope on their own turf first. One of the museums brings exhibits out to peope where they ive. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION One striking feature of the interviews is the extent to which discussion of anguage and communication is a common theme. Interviewees disike current terminoogy ike sociay engaged arts or arts with a socia purpose. A number of interviewees said that there was an issue about cear communication of what they do: for us a chaenge is to be abe to communicate ceary about what we do, I think there s something about our messaging being cearer, and it s very hard to expain in a coupe of sentences the range of things that you do and the different approaches that you take. The cohort give the impression that they beieve that the profie of their civic work shoud be higher: We re a itte bit guity sometimes of just quiety getting on with it, and feeing the work wi speak for itsef, whereas actuay we need to keep shouting about it, and we need to be reay cear about what we re doing and why it s important. I don t think we re very good at ampifying our voice. But others pointed to how difficut it is to raise the profie of work of this kind: Visibiity within the arts is imited because the media is about reviewing shows, it s not about taking about the kind of work that we do. For some the chaenge does not simpy reate to communication of their civic work but aso to communication about the arts more generay. One says the barrier is about the arts being regarded as vauabe and as a human right. Another suggests that the government sti thinks that the arts are fuffy. Not every initiative is successfu. A museum in an area with a arge Musim community has worked with the oca mosque and run ots of projects reevant to the community. But this is not transating into visits to the museum. Others are having much the same issue. One responds pragmaticay: we shoudn t beieve that we can bring everyone in, not everyone woud go to a footba match. A sma cutch of interviewees say that one of their main aspirations is that their staff groups shoud propery refect the composition of their community. A number are working hard to achieve this. BOX exdropquote: INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 53

56 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ISSUES FROM THE WHAT NEXT? CONSULTATIONS Many of the chaenges and opportunities highighted by our case study cohort echo points made in the consutation discussions organised by What Next? These identified the foowing main issues in reation to arts organisations reimagining their civic roe: Fragmentation great practice is not being shared, and much of the work isn t at a scae to make it meaningfu and visibe at the nationa eve. Inequaity sometimes offering the same opportunity to peope isn t enough, you have to offer more. Space ack or poor use of civic space needs to be addressed. Championing there is a need for more high-eve champions. Fatigue there are many competing demands on the capacity of arts organisations. Short-term funding short-term funding makes ong-term engagement difficut to achieve. Compex anguage and systems sma oca organisations can find funding requirements compex and difficut to navigate, especiay now that oca authorities no onger have the resources to act as brokers. The main themes What Next? summarises the themes that emerged in the discussions as foows: Pace and ceebrating coective identity there is a desire not to create cone towns but to use the arts to ceebrate unique quaities and difference. Addressing inequaity and improving ives the question was asked, shoud every arts organisation have socia justice in their mission? And, the point was stressed that whie the arts can pay a civic roe, they can t prop up or be a viabe substitute for diminished oca services because of funding cuts. Civic in the context of earning and supporting active citizenship arts organisations can question things about society (such as discrimination) and that creates change, but they need to fee that they have the freedom to engage in this way. Coaborative eadership those in governance roes need to understand their roe in reation to the civic. Funding the recent cuts are reay significant, and the Inquiry shoud not ignore them. Nonetheess, civic roe has to be a choice and not a mandate. Civi disobedience, opposition and the roe of the artists artists often see their roe as provocateur, articuating the vaue of difference and enabing voices to be heard which might not be ordinariy. The unique contribution of the arts needs to be emphasised. It might be described as drawing peope together to dream and deveop soutions, the ast bastion for making reationships based on ideas and imagination, fostering creativity and confidence, a communicative currency, it s what makes us human. 54 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

57 PART 1 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Digita One of the aspects of this report which our Pane chaenged was the sparse references to digita media, either in the case studies or the main text. However, one of our case study organisations, Fun Paaces, provides an exceent exampe of use of digita media to support its civic roe: The crossover between arts and science, crafts and tech, has enabed ocay ed Fun Paaces across the UK to offer hands-on participation in digita activity. Because Fun Paaces are ed by oca peope, they often offer ess forma access to digita, and as 34 per cent of Fun Paace Maker teams incude peope under 18, this means there is great scope for young peope to ead on digita activity, as part of an intentionay intergenerationa event.... Oder peope might turn up for the crafts and stay because they discover the code cub for aduts (taught by chidren), as at Brixton Library s Fun Paace in 2015, or the Minecraft session ed by a 10-year-od for a ages at Luton s Fun Paace in Stea Duffy, Fun Paaces Can you suggest arts organisations which have a strong focus on using digita media to deiver their civic roe? Emai civicroearts@gubenkian.org.uk INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 55

58 Yorkshire Dance presents Dancing in Time. Photo: Sara Teresa

59 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS We have gathered evidence from a wide variety of sources and consuted with a range of practitioners, members of the pubic, experts and other stakehoders. From these mutipe sources, we can ceary draw out some important common themes. This chapter puts forward our findings and invites you to comment on our proposed next steps. WHY IS A CIVIC ROLE IMPORTANT? Reevance in changing times Arts organisations funded from the pubic purse accept that they have a civic roe. There is common recognition of a burning patform because of changes in pubic expectations about the arts, in patterns of consumption and participation. Such changes point to an urgent need for arts organisations, particuary those receiving pubic funds, to re-imagine or reinvigorate their civic roe. This means deep refection about how they engage with the pubic, their oca community, community of interest or both, and how they work with and for them, activey responding to their concerns, interests and needs. Cutura democracy Experts say that the drive to improve access and increase participation, we-intentioned though this is, may now be insufficient. Rather, communities shoud be engaged at a deeper eve in determining what the arts and creativity mean for them. Many of our case study organisations described processes and approaches based on co-production. The notion of everyday creativity aso emerges as a strong theme. Some characterise this as moving beyond the democratising of cuture to cutura democracy. There is aso a recognition that austerity means that organisations in receipt of pubic funding have a particuar responsibiity to demonstrate that they are giving something back : I passionatey beieve in cutura democracy: we know that the peope who support LIFT, through a combination of ottery money and Treasury money that we get, are coming from parts of society that we re not engaging with. So, personay, it s an artice of faith: if you receive pubic funding you are obiged to give something back to the pubic. It s an ethica question, but aso it s an obvious opportunity for us to find new sources of creative inspiration. Mark Ba, LIFT Many of those to whom we spoke understand the imperative to be reevant. For many, recent poitica events provide a spur. For most, they underine the importance and vaue of arts organisations and their particuar and unique capacities: to promote empathy; to provide safe space to discuss contentious issues; to stress our common humanity ( everyone matters ); to offer hope and to foster the notion that, coectivey and through appying our imagination, we can create better futures. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 57

60 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS WHAT S IT ALL ABOUT? Principes over definitions Research and consutation responses suggest that attempts to provide a watertight definition of the civic roe of arts organisations are futie. The variety of activity and approaches it encompasses (demonstrated in the case studies) are too diverse. Our efforts to hazard a definition were regarded as imiting. As a resut we changed tack, beieving that a set of principes might be preferabe. This report sets out for consutation a draft set of principes derived from the practice of our case study organisations and informed by our other research (see Chapter 2). The strength of metaphor Our metaphors, arts organisations as coeges, town has and parks, have proved popuar as a means of describing how arts organisations manifest a civic roe. They resonate with practitioners and provide an anchor to the Inquiry. We have adopted two additiona metaphors, tempe and home. This report starts to unpack how these metaphors appy to our case study organisations. This is, in part, an effort to describe the specia contribution that arts organisations can make to the civic, as distinct from organisations not rooted in the arts and creativity. In Phase 2, we propose to continue to expore and test these metaphors and their reevance. Arts eaders as connectors if oca poitics is faiing or if there are economic pressures on forma care systems and structures and things, then it fees ike the art space becomes the istening point. It becomes where peope discose stuff I have a dream that the fas cinic team say, you go to your arts centre because they do movement work and that wi hep you with emotiona and physica resiience and you just join it a up. I think it s those noda points, those ink points with the other bits of the system that are where you reay need to be. David Sater, Enteechy Arts Arts organisations as opposed to artists or individua practitioners Our focus for the Inquiry is arts organisations in receipt of pubic funding: there is a particuar onus on these organisations to engage with the pubic. From eary in the consutation, we were under pressure to extend the remit to encompass freeance artists, producers and curators. However, whie we recognise the important roe such individuas pay, our core concern is with the governance, eadership and operation of organisations and their civic poise or stance. Mission and governance The ICC survey of arts organisations finds that 62 per cent say that fufiing a civic roe is an important or very important part of their mission. Our case study organisations provide instances of a civic roe being embedded in organisationa missions, for exampe: To inspire peope to take creative risks to shape the future (Battersea Arts Centre) To make the word kinder and happier using arts, creativity, innovation and design thinking (Effervescent) However, for ony 32 per cent of respondents to the ICC survey has the organisation s civic roe been discussed at board eve. This perhaps suggests that the boards of arts organisations are not as engaged as they might be with the civic. Leadership Our research indicates that executive eaders provide the impetus for their organisation s civic work. Some are founding directors. Others have taken on the mante of eading an existing organisation, often transforming it. A demonstrate a strong commitment to communities not audiences and are passionate about the vaue of enabing and faciitating their communities, rather than regarding them as passive recipients of their work. A the eaders of our case study organisations mode strong eadership skis, incuding generosity and humiity. A few demonstrate an abiity, or aspiration, to be a connector. However, it is cear that some are overstretched. It is cear too that some coud be better supported and networked. 58 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

61 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS HOW IS IT DEMONSTRATED? Different starting points The starting points for our case study organisations have been different. For some of the arger organisations, their route has been through the deveopment of education and other community projects. Initiay this work was an add on, but graduay the experience of, and earning from, community-focused work has infuenced how and what they programme. Others have a strong civic roe because they have aways had deep roots in their oca community. For yet others, the organisation s civic stance is a direct resut of the persona experience of its executive eader. Common features The organisations in our case study group work across art forms and deiver a variety of different activities. They engage peope using a range of different techniques and processes. However, a have a number of features in common: strong eadership with vision and a beief in co-production; a commitment to exceence in artistic practice or the fostering of individua creativity; a concern to create strong and positive reationships, respect and equa treatment are key aspects of their practice; the majority have a concern with pace and many are striving to integrate their work with communities and their artistic programming. The individua to the coective Some of our case study organisations have a focus on the transformation of individuas. Others speak about their work as seeking to achieve community cohesion. Others take this one stage further and, whie they do not necessariy describe it as such, they engage in community deveopment. By this we mean that they faciitate and deveop community organisations and businesses. The objective is to eave a egacy in the community beyond the ife of any one project or event. Pace and iveabiity In some instances pace-making is a core concern and there is a focus on pace and how peope can shape it to meet their needs and aspirations. In a few instances, this means our case study organisations designing soutions with oca peope to housing, empoyment or heath issues or probems with education. The emphasis tends not to be on the arts as a means of economic regeneration. Instead, recognising that gentrification can make areas unaffordabe for oca peope, our case study organisations are concerned with iveabiity and buiding socia capita. From goba to oca A dimension of difference in the case studies is the extent to which organisations operate at the oca or hyperoca eve, or have a nationa or even internationa remit. One feature, though, is that some of the organisations that are most rooted in a particuar oca area have strong internationa connections. Some of the interviewees who had participated in internationa study trips and exchanges stressed the inspiration they had provided. However, notaby, our case study organisations often appear not to be networked with organisations with the same or simiar concerns or ways of working based in the UK. Sef-expression is a very we. Art is tougher, more purposefu, dangerous, and utimatey a means of change. Ann Jeicoe, paywright, director and actor Dropquote: INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 59

62 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS AND LEVERS FOR CHANGE? We asked our case study organisations about the chaenges they are experiencing in re-imagining their civic roe, the opportunities they identify to deveop this roe and their aspirations for the future. A cutch of issues emerged. Strains on eaders Whie our case study organisations have exceent eadership, our impression is that some eaders are overstretched and under-supported. One aso refers to the ack of time and space to think strategicay and aspires to create opportunities for both, for hersef and for others. might go at the start, funders tend to want greater certainty; the emphasis on project funding makes it difficut to sustain vauabe work in the community; and, conventiona evauation techniques often sit uncomfortaby with the nature of the work and its ethos. Growth and repication Some smaer, newer organisations are seeking to grow or repicate their modes. A few are doing this reativey successfuy despite a harsh funding environment. Of these, some speak of concerns incuding osing their community roots and a diution of quaity in their engagement activity and artistic product. Rather than being concerned about organisationa growth, for some the main emphasis is on buiding socia capita ocay. Peope and skis Co-production with communities requires a different ski set. Producers, curators and artists may require training and support to enabe them to deiver this work we. A few of our case study organisations aspire to deveop this training and support for their coeagues in the future. Partnership working The case studies identify many exampes of different sorts of partnership working, with other arts organisations, with universities, with socia sector organisations and with oca authorities. However, eaving a few notabe cases aside, the impression given is that our cohort aspire to buid deeper partnerships, rather than having them aready. They aspire, for exampe, to deeper partnerships with the pubic sector for the benefit of their communities. The fact that this is an aspiration not a reaity for some refects the fact that our cohort are ambitious but aready overstretched. Funding These organisations acknowedge that the funding environment is difficut. However, those who are strongy rooted in particuar communities often see their most precious assets as the engagement, capacity and skis of oca peope. However, the organisations we spoke to do point to some difficuties with funding practice, namey: co-production means not knowing where the work Business modes One case study organisation refers to how an emphasis on the civic means working in new ways with different sorts of peope. It aso demands a different sort of product from the norm. This creates an opportunity to deveop a more mixed funding base. It potentiay opens up access to a range of different funding sources. An obvious exampe is oca or heath authority contracts or commissions. Diversity A few organisations refer to the chaenge of ensuring that their participants and staff groups are both sufficienty diverse to refect the communities in which they are based or work. Key success factors appear to be a wiingness to go to communities, as opposed to expecting them to come to you, and working with communities definitions of what constitutes the arts and cuture. Peer support and networking may be vauabe here. Language and communication One theme that emerges very strongy from the interviews is probems of anguage and communication. The view is that we ack a common anguage and cassification system for the civic roe, which makes it difficut to adequatey describe this work in a its variety. This is important because the impication is that we ack the toos for anaysing and understanding the civic roe better. Some aso refer to the roe s ack of profie and the need to promote it and its vaue more effectivey. 60 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

63 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS NEXT STEPS When we estabished the Inquiry, our goa was to have faciitated a strong and growing movement of arts organisations that fuy embrace their civic roe by Our aspiration is for these organisations to improve the ives of arge numbers of peope across Engand. This is a huge ambition. The issues we ve identified are too compex and the potentia programme of work too arge for one organisation. We want to work with others arts organisations, funders, poicy and research organisations with ideas and resources to hep design and deiver what we hope wi be a strong coaborative programme for change. Over the Summer and Autumn of 2017, we are consuting on the foowing possibe next steps. Supporting the deveopment of practice Our interest is arts organisations in receipt of pubic funding working with oca communities to coproduce soutions to probems these communities identify. We are aso interested in examining how arts organisations coud pay a connector roe working in partnership with socia sector partners, pubic authorities and the commercia sector to address these probems (see the box on mima deep partnership, beow). This work wi enabe us to further expore practice with reference to our metaphors of arts organisations as coeges, town has, parks, tempes and home. BOX mima We intend to base our work on earning from pacebased initiatives for arts and cuture here and abroad (see the box Pace-based initiatives, page 62.) To this end we have aready commissioned scoping research examining oca area-based approaches to funding and prototyping methodoogies. We can ony provide initia, seedcorn funding for the initiatives that emerge from this work. We are therefore ooking for funding partners to work with us to deveop them beyond the eary stages. We aso propose to share practice and raise awareness of proven methodoogies and approaches that arts organisations might depoy to deveop their civic roe; some of these may be inspired by internationa exampes (see the box on Approaches, page 63). TELL US box initit mima deep partnership with pubic authorities and the private sector mima met a group of refugees and asyum seekers who hed a cinema cub once a week in the basement of a church and invited them to hod it in their buiding. Just that act of being in a shiny buiding in the centre of town making the group fee ike they were part of the civic, being istened to and acknowedged triggered a sorts of conversations and reationships that have now ed to a reguar programme taiored to them. This incudes a free mea every week, a food bank, free internet access, workshops, bespoke Engish as a foreign anguage courses, a garden cub and a craft-makers cub. This has ed to conversations about their housing situation, so now mima is working with the counci and housing providers and other oca vountary organisations to find soutions to the probems that have been identified. mima aso has a programme of work with oder peope, principay around dementia. It has been approached by a private housing provider to work with it to find better ways of caring for oder members of the community. They are now considering whether new and better modes of housing, community centres and other civic structures might be deveoped in neighbourhoods in which such infrastructure is poor. It s reay exciting, when you re starting to have traction in the word in a very dynamic way that wi have some rea effect, rather than just pointing at something. Because the tradition of the art gaery is to point at the bad stuff happening in the word, and then the artist ses that piece for 20,000. Aistair Hudson, director, mima INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 61

64 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS Pace-based initiatives in arts and cuture Specific programmes have been estabished to support creative pace-making in Engand, the USA and Finand. Engand Arts Counci Engand s Creative Peope and Paces action research programme began in It seeks to bring the arts to areas where peope have had fewer opportunities to engage. The programme invoves funding and deveoping radicay different approaches to improve participation at a oca eve, and incudes a significant focus on partnership working, bringing together artists and oca peope. Its 2016 earning report, Faster but Sower, Sower but Faster, highights the importance of co-creation in achieving rea difference: change is possibe by working with peope not on them, invoving non-arts partners. 71 The report incudes a number of recommendations for coaborative working on a oca scae, incuding Do not enter uninvited, Tak norma and Ask. USA Creative pace-making done we brings vibrancy and ife to unexpected paces. In the USA, ArtPace, a 10- year coaboration between a number of foundations, federa agencies, and financia institutions, works to strengthen communities through art. 72 It is funding initiatives such as the Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI). North Shore, CA (popuation 3,500) is a rura community with a significant immigrant popuation in Riverside County s Eastern Coachea Vaey. North Shore residents and activists have worked with KDI to create the community s first pubic space. It was designed to unite North Shore s four residentia neighbourhoods, which are currenty physicay isoated from one another. An ArtPace grant wi enabe the community and KDI to map cutura assets so as to support a series of site-specific art interventions. These wi be designed to make connections among the residents, their existing cutura assets and the new pubic amenity, both during its construction and after it has opened. Potentia sitespecific interventions incude an abuea (grandmother) storyteing series to encourage intergenerationa uses of a new famiy paviion or a fútbo jersey design party to encourage use of the new sports faciities. Finand Mapping geographic areas for art and cuture can be a sautary experience. Within one city, some paces can be rich with offerings and others a cutura desert privieging certain neighbourhoods over others. Hesinki is in the midde of a three-year piot project to enhance cutura participation in its suburbs, after finding most arts organisations and institutes are in the city s centre. 73 Tweve participatory projects wi be deivered in four different districts with ow cutura infrastructure and participation rates. The four districts seected aso have other, separate needs; for exampe, one has a much higher number of foreign-born Finns, others are perceived as paces where vioence and disorder occur. These participatory programmes, run by oca arts organisations and in partnership with groups ike youth cubs, hope to change perceptions of these communities and engage those who fee excuded from civic ife. Much more than just boosting cutura participation in these neighbourhoods, the aspirationa ong-term goa of Hesinki s piot programme is to increase the socia cohesion and the socia capita of a its citizens. Do these ambitions fee right in the context of arts organisations seeking to re-imagine their civic roe in innovative and impactfu ways? Are there funders interested and abe to work with us to take initiatives deveoped with our initia funding forward? Do you have exampes of particuary strong practice and coud you work with us to disseminate this? Visit bit.y/civicroearts to share your view 62 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

65 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS Approaches that arts organisations might depoy A contribution from Matt Peacock MBE, director, With One Voice. With One Voice is a goba arts and homeessness movement being incubated by Streetwise Opera. * * * Wherever you trave in the word, there are cutura spaces in the centre of cities, in very simiar areas where homeess peope congregate. Because many cutura spaces (venues, ibraries, museums and gaeries) have open access, they act as an important interface for homeess peope who come into foyers to get warm, use toiet faciities and free internet access. With One Voice, the internationa arts and homeessness movement, is commissioning a goba review of Cutura Spaces and Homeessness Strategies, to be pubished in We have found a range of outstanding practice and strategies around the word. These incude: London s Southbank Centre, which has staff guideines about homeessness and a training programme for Front of House staff; mima in Middesbrough, Theatre Roya Nottingham and Sage Gateshead host arts groups for homeess peope; Engish Nationa Opera host work experience pacements and creative programmes. Foowing the aunch of Manchester s Homeessness Charter, a Manchester City Counci-funded arts organisations have pedged to work with homeess peope in their strategies, with specific good practice from Roya Exchange, Whitworth, Centre Library, Home, Bridgewater Ha and Manchester Museum. Further afied, a coection of organisations in Rio is eading the way on homeessness, these incude Museum of Tomorrow, MAR, Theatro Municipae and Bibioteca Parque. Athough temporariy cosed, Bibioteca Parque recenty had 200 homeess peope accessing the buiding each day. They were abe to receive identity cards, join reading groups and engage with a range of cutura activities. In the USA, a number of ibraries incuding in San Francisco and Los Angees wecome homeess peope to use the faciities and some have designated support workers. Porto s Casa da Musica has ong had a commitment to homeess peope through the band they host, Som da Rua. In Paris, the Mayora socia incusion strategy, Pact Parisienne, is inking homeess centres with cutura spaces in every arrondissement; Tokyo Metropoitan Art Museum has pedged to add homeessness into their community strategy; and Exeko in Montrea is engaging cutura spaces to increase access and opportunities for homeess peope around the city. Exeko In Montrea, a consortium of 11 cutura institutions is working to rethink their approach to incusion. Exeko s Laboratoire Cuture Incusive ( ) wi review existing poicies, experience and compaints, identify best practices and ead to the adoption of a new Charter covering Access to Cuture. Peope at risk of excusion are co-researchers, recognising their knowedge of excusion. The approach, which wi use Augusto Boa s Invisibe Theatre as a research method, hods the prospect of genuiney new insights into chaenges with which cutura institutions have strugged for decades. INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 63

66 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS Recent initiatives in museums Our Museum: Communities and Museums as Active Partners was a Pau Hamyn Foundation programme to support deveopment and organisationa change within museums and gaeries committed to active partnership with their communities. It has an ambition to impact on the museum sector more widey. The Our Museum programme sought to hep museums: be rooted in oca needs; give the community agency, as reates to the museum and its work; pay an effective roe in deveoping community skis, capabiities and creativity; and refect, ensure diaogue and openness to chaenge. The programme was run intensivey over four years, initiay with seven organisations and then with nine. It provided organisationa deveopment incuding peer reviews. The initiative aso pubished severa reports documenting some of the thinking, earning and outcomes (see ourmuseum.org.uk/what-isparticipation). The Happy Museum project aims to create a eadership framework for museums to support community webeing and sustainabiity. It seeks to re-imagine the museum s roe as steward of peope, pace and panet. It has worked with 22 museums through four rounds of funding. These museums are at the core of a growing Happy Museum Community of Practice, which creates, tests and shares practice, fosters peer earning and makes space for innovative thinking. This work is supported by research and advocacy. Capacity buiding We are considering producing guidance and toos for the boards of arts organisations to hep them review what a civic roe might mean for them. These might incude enabing questions for board meetings, signposting to foresight toos, and specific case studies iustrating how some boards have aready adjusted their mission and vaues to make their civic roe more expicit. The need for better support for arts eaders as civic eaders is a strong theme of the research. One finding is that arts eaders committed to this roe might be better networked in the UK. The research aso demonstrates that internationa exchanges can provide both inspiration and impetus. We are interested in exporing options for networking, internationa exchange and for the design of an appropriate eadership programme with existing or aspiring providers of eadership deveopment support to arts organisations. We are aso interested in exporing, again with other funders, what might be done to train, support and network the artists, producers and curators coproducing artworks and other projects with communities. Our intention is that this work shoud buid on previous and current initiatives in the fied, incuding work with museums (see the box on Recent initiatives in museums, above) and the Art Works programme (a Pau Hamyn Foundation workforce deveopment programme for artists deivering participatory projects). TELL US Do you beieve these initiatives woud be usefu to those working in the sector? Do you have comments on what sort of training or deveopment, guidance, toos or support woud be ikey to be most usefu? Visit bit.y/civicroearts to have your say 64 INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT

67 PART 1 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS Funding The research suggests that issues with current funding practice need to be addressed. We are proposing a specific strand of work examining the funding ecoogy, 74 arts and the civic. This examination might seek to: understand funding eco-systems better, ocay and nationay; understand arts funding or business modes better, and how a concern with the civic impacts on organisationa resiience; expore the feasibiity of greater funder coaboration incuding between the major funders, such as the Arts Counci and Big Lottery Fund; Pubic poicy We are interested in heping to create a pubic poicy environment conducive to arts organisations fufiing their civic roe. We aready have pans for work to identify potentia evers for making a difference. What partnerships might we seek to buid nationay or ocay to improve the poicy environment? Visit bit.y/civicroearts examine the need for funding for ight touch infrastructure and capacity buiding for arts organisations engaged with the civic; examine the appetite amongst funders for a coaboration to support arts organisations to deveop their civic roe at a arger scae and over a onger time period; expore the desirabiity and feasibiity of embedding the civic in funding criteria; examine the desirabiity and feasibiity of providing incentives for arts organisations to provide a connector roe ocay; examine the desirabiity and feasibiity of providing incentives for arge and sma arts organisations to work together sharing respective expertise; consider appropriate appication processes and evauation methods or approaches to accountabiity. Through art we reframe experience, offset prejudice, and refresh our experience of what exists so that it seems worthy of attention. Doris Sommer, The Work of Art in the Word: Civic Agency and Pubic Humanities 75 Do you think that these are the right funding issues to focus on? What appetite exists for coaborations between funders? Visit bit.y/civicroearts INQUIRY INTO THE CIVIC ROLE OF ARTS ORGANISATIONS PHASE 1 REPORT 65

68 Photo courtesy Effervescent