Arts Development
Arts Development Strategy 2008 - 2011
Bath and North East Somerset Council believes that the arts
contribute significantly to our ambition of making Bath and North
East Somerset a better place to live, work and visit. The
arts contribute to the quality of life in Bath and North East
Somerset, for both residents and visitors, and enhance the image
and profile of the area.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is a funder of arts
organisations and activities, rather than a direct provider.
It is the responsibility of the Arts Development team to ensure
that the Council’s support for the arts continues to deliver
tangible benefits in respect of corporate ambitions.
The focus of the team is working with those organisations which
are in receipt of Council investment through grants or contracts,
but it also works in partnership with the wider arts sector in the
area, identifies opportunities for development, and ‘brokers’
relationships between organisations.
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The strategy sets out the Council’s rationale for how and why it
will continue to support the development of the arts. It
responds to the wider aims and objectives of the Council’s
Community Strategy. It complements current and recent
projects within the Council, such as the Destination Management
Plan and the Cultural Facility Feasibility Study, and reflects the
thinking and ambitions of the B&NES Cultural Partnership.
Its purpose is to state clearly the basis upon which the Council
will support the arts, and the outcomes the Council intends to
achieve in return for its support.
Developing the effectiveness of the arts and cultural sector in
Bath and North East Somerset can only be achieved by everyone
involved making a commitment to working together towards common
goals. By working strategically and in partnership, the arts
and cultural sector is better able to advocate for the value of the
arts, maximise opportunities, and effectively respond to whatever
changes and challenges may lie ahead.
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Previously, the Council’s funding to the arts has been
reactive. The Council has supported a relatively static
portfolio of established organisations, several of which have been
in receipt of local authority support for a considerable number of
years. The Council’s support has enabled some of these
organisations to thrive and become successful creative
enterprises.
The strategy marks a shift in emphasis away from a subsidy model
and towards a model of investment in the arts. It will
establish clear principles and firm criteria for investment,
ensuring that resources achieve maximum return and
impact.
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The delivery of the strategy will be proactive. It is
intended to enable the Council to seek out and support new
opportunities and to make change happen.
The strategy is based upon the following policy principles:
- The Council views the expenditure of its arts development
budget as an investment in the arts sector which will bring
measurable and specific returns. No arts organisation is
‘entitled’ to Council funding
- Resources will be directed to where they can have
greatest effect, impact and benefit
- The strategy identifies ten strategic arts development
priorities. Arts organisations will not be funded by the
Council to simply ‘exist’ or to deliver work that is without direct
relevance to Council priorities
- Council investment is over a three-year period.
Previous receipt of Council funding will not automatically mean
continued support
- Council resources will be used to stimulate new activity,
to develop organisations, and to support new opportunities
- Arts organisations will be required to understand the
context of their services - how they contribute to wider social,
economic and cultural development – and to demonstrate good
governance and financial integrity.
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The B&NES Community Strategy is the overall strategic plan
for the local authority area and forms the framework in which the
Arts Development Strategy sits. It is led by the Local
Strategic Partnership (LSP) comprising private, public and
voluntary sector partners. The Chair of the B&NES
Cultural Partnership sits on the LSP and is therefore able to
champion the role of the arts and culture in regeneration and
economic development.
The five Shared Ambitions of the Community Strategy are:
BE: distinctive – promoting a ‘sense of place’ so people
identify with and take pride in our communities
BE: inclusive – celebrating the contributions people from different
backgrounds and with different experiences can make, and promoting
equality of opportunity
BE: creative – sharing resources, working together, and finding new
ways of doing things
BE: safe – building communities where people feel safe and
secure
BE: sustainable – taking responsibility for our environment and
natural resources now and over the long term
The Arts Development team will require applicants for funding to
respond imaginatively to achieving the ambitions of the Community
Strategy.
STRATEGIC ARTS DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES 2008-2011
The Council has identified ten strategic priorities for arts
development in Bath and North East Somerset for the three years
2008-2011.
These priorities emerge from the work that has been achieved
over the past three years, 2005-2008, and from the concerns,
issues, challenges and interests that the arts sector has
articulated during that time.
The arts development priorities are not in any order of
importance or precedence.
1. Cultural leadership and organisational development
2. Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) attendance &
participation
3. Festivals and events development
4. Cultural Tourism
5. Children & young people’s attendance &
participation
6. Cultural & creative industries
7. Animation of outdoor public spaces
8. Collaboration and joint projects
9. Health, mental health & wellbeing
10. Work in North East Somerset
A detailed action plan is annexed to the strategy which shows,
for each arts development priority:
Outcome – what does the Council want to achieve by 2011?
Driver/need – why is this a priority?
What will success look like? – anticipated changes by 2011
Objectives for 2008-2011 – with indication of who will be
responsible in italics
Investment of resources
Resources will be invested in those organisations which best
demonstrate their ability to deliver the Council’s arts development
priorities. Applicants for Council funding for arts
development will be required to:
1) Demonstrate how their proposed activity helps the Council
achieve whichever arts development priorities are applicable to
that activity.
2) Demonstrate how their proposed activity helps the Council
achieve the five ambitions of the Community Strategy.
The Arts Development Strategy 2008-11 also proposes the
following allocation of resources:
1. Investment in Bath Festivals
The current contract with Bath Festivals Ltd runs
2006-2009. It is therefore not in line with the
implementation period of the Arts Development Strategy,
2008-2011. This anomaly can be addressed when future
investment in Bath Festivals Ltd is re-negotiated for 2009
onwards.
In 2006-7 and 2007-8, Bath Festivals Ltd was paid a single contract
fee for the year for the range of services detailed below.
Bath Festivals Ltd’s Board decided on how to allocate the resources
between the various services that it provides for the
Council. This gave the Council little direct input into
deciding how its investment was allocated.
It is proposed that for 2008-9 (Year 3 of the Service Level
Agreement 2006-9), the Council will specify the investment it
wishes to allocate to the various services.
Services provided 2006-9:
1. Festivals development – service supplied to the whole arts
sector
2. Box Office service (including marketing & promotion
services) – service supplied to the whole arts sector
3. Bath International Music Festival – Bath Festivals’ own promoted
event
4. Bath Literature Festival – Bath Festivals’ own promoted
event
It is further proposed that re-negotiated resources investment
to Bath Festivals for 2009 onwards will similarly be specified by
the Council.
2. Investment in Keynsham and Norton
Radstock
An allocation of the Arts Development budget will be set aside
for arts development work in Keynsham and Norton Radstock.
Programmes of work will be agreed between B&NES Arts
Development and Keynsham and Norton Radstock Town Councils for
jointly-agreed arts development activity in these areas.
6. Download the Arts Development
Strategy 2008 - 2011 in full (pdf document 50 pages, 240kb)
To download the strategy document, please click on the link
below. before printing the document please note that it is 50 pages
long.
Arts Development Strategy 2008-11 (PDF -
240kb)
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