I hadn’t realised this was online and picked up on it while skimming the latest from this / inexplicably / styled website from the Arts Council. I’ll let plan b (not that one) explain:

We are making a living portrait of 24 hours in Birmingham with the people who move through its streets, parks, waste grounds and tow paths on foot for the Fierce Festival and the Midlands Art Centre (MAC) See planbperformance.net/?dayinlife.htm for details

A Day in the Life – The Walkers of Birmingham is much more than just a living map, it is a portrait of a city as experienced at ground level. The animation emphasises walking by filtering faster journeys and making these lines more feint

In case a bit of background’s useful, over the past few years, the Arts Council funds organisations in two ways – by giving cash on a project-by-project basis (that’s called Grants for the Arts) and through what’s called ‘regular funding’. In the latter you’d be given an amount of money over a period of time.

The regular funding part is changing – as from this time next year, there will be a number of organisations that will be known as National Portfolio Organisations. Today we’re finding out which those will be.

Headline figures:

Nationally, 695 organisations have National Portfolio status (down from around 880 that had regular funding previously). 206 organisations that were regularly funded didn’t make it into the portfolio. 110 organisations that weren’t regularly funded have got in.

In the West Midlands (and according to my rather iffy maths) we’ve gone from 66 regularly funded organisations to 50 National Portfolio Organisations.

National Portfolio Organisations in the West Midlands

As my first boss always told me – always work from first sources. The official Arts Council info is here. Of course, there’s only so much you can tell from a spreadsheet so the following won’t reveal much detail and may be slightly misleading in places (doesn’t take account of mergers or name changes). Still, this what I’ve made of it, and if I’ve made any mistakes, then please let me know (links are to statements put out by the orgs):

Funding increased from current position:

• Ace Dance And Music
• Arena
• Birmingham City University
• Black Country Touring
• Dancefest
• DanceXchange
• Fierce! Festival Limited
• Geese Theatre Company
• Live & Local Ltd
• Punch
• Stan’s Cafe
• Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service

It seems that some of these increases reflect mergers with other organisations, while others (Stan’s Cafe for one) have requested funding for money that would previously have come via applications to Grants For The Arts Awards.

Funding decreased:

• Arts Alive
• Belgrade Theatre
• Big Brum
• Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
• Birmingham Opera Company
• Birmingham Repertory Theatre Limited
• Birmingham Royal Ballet
• C&T
• City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Craftspace
• Dance Touring Consortium Limited
• Dash
• Ex Cathedra
• Ikon Gallery Limited
• Ixia
• Ledbury Poetry Festival
• Midlands Arts Centre (MAC)
• Motionhouse Dance Theatre
• Multistory
• New Art Gallery Walsall
• New Vic Theatre
• Pentabus Theatre
• Rhubarb Rhubarb
• Royal Shakespeare Company
• SAMPAD
• Talking Birds Theatre Company Ltd
• The Courtyard Centre for the Arts
• The Drum
• Tindal Street Press
• Warwick Arts Centre
• Welsh National Opera

As a side note, most of the reductions in funding here are relatively small. In a few cases they’re  a little more significant – check the spreadsheet for full info.

New to the portfolio:

• 2 FaCeD DaNcE Company Ltd
• Imagineer Productions
• Meadow Arts
• Nofit State Community Circus
• Performances Birmingham
• Sonia Sabri Dance Company
• Writing West Midlands

Current RFOs that won’t be in the National Portfolio

Please be aware that a lack of inclusion in the National Portfolio doesn’t mean these are just going to shut up shop. There’s also a couple of orgs here (flagged up where they’ve alerted me) who’s funding will come from one of those who are in the portfolio. Of course, some of these might well have not made an application, preferring to stick to project funding.

• Audiences Central
• B Arts
• Bilston Craft Gallery (although they’re part of Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service)
• Black Voices
• Blue Eyed Soul Dance Company
• Chitraleka Dance Company
• Contemporary Glass Society
• Designer Maker West Midlands
• Foursight Theatre
• Hereford Photography Festival
• Ludlow Assembly Rooms
• Made
• Malvern Theatres Trust
• Open Theatre Company
• Rideout (Creative Arts For Rehabilitation)
• Shindig (which is now covered by Live & Local, so they’re fine)
• Sound It Out
• Theatre Absolute
• Vivid
• Writers in Prison Network

Links elsewhere:

• Arts Council England’s official info page
• Statement from DCMS/Jeremy Hunt
• A Google Doc showing all National Portfolio Organisations
• Before the official announcement was made there was plenty coming through on Twitter
• Clare Edwards is looking to gather feedback about Sound It Out “from those who have been involved or been touched by the work of SIO. Even if it doesn’t help their cause it might be useful to gather a bit of feedback for the company in these circumstances”.
• Birmingham Jazz – Joint Birmingham Bid Secures Arts Council Funding
• The British Journal of Photography reports that Rhubarb Rhubarb’s funding won’t quite cover their existing activities. Fundraising and new ways of working required
• D’log’s round-up
• Catherine Edwards has blogged about the status of various writing and theatre organisations
• Katy Raines at Indigo has blogged about the position regarding audience development organisations
• The Guardian have been doing a good rolling news update thing, covering the whole of the country. They’ve been doing some visualisations too.
• The Birmingham Post’s article is here

I’ll keep on updating this post as and when I can. If I’ve made any errors (which isn’t unlikely) then please let me know and I’ll correct them.

The main thrust of conversation was around how the screen can be used to engage people passing by as well as using it as a focal point for streaming live events or supporting live performances.

The first point to note is that the screen won’t simply be used as a big telly. As well as being able to screen video content, the screens are able to be used interactively using custom software and mounted cameras. This interactive content has included games such as cricket and quirkier ideas such as mapping animated masks onto the faces of passers by. Here’s an example:

Hand from Above from Chris O’Shea on Vimeo.

As well as for use locally, content for the screens can be relayed around the other Live Sites in other areas of the country and can even be used for competitive interactive games and events between cities. Several ideas came out of the discussion included:

• highlighting local cultural events with interactive performances
• creating interactive games to be played nationally and internationally
• and making innovative film content to showcase

Of particular note is the focus on dance in this region through the Arts Council’s Cultural Olympiad programme, predominantly the People Dancing strand of activities. This was an area in which creative projects using the screens would be welcomed, and although no direct funding is available from the Live Sites programme, ideas that used them and linked with Cultural Olympiad aims would be of interest.

Other points made included the upcoming dates of note, such as the Olympic torch relays in the region and the possibilities of events occuring during the Cultural Olympiad’s Open Weekend on 22-24 July this year, and how local organisations can get involved and contribute to the events.

So, in general, the big screen will be used for more than just BBC News 24. Let’s hope that our Live Site produces some especially creative content and showcases some of the region’s cultural highlights.

What would you like to see it used it for?

On Wednesday afternoon I went to the Crescent Theatre (not been there in a while) for a briefing from the Arts Council on the new funding arrangements for arts organisations.

Someone from Stan’s Cafe went in the morning and has written up a few thoughts. It’s worth a read as it articulates a few frustrations beautifully. To nick a bit of that write-up:

Now there will no longer be RFOs, every current RFO is being invited to apply for National Portfolio Funding. One advance is that this application process is open to any organisation that qualifies, rather than having to be invited to apply as before. There will certainly be opportunities for some companies to move up from project funding

And that last bit was the reason why a fair few people were in the room.

The session went down reasonably well, given the circumstances. Ros Robins (ACE Regional Director) was sympathetic but direct and didn’t make much attempt to hide the fact that the Arts Council have suffered a blow and are trying to find their feet again.

Here are the slides from her talk:

My notes

I scribbled a few notes and they’re reproduced below, for what they’re worth. Apologies in advance for any omissions or inaccuracies. I’ll try to clarify anything I can.

RFO’s end March 2012
National Portfolio Funding starts April 2012
G4A not changing much now.
Strategic (or managed) funds are changing

Gritted teeth from Ros while outlining the cuts.

Not all bad – some Lottery money coming back in 2013. More info on that nearer the time.

ACE WM reduced their staff from 46 to 27 in the recent restructure. Been asked to halve admin costs again, but will be required to do so in a couple of years time. To achieve this they recognise that they’ll have to wok in collaboration more. There will be a move from doing strategic projects to commissioning others to deliver them.

NPF orgs can’t apply for G4A.

ACE has five 10-year goals:

1. Talent and artistic excellence are thriving and celebrated
2. More people experience and are inspired by the arts
3. The arts are sustainable, resilient and innovative
4. The arts leadership and workforce are diverse and highly skilled
5. Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts

Four major changes to the funding programme:

• open application process (online)
• fixed term of normally 3 years but flexibility for variable length funding agreements for 2-6 years
• funding agreements with orgs based on clear criteria and shared goals
• funding agreements based around ‘strategic’ and ‘programme’ relationships rather than one size fits all

Eligibility

• UK based with activity mainly taking place in England
• Min £40k funding (would be £20k but due to the level of reporting and evaluations that will be required that wouldn’t be enough)
• Engage people in arts activities/help arts orgs to do their work
• Oustanding track record or outstanding potential
• No profit to be distributed to members/shareholders
• Majority will be delivering a programme of artistic work
• Orgs delivering strategic work will have to demonstrate leadership, will have high expectations placed on them and will not necessarily be large flagship organisations
• Applicants must be incorporated
• Must contribute to at least two of ACE’s goals

Criteria for decision making

Stage 1 – assessing the application:

• Contribution to goals and priorities
• Governance, leadership and engagement
• Financial sustainability of the org

Stage 2 – balancing the portfolio:

• All goals priorities
• Diversity
• Range of artforms
• Dfferent sizes/types of orgs
• Geographical spread

Consortium bids are possible. Might be too soon to coordinate them this first time round, but looking over hte 10 years, so there is time to develop a consortium over the next couple of years and put an application in later on.

Applications

All applications must provide:

• Mission
• Proposed programme of work and how funding would be used
• Management accounts 2010/11
• Planned budget 2011/12
• Outline budget for years after
• Non-RFO’s must provide:
• Most recent financial statements
• Evidence for meeting the criteria (governance, quality, engaging audiences, risks)

Orgs decide how much to apply for.

Timeline

• Nov – open for applics
• Nov – briefing meetings and ongoing conversations
• Jan – deadline for applications 10am on 24 January 2011
• Jan – Relationship Managers start to assess applications
• Feb – moderation
• March – decisions
• April – publish Arts Council Plan 2011/12 to 2014/15

It will be a very competitive process. Have a fallback position in case you don’t get funding. G4A applications may be less competitive in 2012. Think about whether you want the extra responsibility and scrutiny.

Now, the good thing about writing this twelve hours after today’s announcement is that everyone else has summarised, pontificated and moved on. I can just link to what they’ve written. Blogging is ace. Anyway, onward…

Here’s the Arts Council’s announcement. Fair play to them for getting this out in reasonably good time following the spending review.

Audiences Central have summarised things and the Birmingham Post has calculated the cuts the region’s orgs are going to face from April 2011.

To skip through the announcement:

• Most regularly funded organisations will have their funding cut by 6.9% in 2011/2012
• By 2014/15 cuts will have risen to 14.9% in real terms (ie. ignoring inflation)
• Arts and Business and Creativity, Culture and Education will have their public funding halved next year and taken away completely the year after that. That’s very bad news for them
• The Arts Council will have to halve its admin costs
• There’ll be a new system for funding from 2012 onwards (arrangements to be announced 4 November 2010). Everyone will have to reapply – some existing orgs won’t be successful, some new ones will
• The budget for budget for ‘strategic opportunities for artistic work’ such as touring, large events and the Cultural Leadership Programme is being knocked down by 64%

Next year will be a ‘transition year’, hence the lower-than-expected cuts, the stay of execution for A&B and CCE and the Guardian describing arts groups as ‘relieved’. So expect things to get worse. Oh, and don’t forget the local authority funding that’s disappearing.

In A&B’s ‘defence’ Colin Tweedy has released an utterly unimpressive statement quoting an easily-swatted away question in Parliament and referring to the generalised views of unnamed ‘private sector partners’. Go get em, tiger.

Still, it’s not all bad news in the arts. Working at the top at the Royal Opera House can net you £630,000 a year.

Here’s the bunny vid:

Here’s a spreadsheet of the organisations in the West Mids and how they’ll be affected.

Figures came via the Guardian Datablog and thanks to Anna Blackaby for linking to that.

Here’s an outline from Fierce:

If you are an artist and want to have some time and space to figure out how to develop your work, make useful and helpful connections that will forward your career and have fun in the process, then PLATINUM was made for you.

If you’re interested in taking part in the Platinum scheme, I’d suggest you contact Indy Hunjan on indy@wearefierce.org. The deadline for submissions is 12pm Friday 5th March 2010.

For more information and an application for, please visit their site here.

Arts Council England has opened a consultation on the priorities for the arts over the coming decade.

They want your views to help form a 10-year strategic framework with long-term goals for each artform and find new ways to help those they fund already. Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England, has this to say:

If we are to succeed in supporting art and artists, creativity and excellence, we must identify the key long-term goals that drive our decision-making, our investment priorities and our relationships with artists and audiences.

This consultation sets out our understanding of the current landscape, celebrates the success of the arts and identifies areas for development over the next ten years.

The consultation closes on 14 April 2010, so if you want your voice to be heard and your input used, you can complete the Arts Council’s questionnaire here. For more information on the process and background to the consultation, take a look at the Arts Council website here.