Springing back into action: new insights

Graphic showing a person speaking into a mic, a meter, tickets, emojis, mobile phone
26 Apr 2023

Most people in the sector don’t need to be analysts but they do need the insight to make changes that speak to audiences. Here, Anne Torregiani shares how this thinking has shaped The Audience Agency’s next-generation suite of audience insight tools. 

Weathering the cost-of-living storm across the UK

Storm clouds and lightning
08 Dec 2022

Research rings warning bells about the potential effects of the cost-of-living clouds rolling in across all four nations. Anne Torreggiani asks how we can brace for impact and support communities? 

‘Make it SO’

17 May 2022

In the last in our series profiling the shortlisted candidates for City of Culture 2025, Claire Whitaker says Southampton has been connecting the UK with people across the globe for thousands of years.

‘We rise together’

Children celebrate Wrexham's City of Culture 2025 bid
04 May 2022

In the third of our series profiling the shortlisted candidates for City of Culture 2025, Ian Bancroft reveals Wrexham as “one of the last punk places in the UK”.

‘Our Time, Our Place’

Young people from Bradford send off for the district's official UK City of Culture 2025 bid
19 Apr 2022

In the second in our series profiling the shortlisted candidates for City of Culture 2025, Shanaz Gulzar shares how Bradford's young people shaped a bid that awakened a sleeping giant of a city.

‘The past we inherit, the future we build’

Durham miners' gala
06 Apr 2022

In the first in a series profiling the shortlisted candidates for UK City of Culture 2025, Alison Clark introduces the county whose bid is inspired by the Durham Miners Association.

What does your pricing say about you?

09 Mar 2022

Pricing is an overlooked form of communication. As soon as a price is placed on something, it sends out a message about the product, says David Reece

The real Big Bang

Poet Scarlett Ward leads a poetry workshop in conjunction with About Us and UNBOXED
22 Feb 2022

About Us* is a dazzling free show combining projection mapping, animation, music and poetry. At its heart, says Maggie Aderin-Pocock, is a simple message: we are all connected. 

Welcome to UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK

people looking at an art installation
21 Oct 2021

What happens when creative minds from different sectors and disciplines come together to imagine and design bold, large-scale events to reach millions of people worldwide? Martin Green reveals what’s in store for 2022.

Applications for Creative People and Places 2026-29 opens

12 Sep 2024

Arts Council England has opened the application process for the next three-year round of its Creative People and Places funding programme, which focuses on parts of the country where involvement in creativity and culture is significantly below the national average.

Groups of organisations in 142 previously announced locations are eligible to apply for between £750,000 and £1m for the funding period.

The application process opened today (12 September) on Grantium with a deadline of midday on 16 January 2025.

ACE previously extended its 2022-25 Creative People and Places (CPP) for one year in response to "challenges facing organisations following the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living".

Disability-led charity chosen to develop accessibility standards

Four people dancing In a studio
09 Sep 2024

Attitude is Everything has previously established a Live Events Access Charter to support venues and events to improve accessibility.

Welsh government commits additional funding to arts

The National Museum of Wales
05 Sep 2024

The Welsh government has announced a £5m package of additional funding for arm's length arts and sports organisations in Wales.

New organisation seeks to boost arts investment

04 Sep 2024

Newly-established organisation brings together Arts & Culture Finance and New Philanthropy for Arts & Culture with the aim of attracting more investment in the cultural and creative sector. 

Scottish government announces review of Creative Scotland

Creative Scotland offices in Edinburgh
04 Sep 2024

Arts funding body to be reviewed for the first time since it was founded to 'ensure it meets the needs of the sector'.

Manchester pledges investment in cultural organisations

03 Sep 2024

Greater Manchester Combined Authority sets out plans to support and invest in culture across its 10 districts.

School curriculum review 'facing dilemmas and trade-offs'

Professor Becky Fisher
02 Sep 2024

The government has pledged to make art central to a child's education, but the person in charge of a review of the school curriculum says reform will not be easy.

Creatives sought for mentoring scheme expansion

15 Aug 2024

Mentoring charity Arts Emergency is seeking volunteers from the creative and cultural sectors to join them as it expands its reach to help more young people.

Arts Emergency said its mentoring programme is designed to tackle inequalities within the creative industries at a grassroots level by pairing passionate young people with mentors who are established professionals in various creative fields.

The organisation says ideal candidates include artists, writers, designers, musicians, actors, curators, and other professionals in the arts and humanities from the London, Greater Manchester and Merseyside areas who can spare one hour a month to share their experience with young talent.

Neil Griffiths, CEO and Co-founder of Arts Emergency said: "No matter what you've achieved, someone at some time gave you a leg up, and Arts Emergency is thousands of people from across the cultural and creative industries doing just that for the next generation by donating money, time and contacts to help them get in and get on."

Struggling arts charity gets mystery donation

12 Aug 2024

An anonymous donor has given an arts charity £10,000 towards a fundraising campaign.

The Hive in Shrewsbury, a creative venue which runs projects across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, needs to raise £50,000 to cover rising costs and energy bills.

The BBC reports that Chief Executive Katie Jennings said funding had dried up, and the charity was seeing increasing demand for its services.

Jennings said the donation was "heartwarming" and had lifted spirits.

Cultural organisations 'facing real challenges' over riots

Police officers forming a line
09 Aug 2024

Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley says many cultural organisations have been affected by 'unacceptable rioting and violence in communities around the country'.

Big tech firms told to end 'unlawful' use of creators' content

09 Aug 2024

A coalition of trade associations and unions representing creatives has written to big tech firms telling them to end the "unlawful" use of creators' content.

The Creators’ Rights Alliance, whose membership includes performer's union Equity and the Musicians' Union said writers, performers and artists are among those whose works have been used unlawfully to inform the training of AI models by technology companies, without consent or remuneration.

The letter, sent to tech companies including Microsoft, Google, OPENAI, Apple, and Meta, warns that members of the Creators’ Rights Alliance and the 500,000 creators they represent do not authorise the use of any of their works protected by copyright for such purposes.

Nicola Solomon, Chair of Creators’ Rights Alliance, said creators are innovators and are keen to use AI tools but need trusted systems that do not have the potential to infringe their rights.

"Creators need to be consulted, give consent and be remunerated when their work is used to develop AI models," she said.

"If we work together, we can create high-quality, robust systems that enhance the work of human creators and reward their creativity."

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