Arts charity bids to rejoin National Portfolio

An arts charity that had its public funding pulled at the last minute over concerns it was a 'high risk organisation' has replaced its entire Board of Directors.

London-based Live Art Development Agency (LADA), which provides professional advice for artists, as well as producing events and publications related to live art, had been offered a conditional three-year funding deal as part of the National Portfolio in November. But in May it emerged that an agreement had not been reached and LADA would not be funded.

Following the appointment of four new board members it says it is working closely with Arts Council England (ACE) with a view to rejoining the portfolio in the near future.

READ MORE:

A statement posted on LADA's website said that "with the help and support of LADA patrons, the former Board of Directors has now been replaced".

"The Live Art Development Agency has been through a period of significant change and upheaval over the past year or more, but we are now pleased to let you know that a new exciting phase is beginning.

"We will be working closely with Arts Council England with the aim of LADA re-entering the NPO within the next six months. This outcome will provide the stability to recruit permanent leadership in the new year."

Rebuilding goodwill

The charity said previous co-directors Barak adé Soleil and Chinasa Vivian Ezugha left LADA earlier this year and have been replaced with a four-person team.

Robin Deacon, an artist, writer, educator and curator, is the new Chair and Gill Lloyd, who spent 33 years as co-Director of Artsadmin, has been made Treasurer.

They are joined by artist and artistic researcher Angela Bartram and Head of Performance and Dance at Southbank Centre Aaron Wright.

Meanwhile, artist Ria Righteous has been appointed as Interim Director and Tania Camara has taken on the role of Interim Artist Development Manager, both for a fixed one-year period.

The charity said more appointments will be made in the near future to further strengthen the organisation. LADA staff are to return to work and its premises will reopen "in due course".

"Our aim is to rebuild goodwill and trust, not only between LADA and Arts Council England, but with the wider live art community," the statement adds.

"Going forward, all public communications attributed to the LADA Board of Directors will have the objective of providing clarity and transparency. We look forward to keeping you informed of all developments as we seek to secure LADA’s future."

'Dysfunction in governance'

The announcement of the new appointments comes three months after LADA struck a six-month funding deal with ACE after losing its funding.

The deal followed concerns raised by staff at LADA that the organisation's trustees were planning to close it down in the wake of being removed from the portfolio.

An open letter from LADA staff to the board – dated 5 May – criticised "dysfunction in governance" over the past year and called for the recruitment of both new leadership and board members to help it resecure NPO status.

In response, the board accused staff of conducting a "campaign of misinformation and public shaming".