Great art for everyone? ACE’s challenge for the decade ahead

Following a three-month period in which it gathered more than 2,500 responses, Arts Council England (ACE) has published findings from its strategy consultation, ‘Achieving Great Art for Everyone’. The respondents question and debate the tangible effects of the body’s stated five aims for the next decade: that talent and artistic excellent are thriving and celebrated; that the arts leadership and workforce are diverse and highly skilled; that more people value and enjoy the arts; that every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts; and that the arts sector is sustainable, resilient and innovative.

Given the subjective nature of many of its ambitions, some respondents felt that ACE needs to more clearly define its understanding of ‘excellence’, ‘talent’ and to some extent, ‘art’. On the flipside, emphasising perhaps the difficulty of the task, some comments expressed concern about the way in which funding might be distributed, cut or restricted for organisations not falling under ACE’s guidelines for ‘excellence’. Unsurprisingly perhaps, many have also called for ACE to be less bureaucratic.
More straightforwardly, a number of respondents remain unsure as to how realistic ACE’s objectives are given an unsteady financial outlook. Others believe that the vision lacks detail and does not offer a clear direction – particularly for the long term. Some feel that the vision is too general and does not represent an obvious change from the current picture, questioning whether ACE can purposefully combine its ambition to foster ‘great art’ with ‘art for everyone’. A minority of respondents were strongly critical, arguing that “the assumptions made in the vision are deceptive and that it should take into account the fact that much depends on circumstances that the Arts Council cannot control”.
Many more, however, felt strongly that the vision should include art in rural and socio-economically deprived areas, while others agreed with ACE’s proposals to concentrate on “partnership working”. Respondents also urged ACE to recognise and support individual artists and smaller organisations, as well as grassroots, community and amateur art.
Alan Davey, Chief Executive of ACE, said, “The next step, is for [us] to consider and reflect on what we heard. We know we need to update our view of the challenging context in which we are operating, and we want to make our vision and goals bolder.”
The strategy itself, ‘Achieving Great Art for Everyone’, is expected to be published in the autumn and will outline the next decade of strategic priorities for the organisation. Once the grant-in-aid settlement from government is announced in October, ACE is also expecting to announce Year One (2011/12) funding decisions in November, with Year Two and Three investment decisions (2012/13 and 2014/15) to be finalised before 31 March 2011.