Merger creates nationwide alliance for the arts

A charity and campaign group have joined forces to create one organisation working to “champion, defend and expand access to arts and culture”.

The National Campaign for the Arts, which launched in 1985, and Public Campaign for the Arts (PCA), which launched in June 2020 to urge the government to deliver the Culture Recovery Fund, will now be known collectively as Campaign for the Arts.

With a combined supporter-base of more than a quarter of a million people, spanning each UK constituency, Campaign for the Arts says it will use digital tools and its UK-wide network to “inform the public, express support and engage more and new people”. 

It plans to continue with the Hearts for the Arts awards, which recognises exceptional arts initiatives in local government, and the Arts Index, which has analysed the health of the nation’s arts and culture since 2011. 

It will further develop the Arts Map, which was conceived during the pandemic for people to check the reopening status of cultural organisations near them.

Former PCA Director Jack Gamble has become the organisation’s first CEO. He says the merger has given him hope “at an extremely difficult time”.

“Creative subjects are being stripped from our state schools, inequality of opportunity is rife and the arts sector is having to contend with unprecedented challenges,” he added

“No one person can turn the tide – we need to do it together. That’s why we’re joining up to form the Campaign for the Arts, and why every supporter of our campaign really matters.”