Arts Council England have announced the first beneficiaries of its Sustain fund, the £40m of lottery money set aside in June as an emergency resource to help regularly funded arts organisations hit by the recession.
Ten have been named from 87 applicants, and more are expected later this month and in September. Two have been turned down.
Music and especially opera have been the main targets for ACE’s first hits, with the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, British Youth Opera, the Royal Philharmonic and Sinfonia Viva all among the first ten recipients. Over £3m of the £4m handed out goes to classical music and opera, and each award is a one-off for the period 2009-2011.
A range of reasons have been given or the grants, including to make up for loss of grants from trusts and foundations is a recurring theme, to answer the cash flow problems stemming from a slump in fundraising and falling box office, or simply to continue important projects or education and outreach work.
“The aim of Sustain is to keep excellence, innovation and ambition alive for artists and arts organisations, drawing on lessons from previous recessions” said ACE’s chief executive Alan Davey. “The number of applications to the fund illustrates how this recession is challenging the capacity of our arts organisations to continue to deliver the bold, ground breaking and excellent art that audiences demand.
“The creative economy is the fastest growing part of our national economy, so it is no fond thought that arts organisations should see themselves as a key part of this country’s recovery from recession. However, the mixed economy in which they live means they need a balance of proper support in order to fulfil that potential.
“As a finite fund Sustain cannot provide the whole solution – that comes only with continued levels of public and private investment in the arts – but it does offer a stitch in time to help excellence flourish” he said.
BUFFERED AGAINST THE CRUNCH
British Youth Opera, London. £75,000 to ”maintain the quality of artistic output and resolve cash flow problems caused by a recessionary decrease in income from trusts and foundations. Our funding will help to support artistic productions during 2010 and 2011 and to enhance the organisation’s fundraising”.
Dance Consortium, Birmingham. £104,000 to “maintain the quality of artistic output and resolve cash flow problems caused by a decrease in income due to the recession. The award will allow the organisation to cover the additional costs and ensure that the Alvin Ailey tour can go ahead”.
English National Opera. £750,000 to “ support production costs which will enable the Company to continue to present high-profile innovative seasons of the highest quality in 2010 and 2011, that appeal to the widest possible audience at affordable prices and bring work to the UK that would otherwise not be seen. Our award recognises the impact of the economic downturn on corporate fundraising”.
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. £116,000 to ”allow the company to maintain their investment in the artistic programme. Ikon has suffered a significant drop in earned income as a result of the recession which put the programme at risk. The funds will also allow the organisation to refurbish the café to generate further funds”.
Nottingham Playhouse. £362,000 to “maintain the quality of artistic output and resolve cash flow problems caused by a decrease in income from trusts and foundations”.
Royal Opera House. £700,000 to “enable them to enter the next phase of their internationally important opera development programme, the first phase of which was enabled by a time-limited grant from a philanthropic trust… (to) fund the programme for two years while the Royal Opera House secures new funding. To date, the programme has completed some 34 projects over four years with 13 reaching full production with a range of UK and foreign opera companies”.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. £649,000 to “to maintain the quality of artistic output and to stabilise cash flow problems caused by a recessionary decrease in fundraising and box office incomes… to support promotional activities, rehearsal and preparation time for conductors, preservation of the education and community programmes and to maintain the orchestra’s commitment at its many regional residencies”.
Sinfonia ViVA, Derby. £102,000 to “allow the organisation to maintain the quality of their artistic output and continue their nationally acclaimed education and outreach work… (to) help ViVA continue to invest in the communities and artists it serves”.
South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell. £114,000 to “carry out a programme of activities that aims to attract younger audiences; develop its online presence and mitigate against a loss in sponsorship funding”.
Welsh National Opera, Cardiff. £900,000, plus £300,000 from Arts Council Wales, because the company “has demonstrated that they have been adversely affected by the recession. Having met the criteria of the funding programme” and the award is to act as “bridge funding to mitigate loss from development funds, box office income and bank interest”.
Two organisations, Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham and New Writing North in Newcastle, failed in their bids.
