The Wedgwood Museum in Stoke-on-Trent has won the £100,000 Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries for 2009. Owned and run by an independent charitable trust, the new £10 million museum is housed on the historic manufacturing site of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, and tells the story of one of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands. Visitors to the museum not only see ceramics but also a range of manuscripts, documentation, factory equipment, original models and fine art related to this world-renowned ceramics company.

The Arts Council and the BBC have signed a partnership agreement to exchange and give access to archive material, and to share campaigns to develop new audiences for the arts.

The BBC’s new arts commissioning editor, Mark Bell, said the details of the agreement – signed by BBC chief Mark Thompson and ACE’s Alan Davey last week – were still being worked out, but the new deal would take the relationship to new areas of co-operation between the two institutions.

It follows the “memorandum of understanding” exchanged four years ago and drafted by Kim Evans, then ACE’s deputy chief executive and a former BBC producer.

The National Campaign for the Arts has launched its second arts manifesto in three years with a confident statement of intent based on a widespread consultation with arts stakeholders, said NCA director Louise de Winter.

The manifesto makes a pragmatic list of essential areas where it wants specific progress from the government.

Education: “We believe the future of the UK lies in a skilled, culturally educated and creative workforce that is innovative and adaptive to change”. Government should recognise and support the contribution, and facilitate greater collaboration between the arts and educators.

Economy: “we believe that the future of the UK’s economy lies in its capacity to create and innovate”. Government should se the sector as a long-term strategic investment.

Communities: “We believe that a stronger civil society lies in the experiences shared by a community for everyone to get involved, and that participating in the arts, crafts or cultural activities is often a first step towards greater civic engagement”> Government should make local councils write arts and culture into their strategic plans.

International standing: “We believe that the United Kingdom’s reputation in the cultural and creative sectors is vital to its overall international standing and will be core to its future success”. Government should therefore sustain current investment, and increase it when the economy improves.

A powerful voice: “We believe that art has the power to change lives and therefore its contribution to our national life should be supported and championed”. Government departments should develop a plan for creative and cultural involvement across all government departments.

News focus
NCA conference hears robust rallying cry, but also recession warnings

Although the arts must prepare for recession and inevitable funding cuts in the next year, “now is our moment”, said Melvyn Bragg in his capacity as president of the National Campaign for the Arts.

Speaking at the NCA’s conference Future Britain: arts leading the way, Lord Bragg said culture constituted the biggest single sector in the economy in terms of employment, and its importance should be championed.

The arts, He said, are critical to the development of the UK’s economy, and that by 2013 predictions suggested they would contribute as much as £85 billion a year in added value. Now as the time for every arts organisation to be on the front foot, asking how the arts could be ore-proactive.

His keynote rallying cry, made at the conference organised to launch the NCA’s new arts manifesto, came after speakers had warned that that the “phoney recession” would give way to real hardship, but that preparation could help ameliorate the effects.

Ed Vaizey, the shadow arts minister, said that he would find it difficult to make a case for cuts to arts subsidy to the Treasury because for such a relatively small amount of the money, the damage to the infrastructure and the bas political backlash would be disproportionate.

But Dame Joan Bakewell, chairman of the NCA, said that ten years of sustained funding for the arts was now under threat. “Any incoming government is going to have to make cuts” she said. “It’s not about money on the table anymore, it’s about what the arts can do for our country”.

Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, said the credit crunch had actually been good for the arts so far, allowing organisations to “demonstrate how good the arts are for us”. But fund-raising was gradually diminishing, though individual giving was increasing. Warning that we may be in for ten years of reduced funding, he said arts organisations should be finding new ways of developing audiences, using new communications media such as Face book.

So the message was that there needs to be more partnership – arts minister Barbara Follett said that many small arts organisations were doing similar work and should work in tandem to cut costs and increase effect – and not to let national and local government off the hook with subsidy.

Munira Mirza, director of arts for the mayor of London, said it would even be helpful if arts organisations made their own suggestions of where costs could be saved.

But politicians must be kept engaged, warned Arts & Business head of arts Verity Haines, because if subsidy went, so would private support, “overnight”. “It is the private sector that will recover first from this recession,” she said. . Businesses will be looking to cultural solutions; individuals will be looking to support dynamic artists and cultural bodies. The private sector holds the cards for many in the cultural sector”.

But audiences need to be consolidated, said Alan Davey, ACE’S CEO. “We need to be very confident and bold about the arts’ place in civil society” he said. “There’s a thirst for knowledge an understanding which we need to harness.”

The MLA completed the final piece of its reorganisation jigsaw with the announcement that it will take over the operations of MLA London by the end of the year.
The move follows months of negotiations with the Mayor of London, who has a statutory right to nominate the chair of the MLA’s London region. Trustees of MLA London have agreed to support the changes and move to wind-up the last remaining regional MLA agency and complete the major shake-up of the museums body.
Following its reorganisation last year, the MLA has already set up area teams covering the North, West and East, each headed by a director, supported by a regional manager in each English region and a small team of area engagement advisors. A spokesman for the MLA said a similar structure would be in place for London, but it was not yet known how large that team would be. The new structure also proposes a London sub-group of MLA’s Board to focus on the delivery of priorities for the Capital.
Geoffrey Bond, chair of MLA London, said: We recognise that the best future for museums, libraries and archives in London lies in having a team integrated within MLA, increasing efficiency, working closely with the Mayor’s Office.”
• The MLA has set up a £100,000 small grants programme to promote adult informal learning . Museums, libraries and archives may apply for grants of up to £5000 for projects to be delivered by end March 2010. The deadline for applications is 17 July.

New figures from the Arts Council of Wales show that more people in Wales are attending at least one arts event once a year or more. A survey of 1,000 people in 2008 showed that this percentage had increased from 76% last year to 79%. The figures also show that There has also been an increase in attendance for arts events over the last ten years averaging at 72%, (compared with 66% ten years ago). Also significant, says the ACW, is the increase in the numbers of people from economically deprived areas attending arts events - up five percentage points to 30% in 2008, on top of a 7% increase in 2007. ACW is planning an even larger and more detailed survey of the arts to be published in 2010.
http://www.artswales.org/publications/Omnibus_Survey_2008_Final_Report(E).pdf

Plans to open a major art gallery and artists’ studios in a run-down part of Newcastle have received another setback.
Councillors on Newcastle City Council have been told that the cost of refurbishing an old printworks to house the Waygood Gallery will cost another £1 million more than previously supposed. Total costs for the project have now ballooned from an original estimate of £4.7 million to nearly £10.5 million and the opening date has been put back from 2005 to 2010 or even 2011.
The council may have to sell off parts of the building in a bid to recover some of its costs.
The Waygood project was set up in 1995 by artist Helen Smith as a gallery and studios where artists from the North East could exhibit. When the building was put up for sale, Ms Smith persuaded the council to back a plan to turn the whole building into an arts complex which would help regenerate the entire area of High Bridge.
But a catalogue of mishaps have frustrated the project. Delays over crane access meant the work had to be retendered, a Victorian well was discovered on the site, builders found structural damage to walls and the building was hit by floods. The Waygood has been relocated to the Byker estate during construction work.
Tony Durcan, the city council’s head of culture, said: “We have examined a range of options on the use and ownership of space within the building; to ensure the scheme meets the objectives of the project and secures the long term sustainability of Waygood the artist studios will form the heart of the project; we will dispose of floorspace within the building which is not part of the current capital development.”
Among the possibilities is that a cafe, restaurant or performance venue could be included to the complex.
Helen Smith, creative director of Waygood, was not available for comment as AI went to press.

Southampton City Council is to sell part of its arts collection to pay for its planned £15 million Titanic Museum.
City councillors have agreed in principle to review Southampton Art gallery’s collection of 3,500 art works to see which of them could be sold. Officials have already approached the Museums Libraries and Archives Council to get advice under the MLA’s code for disposal.
Councillor John Hannides, who holds the leisure and culture portfolio in Southampton said much of the city’s collection was in storage and was unlikely to be seen by the public. “We do have some challenging and difficult decisions to make about our current collection.”
But he added, “We are following clear professional standards to establish priorities and determine whether a few items in the art collection could be disposed of legally and in accordance with nationally-recognised ethical guidelines. We will work closely with partners to realise the value of any such items. Any monies raised will be reinvested in the new heritage museum for the city and provide clear benefit to the Art Gallery.”
A decision on which items will be sold would be taken in the autumn,
MLA chief executive Roy Clare said, “We will work closely with the city and with other experts in this field to help bring about an outcome for the people of Southampton that strikes an appropriate balance between maintaining the collections and enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with the stories that historic objects can tell.”

But Anne Anderson, chairman of Friends of Southampton Museum and Art Galleries, has asked for a referendum before any of the city’s art collection can be sold. “The people of Southampton should be asked what they want to happen to their art – it’s not up to those in the council chamber to decide,” she said.

The Museums. Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) is reviewing its Museum Accreditation Scheme, which sets nationally agreed standards for museums in the UK. The MLA is examining how to update and streamline the scheme, which has been running for 20 years and has involved more than 1800 museums. Roy Clare, MLA chef executive, said: “Our objectives are to simplify the bureaucracy of the existing process, extend the scheme to include archives and ensure that we find a way to hear and reflect the views of visitors and users.” An advisory panel has been convened to oversee the development of the standard and a series of consultation events will ask museum professionals for their views.

New Scottish culture minister Michael Russell has hinted that he may be willing to accede to Glasgow’s demands for extra funding for its museums.
Speaking at the first summit conference of Scotland’s museums sector, Mr Russell acknowledged that there was an “an obvious divide” between local and national provision of museum services.
He told more than 60 museum leaders “The gap in the middle is seeing many excellent and nationally significant museums and collections facing up to difficult challenges.” The summit would discuss this issue “which encompasses…. the unique situation of Glasgow’s impressive collections” as well as Scotland’s industrial museums, he added.
The summit follows a major campaign by Glasgow City Council to redress the perceived imbalance between its funding major national institutions like the Kelvingrove, while many of Edinburgh’s museums are funding by the Scottish government.
Bailie Liz Cameron, Chair of Culture and Sport Glasgow, told the conference
“Everyone recognises the unique nature of Glasgow’s museums and their importance to both the cultural and economic health of our nation.”
Other speakers at the summit included former First Minister Henry McLeish, who now chairs the Scottish Mining Museum, Joanne Orr, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland and Gordon Rintoul, Director of National Museums Scotland.