Category: Arts policy

Wednesday round-up

Blog’s been quiet of late– it never ceases to amaze me how busy the autumn term is! So much crossing the desk these days, I’m going to try and offer a weekly digest on Wednesdays of what’s been making the rounds…

National Campaign for the Arts – upcoming Day of Action

September 17th is the day to take part in the National Campaign For the Arts’  Day of Action— meetings will be taking place all over the country with local representatives and arts workers, to advocate for the ongoing support of the arts. As part of the effort, the NCFA has also produced a promotional video:

Here’s also a link to a recent interview on Morning Ireland. Lots more info is available on the NCFA site, but here’s a recap of the Campaign’s main objectives:

There is now a broad consensus that the arts will play a dynamic part in Ireland’s economic and social recovery. To maintain their role as a significant driver of employment, cultural tourism, the creative industries, our collective wellbeing and international reputation, NCFA asks that the next budget will:

(1) Maintain current levels of funding to the statutory agencies for the arts, including Irish Film Board, Culture Ireland and in particular The Arts Council, whose investment in the development of Irish artists generates the cultural assets that are central to our future.

(2) Make significant new funding available to the arts and culture sector to build on its cultural tourism potential, through the creation of a dedicated cultural tourism fund.

(3) Protect local authority arts funding and its essential role in the cultural diversity, social cohesion, economic impact, participation and identity of communities and regions.

Ireland & its arts centres

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Civic Theatre Tallaght

Civic Theatre Tallaght

In today’s Irish Times, a very interesting article on the expansion of arts centres during the last decade, many funded under the Cultural Developments Incentive Scheme:

If the physical landscape of Ireland will never be the same after the building boom of the so-called Celtic Tiger years, with all its modern apartment blocks and endless motorways, then neither will the cultural landscape, which has also been transformed by the country’s now-lamented economic prosperity. Nowhere has this been more evident than in infrastructural developments for the arts; the appearance of theatres, galleries and arts centres in the most surprising sites across the country: in satellite suburbs and small towns, from Coolock to Doolin to Naul.

Written by Sara Keating, the article contains interviews with then-minister Michael D Higgins, and directors of arts centres including Dunamaise Arts Centre (Portlaoise), An Grianán Theatre (Letterkenny), Civic Theatre (Tallaght). According to Higgins, fears that the newly built centres would become white elephants haven’t borne out… however it is also true that it hasn’t been an easy ride for them all: witness the recent woes of the Riverbank Arts Centre. Such places are unbelievably important to their communities as spaces for art and performance, and one can only hope they will continue to flourish with community and government support.

Now, if only something could be done about the disgrace that is the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre in Dublin…!

Arts Council Event Calendar Launch

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The blog’s been quiet lately as I’ve been preoccupied with end of term and the coming exam period– and with few jobs coming through the pipeline there hasn’t been as much need to update the jobs page… but an interesting tidbit in the Arts Council’s newsletter notes the imminent launch of their new online event calendar.

Organisations are invited to submit their upcoming events to the calendar, which may prove a handy centralised resource for all the cultural happenings in the country.

New Arts Council Logos?

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OK, this is my last post of the day… but has anyone else noticed the new Arts Council funding logos? I only picked up on them in papers from over the weekend:

ac_fund_architecture

ac_fund_artoffilm

ac_fund_circus

Ack, a designer’s nightmare. I can see why they might want to specify the funding streams, but the simple square logo was so much more elegant and less obtrusive. Although perhaps that’s the point…