Making the case for cultural devolution
All parties seem to agree that devolution is a good thing but the details about how culture will feature are scant. Anne Torreggia…
Posts
Orchestral music as an agent for change
In a radical reimagining of the classical music paradigm, Sarah Alexander shares the National Youth Orchestra’s model for en…
Don’t dance, because nobody’s watching
Dance is part of the national curriculum and schools are statutorily obliged to provide it. So why is a blind eye being turned to…
Sector finances revelations pose big questions
Following extensive research into the finances of arts organisations, Sarah Thelwall of MyCake reflects on the serious implication…
Uncomfortable truths
Arts organisations are committed to reaching marginalised young people through their creative practice. But what happens when youn…
Teacher professionalism and the arts
Regardless of the setting, every school deserves a teacher who is afforded the space and professional trust to teach an inspiring…
Are arts students a burden on the taxpayer?
The Higher Education sector is up in arms about proposed cuts to creative arts courses which, it says, will further damage the UK&…
Closing the ‘enrichment gap’
The erosion of opportunities to study the expressive arts in school has created a crisis in arts teaching, writes Sally Bacon.
You don’t get to work in the arts and support the monarchy
With a Royal garden party for the creative industries coming hot on the heels of cultural leaders’ participation in a trade…
An explosive level of jeopardy
The challenges facing London’s cultural sector are legion, but they cannot be addressed in isolation. Southbank Centre's…
Open letter to Dame Mary Archer
Representatives from across the cultural sector have written an open letter to Dame Mary Archer, who is due to chair the governmen…
Call for more joined-up thinking in music education
The decimation of arts education has hit the music sector particularly hard. Deborah Annetts of the Independent Society of Musicia…
Let’s get smart about paying artists
To mark World Intellectual Property Day, Adele Morse thinks it’s time the UK caught up with other countries in pay…
A cultural revolution in the arts
Co-Founder of Freedom in the Arts, Rosie Kay, thinks the arts in the UK have strayed into a culture of intolerance, which has led…
The race for London’s City Hall
Voters across England go to the polls next week (2 May) to elect many thousands of new councillors and 10 metro mayors – one…
Time for a national youth arts trust?
There has been a massive decline in arts for young people over the last 15 years. So much so that Joe Hallgarten thinks we need a…
Earnings should not dictate policy on creative subjects
A blog post by a former government adviser has called for a cap on the number of students studying creative subjects. Orian Brook…
Artistic freedom: Threats and challenges
Artistic freedom is an increasingly contested area of public discourse. But as Ruth Anderson of Index on Censorship argues, while…
Arts Council England: What is to be done?
Andrew Pinnock, a former Arts Council officer, thinks it’s time for an honest review of our national development agency for…
A brighter future for entrepreneurs and opportunity-seekers
Now more than ever it’s important to focus on the things that really matter, to free ourselves of distractions and to identi…
The Watermill: Life outside the National Portfolio
A year after losing ACE funding, Berkshire's Watermill Theatre has had some sweet successes. Executive Director and Joint Chie…
Radical intervention required
The cultural sector welcomed last week’s Spring Budget but, as Lara Carmona writes, not being able to leverage public invest…
Call for Chancellor to support theatre sector
Ahead of next week's Spring Budget, Claire Walker, Co-Chief Executive of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre, is c…
‘In Wales we need to be creative like never before’
Recent Welsh government budget cuts have created new fears across the creative sector about the impact on our communities, writes…
