ArtsProfessional meets… Nicholas Serota

Photo of Nicholas Serota
27 Feb 2020

Lottery funding, low pay, and that boat…Amanda Parker meets the Arts Council England Chair and architect of the UK’s engagement with art.

What we've learned from car parks about boosting attendance

An overhead photo of people in an art gallery
27 Feb 2020

A flexible pricing experiment caused the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art's visitor numbers to soar while maintaining steady income levels, reports Tom Schoessler.

Wales’ new arts portfolio: expect unpopular decisions

A photo of a boy and a girl painting a small item
27 Feb 2020

Not everyone can be a winner in Arts Council of Wales’ drive to share the benefits of culture more widely, says Nick Capaldi.

Digital technology isn’t improving audience outreach

20 Feb 2020

New research says that “when it comes to reaching more diverse and younger audiences … digital may be having less of an impact now than when the study began in 2013”.

‘Socially closed’ arts sector may be contributing to UK’s divisions

A photo of two men drumming at an anti-Brexit protest
20 Feb 2020

The liberal, left-leaning values of cultural workers leads to “a divergence in worldviews between those tasked with representing the nation to itself, and those who inhabit it”, reports Adele Redmond.

A tale of two regions? Engaging arts audiences in the West Midlands

A photo of band performing on a brightly lit stage
13 Feb 2020

Striking differences between urban and rural areas make a strong case for a dual regional policy, argue Anne Torreggiani and Zoe Papiernik-Bloor.

Coventry 2021: a lot more than a party

A photo of a brightly-lit sculpture on an outside wall
13 Feb 2020

The city has no intention of shirking difficult challenges in its year as UK City of Culture, writes Chenine Bhathena.

From chip shop to theatre lab

A diverse group of people gathering for a show at the Shop Front Theatre
13 Feb 2020

Creating a theatre inside an empty shop challenges top down hierarchical systems and provides a safe space for conversations, says Julia Negus.

Birmingham must embrace its Heavy Metal heritage

A photo of rows of T shirts with Heavy Metal logos
13 Feb 2020

Regeneration is all very well – but it is only through celebrating its authentic working class culture that the city can discover a beating heart and soul, says Lisa Meyer.

Creative wellbeing for the Windrush generation

A close up photo of a persons' hands resting on a pink handbag
13 Feb 2020

Pauline Bailey looks back on a project that developed social confidence and artistic expression among Birmingham's BAME elders.

Please don’t turn our libraries into trendy arts hubs

A photo of three men playing in a band
30 Jan 2020

ACE is right to focus on libraries in its new strategy, says Hassan Vawda – but it must put communities at the heart of its plans to revive them.

Can libraries deliver culture for all? ACE’s new strategy unveiled

A photo of a man dressed as a First World War Soldier
27 Jan 2020

Children, young people and libraries are central to the funder’s ambitions to enable everyone to benefit from creative and cultural opportunities.

Who's afraid of contemporary art?

'Snow White: Reimagined' performed by Collective31
23 Jan 2020

If we think of contemporary art as only suitable for experienced audiences, we are missing huge opportunities to inspire newcomers, says Naomi Wright.

Why great customer service isn't enough

A photo of a man and a woman laughing in an auditorium
16 Jan 2020

It’s time we all started thinking of ourselves as experience makers. Lasting memories and positive emotions can be created at every point of contact with audiences, writes Lucy Costelloe.

Home is where the art is

02 Jan 2020

Toma McCullim, artist in residence in Skibbereen’s Ludgate Hub, describes a project reconnecting diaspora and reinventing tradition through innovative storytelling.

A truly national theatre? Exploring new ways to collaborate

A photo of a young man on a stage leaning against another actor
05 Dec 2019

National Theatre partnerships with theatres around the country are creating an opportunity for them to share and compare experiences and ideas across a mix of scales, locations and financial models. Lisa Burger explains what’s going on.

City of Culture ‘changed Hull’s image for the better’

28 Nov 2019

An evaluation says the programme brought “profound but somewhat fragile” changes to Hull’s economy, community and cultural sector.

Does 'Pay What You Can' pay off?

21 Nov 2019

As new customers are more likely to buy high price tickets than existing customers, can we expect Pay What You Can schemes to develop new audiences? Debbie Richards examines the evidence. 

We need more welfare funding of the arts – literally

19 Nov 2019

If the arts sector really has faith in everyday creativity, it should put its money where its mouth is, writes Jonathan Knott.

What do we really know about audience privilege?

A photo of a ballet performance
18 Nov 2019

Research suggests that people living in ‘more deprived’ areas are less likely to engage with cultural activity. But is that true across the board, or are there different patterns between – and within – different art forms? Mark Taylor digs deep to find out. 

Pages

Subscribe to Audience development