Mendes theatre fund to support mid-career professionals

Assistant stage manager Teresa Morrow applies finishing touches to a costume worn by actor Sara Billeaux.
20 Nov 2023

Pilot programme designed to address a 'huge shift' in the creative workforce towards film and tv launches.

Spending down: Opportunity or risk?

Calculator on phone while person does finance, business, audit and accounts
15 Nov 2023

In spending down their assets, trusts and foundations are making a strategic change of direction which could pose a threat to the charity sector, says Ben Wilson.

Funded organisations diversify income in Northern Ireland

Aerial view of Belfast
14 Nov 2023

Arts Council of Northern Ireland says increase in organisations leveraging investment from new sources is “positive news” amid “pressured and complicated funding picture”.

DACS pays out £2.6m in third quarter of 2023

23 Oct 2023

Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) distributed more than £2.6m in Artist's Resale Right (ARR) royalties from July to September this year.

The figure brings DACS’ total royalties paid to artists and estates so far this year to almost £7.5m.

Median ARR payment in the third quarter was £280, with more than 60% of royalties under £500.

Of the 862 artists and artists’ estates receiving royalties during the third quarter of the year, 53 artists were paid ARR for the first time.

Since the right to ARR became law in 2006, DACS has now paid out almost £123m to 6,079 artists and estates.

DACS Chief Executive Christian Zimmermann commented “ARR is more than just a royalty payment”.

“For many artists and estates, it is an enduring connection between artists and the evolving ownership of their works; simultaneously creating a robust and transparent provenance trail, adding depth to the stories behind each work.”

Post-NPO life

Party with people on stage and balloons
10 Oct 2023

Following the closure of the Bridge network earlier this year, and an unsuccessful bid for ACE funding, Nick Owen of The Mighty Creatives still thinks there’s life after funding loss.

Financial climate for museums to 'get worse before it gets better'

04 Oct 2023

The cost-of-living crisis continues to impact museums across England, and the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better, according to a new report.

Funded by Arts Council England and produced by South West Museum Development, the Annual Museums Survey gathered data on 700 accredited non-national English museums. It found while visitor numbers in 2022/23 were higher than the previous year, they were down 18% on pre-pandemic levels.

Museums also reported increased expenditure of 10%, mainly on energy bills, materials, staff costs and travel. At the same time, visitor spending was down overall and some organisations had also experienced a drop in donations.

After a slight increase in reported income during 2020/21 and 2021/22, overall income for museums dropped by 3% in 2022/23.

The report found museums attempting to balance the need to generate more revenue by increasing ticket prices with a desire to keep admission fees low to encourage visitors.

Respondents said schools were struggling to fund museum visits for pupils, especially the transport costs. The report concluded that museum visitor demographics and behaviour are increasingly difficult to predict.

The cost-of-living crisis has also significantly impacted museum staff and volunteers, according to the survey, as some employees departed for higher-paid jobs or moved to new roles closer to home.

Seasonal staff and lower-paid positions in retail, catering and cleaning proved challenging to hire, while some volunteers returned to paid jobs or could not afford to travel to perform their roles.

Despite this, the number of volunteers increased last year by 11%, only 5% fewer than pre-pandemic levels.

Victoria Harding, Programme Manager at South West Museum Development, said: "A range of factors, such as free entry and geography, have influenced the degree to which museum visitors have returned to pre-pandemic levels.  

"However, across the sector, irrespective of how successfully museums have generated increased income through a variety of new, or enhanced, ways this progress is outstripped by the increase in expenditure reported by 64% of museums."
 

Democratising theatre with VR

Gemma and Kelman Greig-Kicks - Gemma wearing a VR headset
02 Oct 2023

Kelman and Gemma Greig-Kicks are on a mission to use virtual reality technology to democratise theatre and provide new income streams for creators.

Performing arts among fastest growing sectors of economy

A woman performing on stage holding a skull
28 Sep 2023

Government figures reveal the economic value of music, performing and visual arts is outperforming the rest of the economy, but sector leaders warn individual venues continue to struggle.

Derby Museums facing 'existential challenge'

Inside a room in Pickford's House Museum, Derby.
21 Sep 2023

National Portfolio Organisation warns that reductions in public funding combined with rising costs makes its current business model unsustainable.

Museum floats homes development plan 'to safeguard future'

05 Sep 2023

A museum in Hampshire has submitted plans to build homes on its site in order to generate income to secure its future.

Bursledon Brickworks Museum, in Swanwick, wants permission for 12 homes to be built on its site which is home to historically significant industrial buildings including a brickmaking kiln, processing sheds, specialised enclosures, engine and machinery houses, along with a café and a museum, The Portsmouth News reports.

"Due to the listed nature of the Brickwork Museum, these buildings require essential repairs and restoration works to safeguard their future as heritage assets," an application put forward by the museum states.

"The Brickwork Museum will require substantial funding to carry these repairs and restoration works.

"The money required will come from a variety of sources but these alone cannot raise the required funds to carry out the works. 

"Therefore, the purpose of developing the land for residential dwellings is to enable the land to be sold to a developer in order to raise significant funds that can enable the works to the listed buildings to take place."

Film and TV worth over £5m to Cornwall in 2022

29 Aug 2023

Film and TV production was worth more than £5m to the Cornish economy in 2022, new figures reveal.

The data comes from a Screen Cornwall economic impact analysis into Gross Value Added (GVA) by the sector.

It found there were 422 filming days and 101 pre-production days in the county during 2022, which generated an estimated GVA of £5,040,000 – an 8% increase on 2021.

Screen Cornwall also announced it will receive a further £395,650 through the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Managing Director Laura Giles said the GVA figure was “a significant contribution for our rurally dispersed sector”.

“For the first time, we have a reliable estimate of what film and TV production is worth financially to Cornwall’s economy," she added.

“Momentum continues to grow for both location filming and independent production, so this funding boost comes at an important time.

“A diverse and robust talent pipeline is vital to developing a healthy screen ecosystem, so people are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to become the UK’s most vibrant, rurally dispersed content production region.”

Shetland Arts to offer voluntary redundancies 

22 Aug 2023

Shetland Arts has announced it is offering 15 staff voluntary redundancy in an attempt “to avoid the need for compulsory redundancies”.

The redundancies will be offered to staff at office and manager level. 

The organisation's trust said the measures were necessary due to its current financial situation, after commercial income failed to return to pre-Covid levels and emergency funding had ended, with costs “continuing to escalate”.

“This reduction in commercial income and increasing costs means the organisation needs to make savings,” a spokesperson for the trust said.

According to local press, total savings of around £318,000 need to be made, with around half of those savings found already.

NPO revenue from international activity halves

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing at Carnegie Hall in New York
08 Aug 2023

Arts Council England study finds international environment has become "increasingly complex" for English cultural organisations and practitioners to navigate.

Significant pay gaps for northern freelancers

05 Jul 2023

Freelance creative workers living in the North of the UK are suffering from three significant pay gaps, a new poll has found.

Recruitment agency Major Players polled 450 digital, marketing, product and creative workers in the Midlands, North East, North, West Yorkshire & the Humber and Scotland, and found pay gaps relating to gender, ethnicity and identity.

The poll found the pay skew in favour of men working within freelance roles in the north was “considerably higher” than the UK average, at 15.9%.

An ethnicity pay gap was also found on creative assignments, with Asian, Black, Mixed, Arabic or Other background freelancers earning an average of 7.1% less than their counterparts.

The poll also revealed LGBT+ freelancers in the north earned on average 7% less than the average UK day rates. This gap was also considerably higher than the UK average LGBT+ pay gap of 1.4%. 

The statistics underscore just one aspect of the challenges faced by minority freelancers, George Greenaway-Poole, Major Player’s Group Marketing Director wrote on LinkedIn.

“I saw a recent statistic which said that more than 35% of the LGBTQIA+ community hide their sexuality at work in fear of negativity or discrimination,” he said.

He added that for those who were ‘out’, repeatedly sharing aspects of their identities can be “emotionally draining”.

He suggested that businesses could help alleviate the pressures on LGBT+ workers by asking people for their pronouns, using inclusive language and gender-neutral terms and including visual cues in work settings, such as hanging rainbow flags.

LEEDS 2023 director rejects 'damp squib' criticism

LEEDS 2023 Creative Director and CEO Kully Thiarai (left) with Chair Gabby Logan
28 Jun 2023

Organisers of cultural festival point towards 90% positive feedback to delivered events, and engagement across all the city’s wards, in response to concerns the event is becoming a missed opportunity.

Artists' resale royalties reach £2.3m in first quarter

05 Jun 2023

Over £2.3m was paid to 873 artists and artists’ estates in Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) royalties by the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) in the first quarter of the year.

Of the 873 recipients, 53 were paid ARR royalty for the first time. The median payment for the quarter was £280, with over 60% of all royalties under £500.

£120m has been paid out in total to 5,900 artists and estates since 2006, when the right became UK law.

DACS Chief Executive Christian Zimmermann said ARR is a vital source of income for artists working in the UK.

“We know from our members how important these payments are to artists who use their royalties for living expenses, materials and studio space – helping sustain their practice,” Zimmerman added.

“Estates often use the money for cataloguing, archiving and restoration – making sure that the legacies of British artists are preserved for future generations."

Natural History Museum 'sorry' for National Conservatism event

A Blue Whale skeleton mounted in Hintze Hall of the Natural History Museum
02 Jun 2023

Institution distances itself from 'hateful rhetoric' expressed at private dinner held at the museum by rightwing thinktank, and apologises for not calling out a tweet 'that minimised the horrors of the Holocaust'.

Universal Credit system 'punitive' towards creatives

Silhouette of an artist as they stand in front of a canvas painting
30 May 2023

Research calls for Universal Credit system to be overhauled after finding creatives are unable to pay for essentials.

Royal Opera House seeks income boost through brand licensing drive

Exterior view of the Royal Opera House at night
26 May 2023

Efforts by the Royal Opera House to generate additional income in the wake of cut to its Arts Council England funding will focus on 'new commercial activities' and 'brand exploitation'.

Hampstead Theatre announces first post-NPO programme

Hampstead Theatre
18 May 2023

Despite loss of Arts Council funding, theatre is continuing to commission new plays in a new era driven by ticket sales, commercial income and philanthropic support.

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