Outdoor arts into the mainstream

101 Outdoor Arts – the National Centre for Arts in Public Space – recently commissioned the national strategy report: Outside the Conventional and Into the Mainstream: Arts in Public Space in England. Written by David Micklem with Sud Basu and me, it is an overview of a field of work that is fast growing in breadth, scale and influence and which ranges from site-specific theatre productions to street festivals, carnival and mela and from visual installations and light nights to sound art and choreography in the landscape. 

Based on the former Greenham Common cruise missile base, 101’s 20,000sq ft warehouse space with its on-site fabrication, accommodation and rehearsal facilities is the UK’s major focus for the creation of new work for public spaces. 

101 supports over 50 artistic companies each year and has hosted over 16,000 artist days of residencies since it opened in 2013. The centre plays a leading role in the development of practice through a programme of artist development, technical innovation and creative leadership programmes.

Moving in from the margins

Since the publication of Arts Council England’s New Landscapes in 2008, the world of arts in public space has expanded exponentially. Agencies from regeneration bodies to landscape guardians have partnered with artists, commissioners and funding bodies to develop programmes that use the arts in non-venue contexts to deliver wide ranging benefits. 

They have realised that arts in public space not only attract and engage substantial new audiences but that they can also create transformational experiences which fundamentally contribute to people’s sense of place and belonging. 

Now with ACE’s Let’s Create strategy – which places inclusion, relevance and cultural engagement centre stage – it feels like arts in public space might finally complete its move from the margins to the mainstream. 

Arts in public space have played a key part in almost every recent major national cultural programme – from the Cultural Olympiad through to 14-18 NOW and UNBOXED. They have been a central plank of the Capital, City and Borough of Culture programmes and a fundamental tool used by schemes such as Great Places and Creative People and Places to create engagement and engender placemaking opportunities. 

Reaching people other artforms cannot

Guardians of our national environment and heritage such as the National Trust, Forestry England and the Canals and Rivers Trust have all adopted arts in public space as a way to widen access and importantly to enable audiences to connect with and value the world around them. And in Historic England’s High Street Culture programme, arts in public space play their part in revitalising the country’s town centres. 

Ever since The Audience Agency’s 2018 report showing conclusively that arts outdoors and in public space uniquely engage audiences that reflect the demographic of the areas in which they are presented, there has been no doubt that this work is reaching the people that other artforms cannot. Or as Martin Green of UNBOXED and Birmingham 2022 says: “You cannot truly talk about diversifying audiences unless you talk about outdoor work.”

Diversifying audiences however is not the only way work in public space has made major strides. A commitment to supporting diverse artists has been a key priority of commissioners and artist development organisations that has resulted in numerous pieces of new work over recent years. 

Accumulated challenges

Given that arts in public space’s time has come, what might hold it back? Obviously, the accumulated challenges of a decade of austerity and the belt-tightening that will follow the pandemic affect every corner of the arts. The local authority budgets that support many festivals and events are under real pressure but increasingly funders are also emphatic that available resources should be directed to programmes which can benefit the many not the few. 

The dynamic nature of arts in public space and their flexibility can also generate fresh partnerships within and beyond the cultural sector, bringing new resources with them. Brexit however poses particular threats to work in public space which has historically crossed linguistic and national borders freely and festivals and artists have always relied heavily on international networks to fund, co-produce and tour. 

Beyond these generalised challenges the main obstacle to arts in public space delivering its potential is the tendency for more conventional forms of the arts to continue to be the focus for policy and investment. Building skills, capacity and excellence in this very different type of work requires an understanding of the particular challenges that face artists and producers operating outside the safety net of the built infrastructure. 

A need for national centres of excellence

Artists making work for public space need to be supported to develop and sustain their practice. Specialist training and development are vital as are opportunities for peer support and networking. The work itself is diverse in its forms and its needs and whilst no one size will ever fit all, artists need access to highly flexible, well-equipped spaces that can respond to their distinctive practice. 

Investment in national and regional centres of excellence is a priority. As the field moves forward, so it also becomes vital to train and nurture new leaders, refreshing and diversifying the decision-makers who can shape the future of arts in public space in a dynamic, progressive and inclusive way. 

It will always be challenging to make work in public space. Its very appeal lies in the fact that no two projects or performances will ever be the same – subject to the varied and uncontrolled nature of the real world around us – but with an understanding of its special needs and careful and sustained investment it can flourish. 

If we want arts in public space to be there when we need them, we must invest in the artists, commissioners and infrastructure that we would take for granted in every other corner of the arts. These forms might have once seemed unconventional but now they have become the mainstream.

Simon Chatterton is Strategic Lead at 101 Outdoor Arts.

 www.101outdoorarts.com
 @101OutdoorArts | @CornExchange

Outside the Conventional and Into the Mainstream: Arts in Public Space in England is downloadable here.