Arts Council England has agreed to consider setting up a gender advisory group.
Orchestras for All exists to fill a gap in music education. With its deep commitment to creative inclusivity, Katie Villa thinks it has a powerful impact.
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A London-focused freelancer directory aimed at ethnic minority creatives launched on Monday (23 September).
The Creative and Cultural Industries Freelance Directory (CCI Directory) has been developed by charity Heart of the City and advocacy network MSDUK as part of their Minority Business Matters initiative, which works with London ethnic minority businesses.
The resource is free to use for any London-based ethnic minority freelancer and those looking to secure CCI freelancers’ services.
A spokesperson for the initiative told Arts Professional it has been designed to support diversity and inclusion in the creative and cultural industries.
They added that freelancers who sign up to the directory will enjoy benefits, including visibility to more than 120 private and public organisations and access to networking events with potential clients and fellow creatives.
Part of the point of art is the lens it offers us to look at the world in a different way, to converse with people and perspectives that are not our own, to learn, to disagree and to share, writes Clare Reddington.
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The National Trust has "much more" to do in order to ensure it has a diverse workforce, according to the organisation’s annual report.
The report states that the trust's ambition “is for a broader diversity of people to be represented in the demographics of our staff and volunteers as well as our visitors".
As part of its Everyone Welcome initiative, last year the trust published The Everyone Welcome Inclusion and Diversity Progress Report.
This showed that 3.8% of staff were disabled people, 3% were people of colour and 6.9% identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and other minority sexual orientations.
Staff numbers in all these categories were increasing.
The annual report said that although the Inclusion and Diversity Report showed that workforce diversity is gradually increasing each year, "we have much more to do, especially when it comes to recruiting people of colour and disabled people”.
The Everyone Welcome programme is also focusing on broadening the range of people who visit trust venues.
According to its annual report, in 2023/24 the trust spent £5.5m on improving physical access for disabled people.
Netflix and the National Youth Theatre relaunch a skills programme aimed at young people who want to work in film and TV after research reveals impact of ‘class chasm’ in the creative industries.
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Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (BGWMC) has been designated an Asset of Community Value by Tower Hamlets Council, granting locals a 'right to bid' if the building goes up for sale.
The LGBTQ+ performance space has been at risk of closure after its owners revealed plans to sell the club as soon as possible and asked the venue's programming team to vacate the premises in July.
The council’s decision comes in response to an application made by community group Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club and grants them up to six months to fundraise for a bid.
The performers' union Equity, which supported the application, said it is currently negotiating with the owners of BGWMC, who have expressed a willingness to allow a community purchase, to extend the fundraising period.
Nick Keegan, Equity Variety Organiser, says: “The decision to protect Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club as an Asset of Community Value is fantastic news and a crucial step towards saving the club.
"The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has rightly recognised BGWMC for what it is – a pillar of London’s nightlife ecosystem, a vital workplace for Equity members, and an important part of the queer and local community.
“The response to this campaign so far has been phenomenal. Everyone who signed the petition, turned up to the rally or spread the word has played their part in this positive outcome. However, the campaign has not been won yet – raising the funds to purchase BGWMC for the community will be a mammoth task.”
Under-represented creative industries workers - those who are Black, Asian, ethnically diverse, disabled or from low socioeconomic backgrounds - are feeling less positive about their career prospects than a year ago.
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Stagetext, a Colchester-based deaf access charity, has received a £20,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund.
The funding will go towards a community outreach project raising awareness of deaf access to arts and culture in the South East of England.
The project will see Stagetext’s team of ambassadors build relationships with deaf groups and deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people across the area to spread the word about accessible events.
Stagetext says approximately 4.3 million, or one in three, people in the South East are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing and could benefit from captions and subtitles at live events in theatres, museums and other cultural venues.
Melanie Sharpe, CEO of Stagetext, said the charity’s research found 77% of people are in favour of venues offering more deaf accessibility via captioning and live subtitled performances and events to deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing audiences.
“By helping to spread the word about theatre captions and live subtitles for museum talks and tours, we can bring more people to arts and culture,” Sharpe said. “It’s not only transformative for those that are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, but it makes economic sense for the venues too.”
Apprenticeships offer far more than just a qualification. Charlotte Nicol is convinced they can and will radically change the make-up of the arts sector.
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UK Music has called on the next government to be 'fast and fearless' in working to remove entry barriers to the music industry.
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Report exploring the lack of sustainable pathways into producing for British theatre producers from the global majority uncovers a racial pay gap of 20%.
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One of our defining characteristics is the diversity and inclusivity of our team, says Delia Barker, as she reflects on the theatre’s post-pandemic journey.
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Worldwide study on gender and race diversity of composers played by orchestras shows little progress in the last two years.
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A London-based club has launched for people who work in the arts sector and come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
The independent organisation, called Arts and Graft, plans to hold networking, hosting events and socialising opportunities.
It was created by Meg Molloy, Head of Communications at Stephen Friedman Gallery, who told the Art Newspaper that being working class in the art world can feel isolating.
“Whether it's not knowing anyone at a swanky private view, having a certain accent, or having different reference points to colleagues, it's possible to feel that you don't belong,” Molloy said.
“I want to connect people to help build strong relationships, create dialogue, facilitate and find ways to educate and aid our community.”
An online form is available for those who wish to register interest in joining, with an official launch event scheduled for the summer.
There is significant under- and misrepresentation of the Black community in the creative industries. Emma Sithole of Be United thinks it's time the sector addressed this question of equity.
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Situation prompts debate around appropriate terminology to describe a person's socio-economic background.
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The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's (RPO) status as the Royal Albert Hall's (RAH) Associate Orchestra will be extended to 2029.
The partnership, formalised in 2019, was initially scheduled to run for five years.
RPO said that following the extension of Vasily Petrenko's contract as Music Director until 2030 and the appointment of Joe Hisaishi as the Orchestra’s Composer-in-Association, the continuation of the relationship will allow both organisations to build on their "shared mission to broaden artistic programmes and the audiences for orchestral music at the Hall".
James Williams, Managing Director at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, said: “The sheer diversity of our concerts at the Royal Albert Hall enables us to present the joy of orchestral music to the broadest possible audience."
Matthew Todd, Director of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “With 750,000 people experiencing the thrill of listening to a live orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in 2023, our partnership will help us in our ambition to share orchestral music with as wide an audience as possible."
Arts Council England stands by decision to fund a show about a transgender artist’s search for a sperm donor with more than £60,000 of public money.
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The Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme hopes the Fair Play project will empower regional theatres to make the future of British theatre more reflective of society.
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