The mood of the times has been one of uncertainty and sudden unexpected shifts in the status quo (credit crunch, Arab Spring/Summer, SNP landslide et al). In our own way the Arts in D+G have been part of this larger momentum too. We seem to lurch between catastrophic disappearance of people and services to euphoric moments of clarity when it seems that new growth is springing up in their place.
Throughout all of this period one of the largest question marks has hung over dgArts….we are all familiar with the story: dgArts received revenue funding from Creative Scotland for some years – notice of the withdrawal of this support was given last year and dgArts underwent a painful ‘re-structuring’ process which saw 5 redundancies and the staff reduced to a core of 3 – supported by money from D+G Council (£90,000 for the year). It was clear, however that the continued council support was not ‘unconditional’ and dgArts had until the end of the current financial year to present a clear vision for their future – and good value for precious public expenditure in the Arts.
In May 2011 dgArts announced the departure of their director Susan Garnsworthy and that ‘a new director would be joining the team’. Around this time I was aware a great goodwill in the arts community towards dgArts and an excitement about a wide-ranging discussion of what dgArts could evolve into, to best serve the arts audience and creative community of the region. In particular, we were all racking our brains to think of people who we could ‘headhunt’ for the new director’s role when the position was advertised. With someone in post, charged with re-imagining the organisation, we were all ready to work together for the common-good of the Arts in the region.
As we creep into September there is still no sign of advertisement for a new director….with the best will in the world, an appointment process of this significance could easily take 2-3 months. This would leave a new director about the same amount of time to find their feet, make an assessment of the situation and build a proposal for continued support from the public purse for 2012-13?
I truly hope that dgArts have something up their sleeves – all the people involved there are well-intentioned and committed.
BUT in the midst of this period of general uncertainty – new energy is bubbling in the Arts in the region eg: Glenkens Community Arts Trust, Creative Arts Business Network, The Stove, EventLab Dumfries, Wide Open, Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, Theatre Royal refurbishment (please note this is an entirely personal opinion I am NOT speaking on behalf of ANY of these groups). All of these groups need to build relationships with the D+G Council (and with national organisations - particularly Creative Scotland). Whether it is fair or not, dgArts have come to be seen as a touchstone of the value of public arts spending in the region….ie as far as the Council is concerned -everything else is on hold until ‘we see what happens with dgArts’.
I think we all need to be working together for benefit of the region – to do this we desperately need the Council to have a strong vision for the importance of the arts. This requires lobbying from all of us – but it also requires some resolution of the ‘dgArts question’
This is an open invitation to dgArts and everyone with something to contribute to the situation - to use The Commonty as a forum for this discussion.
This is a personal opinion piece posted by Matt BakerThis is an open invitation to dgArts and everyone with something to contribute to the situation - to use The Commonty as a forum for this discussion.
Surely DGarts should be talking to people in the arts about what people on the ground require by way of support and advocacy in the arts locally. I can't help wondering if the time of arts administration has passed and a new more direct relationship between audience, producer and commissioner will be the new reality. It is tempting to suggest that DGarts should just vanish as an organisation and others be allowed to come to the fore. The best way to handle this would be for DGarts themselves to be suggesting this and using the paid time they still have to be supporting other groups to develop a working relationship with the Council such that this is seen as a natural progression rather than an organisation 'failing'
ReplyDeleteIceland has been soliciting online feedback from her citizens in the process of updating their constitution.
ReplyDeletehttp://mashable.com/2011/07/29/iceland-crowdsourced-constitution/
This crowdsourced aspect of democracy can be easily applied to the direction dgArts takes, particularly with regard to developing a sustainable organizational structure and direction.
There is a basic wisdom in getting everyone involved at the point of constructing the framework and having them continue to feel invested in the organization years into its operation, simply because it has taken their needs and objectives into account.
This is exactly the sort of open for all exercise that the Commonty is about, discussing the issues that affect the region and its people.
If change comes, then realization that faith and investment in dgArts has been lost of late must be addressed and those lessons incorporated into any new model, lest it becomes an exercise in reinventing the wheel,
What’s needed is a cyber-barn raising, Amish style, without the chinless beards and bonnets…
Ma grannie and her pals were early pioneers of crowdsourcing, their advice to the Arts Association would be tae 's**te or get aff the pot'. 18 months and more than £100,000 of public money to come up with a new idea = not funny.
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