arts council england funding for merseyside arts organisations
So now everyone knows where they stand - and it appears Liverpool and Merseyside have both winners and, sadly, losers from Arts Council England's announcement of its 2012-15 funding settlement yesterday.
I felt terribly sorry for organisations like Spike Theatre who create inventive work and yet weren't deemed a good enough bet to receive a continuation of their regular funding.
The company, formed in 1997, is funded wholly by the Arts Council and now it says the axing of that funding "places the company's proposed programme of work beyond March 2012 in jeopardy."
Artistic Director Mark Smith said today: "'We're working with our board to alter our strategy and business plan to accommodate this loss but this may not be possible in the current financial climate.
"If we can't find a way to continue without investment beyond 2012 we feel the theatre ecology of the North West will be the poorer for it."
The good news is that Spike has found the financial support to take its acclaimed Olympics-inspired production The Games to Edinburgh this summer, and everyone hopes it will act as a calling card to attract more investment and support for its work.
But there were also a number of organisations which benefited from yesterday's announcement, not least three that have never been funded before - Writing on the Wall, 20 Stories High and Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival.
Arabic Arts Festival manager Ngozi Ikoku explained: "Gaining National Portfolio Funding status marks a significant step in LAAF's evolution by becoming the UK's only independent annual Arabic festival of the arts.
The major arts organisations in Liverpool are facing between a 5-11% cut in 'real terms' (ie the money goes up but doesn't keep up with inflation etc) but I think the view is it could have been a lot worse. Still, coupled with the 6.9% Arts Council cut this year and the city council reductions too, the cumulative effect isn't going to be easy.
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Catherine Jones is the Liverpool Echo Arts Editor, and she'll bring you the news, reviews, recommendations and gossip from one of the most vibrant arts and culture scenes in the UK
Another organisation that has been hugely successful yesterday is Curious Minds, currently the delivery organisation for the governments Creative Partnerships programme in schools. Having a base in Liverpool we have had a huge impact on schools, students, teachers and communities in the Merseyside region since 2002.
The creative partnership programme was cancelled at the end of the academic year by the coalition government in September, which left us as an organisation without our main source of funding, a position a number of organisations find themselves in today.
What we attempted to do at that point, like Mark from Spike is going through now, is reassess what our strengths are, what other funding is available and how can we maximise with issues on capacity.
We then applied to become one of ten 'bridge organisations' being set up by Arts Council England, with us having a strong history in Lancashire, Merseyside and West Cheshire, we decided to bid for the whole of the North West. Yesterday we were successful in this bid, and from April 2012 Curious Minds will be one of ten new national Arts Council England "Bridge Organisations".
Our role will be to make a rich range of arts and cultural experiences more joined-up and accessible for children, young people and their families across the North West. Connecting schools to arts organisations, artists and helping young people right across the north west experience art and find career paths into the cultural sector.
We are obviously over the moon about this success, but the moral of the tale is 6 months ago we were in a similar situation to Spike, Fuse Theatre, Green Room Manchester, Prescap in Preston, to name but a few of the 30 odd organisations who have lost funding. The future may seem bleak but there are ways to bounce back and in the end become stronger.
Here at Curious Minds our new role and always part of our work, is to help organisations strategically become stronger and help them to secure alternative funding etc.
Although the cultural landscape is changing, in the end, after some pain, it will become stronger. Myself and Curious Minds will be at the centre of this change helping others find their way.