Arts Council England faces ‘full-scale review’
NewsThe Department of Culture, Media and Sport has finally ordered a root-and-branch review of its out-of-control subsidiary, Arts Council England. Unlike the previous ‘light touch’ assessment, this move promises to get to the bottom of the ACE’s revolutionary slogans and anti-art propaganda.
Any review must start with the present climate of hostility within ACE towards traditional arts organisations and the ACE’s blatant bias towards start-ups with a diversity slant.
Much will depend on the person who is chosen to conduct the review. Ex-ENO boss John Berry would be a good shout.
And you were making so much sense….until that last sentence. No, thank you. You can trace much of ENO’s current woes back to the mismanagement during Berry’s time. Not least the self-serving courting of the US companies for their very average young singers.
I have to agree. John Bury is somebody I admire but not to impartially delve into ACE. ACE for years sheltered behind the so-called arms-length principal whilst doing no such thing. They have a great deal to answer for.
I suppose if you want to wreck the Arts Council John Berry is not a bad idea, he certainly did a good wrecking ball job on ENO whilst there.
Marking their own homework?
Forgive the scepticism but bad attitudes are not confined to ACE.
A review that will report when? By the time it does so ACE will have wreaked untold more damage to the cultural sector and should there be a change of Government whatever its terms of reference they will more than likely be at odds with the incoming Ministerial steer. Anyone wondering exactly what that might look like and how ENO is likely even more likely to falter than prosper should take a look at the programme for the Aviva Studios here in Manchester. Watch and weep!
Arfts Council England? Shouldn’t that be Farts Council England…?!
Honestly… From this article to the comments underneath, I feel like I’m watching a collective (which should be standing strong together) eat itself alive.
This is exactly what they want. Starve ACE of cash so that impossible decisions have to be made, and then the Tories get to sit back and watch us maul each other to death in a Culture Wars of our own creation. It’s genius and you’re all falling for it.
Instead of bickering like lords of the flies, why can’t we stand in solidarity with each other against the shameful slashing of funds (in real terms) given to the arts by the government over the past 13-odd years? Surely that’s the real problem here. If we had enough money to go round, we wouldn’t be getting in a tizz about people winnings awards over others.
Don’t worry, a Labour government is inevitable. They will hose money at it, ACE will do what it’s supposed to do, and classical music will thrive.
Where on earth do you get this idea? Every single thing Labour has said and done of late points towards more austerity. What planet do you live on?
Didn’t it cross your mind, even for one second, that I wasn’t being entirely serious?
Apologies for not registering the sarcasm. You’ll forgive me for noting how there are worryingly large swathes of centrists (at least, what would have been called centrists 5 years ago) who have sleepwalked through the last leadership cycle, convincing themselves that Keith is some kind of socialist in disguise. It’s just untrue.
ACE is lost in layers of its own mangled language. Not fit for purpose.
Got a lot of time for John Berry than many, and very much maligned. This whole thing of ACE and it’s way of working is quite atrocious. I had enough trouble dealing with the previous incarnation of the Arts Council and bringing classical music, already being performed into three financially poor schools in Tanzania with my pianist from Colchester. The Arts Council said it had to be bongo drums and something musically appropriate to what they thought was Tanzanian culture, not bringing anything remotely see as colonial! The three headteachers took on the Arts Council, saying it was their rite to have any culture they chose in their schools to benefit the education of their kids. So the Arts Council eventually coughed up some money for travel – in their eyes, to be a chauffeur-driven car, hardly appropriate in the eyes of those schools, so declined the car, but the schools got the concerts and just loved it! There was more to the story…
Applied twice for a grant through ACE and was unsuccessful. I’m a disabled not for profit model maker and on my first grant which was over £30,000, I ensured I met all the criteria but was told I was unsuccessful as they said my disability would pose a problem in completing the project on time and then when I argued against this they then changed their reason to not awarding grants over £30,000 to first time applicants. My second application for undeer £30,000 was turned down as it wasn’t creative enough even though it involved 4 different art disciplines. They are a joke, they say they support individuals in grass roots art but in effect they prefer to support big organisations some of which either never complete on time or don’t complete a project at all. Grass roots art is a joke to them, it’s just so they can claim inclusivity to meet criteria in getting funds and its more of who you know not your art. Can’t see how they can rescue this organisation.
Your recent new policies on trolling inspired many of us. But how about examining your bias around John Berry. No man could be less suited for reviewing anything to do with financial and institutional integrity. While I know you refuse to objectively see his part in ENO’s decay, you cannot seriously think that a human being who has essentially done nothing in his Second Act should take on the ACE. They need a serious analyst(s) to do a hard review. Maybe consider softening your bias for Berry in the name of balanced journalism. You only lose respect for yourself every time you over-promote your questionable friends. There is a reason he has not gotten another major house post ENO. Please try to display more critical thinking skills.