Just in: Arts Council responds to Wigmore Hall’s liberation day

Panic measures from ACE. We hear that a major London orchestra would like to be next next Arts Council defector (watch this space).

Here’s what the ACE has to say today:

We welcome the news last week that, from 2026, the Wigmore Hall will no longer require the support of public investment. We congratulate its leader, John Gilhooly, for raising £10m in private donations in the space of a year, and wish him every success as he charts a new path for his organisation, and its outstanding work.

But Wigmore Hall’s achievement at fundraising in a wealthy part of central London cannot and must not be used as an argument against public funding for culture, which remains essential, especially in the current economic climate.

Over the past 30 years, arts organisations in England have achieved creative success that is admired around the globe. They have delivered joy and opportunity in communities across the country, and at the same time they have played an irreplicable role in the talent pathways that can take artists to the world stage – and to stages all around the world. They have done all of this via a funding model built on a foundation of public investment, income earned at the box office or through commercial income streams, and money raised from companies, trusts and individuals. But that model is currently threatened by the pressures on local authority funding, the steady reduction in the real value of national investment, and rising costs. Remove public funding, and many of these organisations may not survive. The privileged few will be all we have left. As members of Arts Council England’s National and Area Councils, it is our view that this isn’t good enough.

We understand that Wigmore Hall based its decision no longer to take public funding in part on a dissatisfaction with our strategy, Let’s Create. It is our view that the principle that underpins this strategy – that everyone in this country, no matter what their background or where they come from, deserves access to the very best of creativity and culture in the places where they live and work – is both just and justifiable. Every audience member, every performer or artist, every child who dreams of growing up and earning a living from their creativity: all are deserving of the public provision of exceptional culture. We’re proud of our strategy, which was developed in consultation with the public, artists and the cultural sector, and which sets out a balanced commitment to inclusion and access, and to the support and realisation of ambition and artistic excellence. Since its launch in 2021, we have seen the way in which it has enhanced opportunities for people and communities across England. We will continue to champion it, and the creative individuals and organisations that sustain culture in this country.

With thanks,

Sir Nicholas Serota CH, Chair, Arts Council England