Advice for the Arts Council England

Since the U.S. doesn’t have anything like a Ministry of Culture or an Arts Council (and let’s not pretend the NEA comes even remotely close), I was curious to hear what advice professionals had for Liz Forgan, the incoming head of the Arts Council England. What agenda should be set forth for the coming year in arts policy, especially in the wake of the announcement that the U.K., like the U.S., is also in a recession? That’s the question Imogen Carter in the ‘Guardian’ to people like Phil Redmond, Penny Woolcock, Alex Poots, Josie Rourke, Steven Parissien, Nicholas Hytner, Michael Boyd, Ekow Eshun and Vicky Featherstone. Read what they had to say here.

Irish Arts Council Slashes Funding

And the global theatre funding cuts continue. This time it’s The Abbey, Ireland’s national theatre. The Arts Council has cut 16% of its annual grant to the theatre from €10 million to €8.35 million. In addition to the Abbey, the highest profile recipient of Arts Council funding, the average grant cut to Irish theatre in 2009 will be just over 8% including major companies like the Gate and the Druid. Unfortunately, companies like the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin and the Galloglass Theatre Company in Tipperary have lost all Arts Council funding in the cutbacks. The council is also taking some of its own medicine, promising to cut its administration costs next year by €1.5 million. Happy New Year indeed.