Archived decisions

Visual Arts Development Strategy 2010 - 2015 (Draft)

1. Vision

By 2015, Hampshire will be recognised as a county where people of all ages have the opportunity to experience high quality contemporary visual art and craft in a variety of distinctive settings. We will commission new work in response to the unique environment that Hampshire offers and encourage a vibrant and active artist community and a diverse and engaged audience.

2. Aims

The main aim of this strategy is to explore Hampshire County Council's long-term role in creating a thriving environment for the visual arts and to find Hampshire's distinctive visual arts identity in terms of gallery provision, artists and audience development.

To achieve this aim we will need to:

1. raise the profile of the visual arts and develop new audiences through increased participation and engagement in unusual settings

2. work in partnership with others to achieve greater impact and reach

3. support individual artists and assist their sustainability

4. support and develop the existing visual arts infrastructure

5. advocate the benefits of the visual arts.

3. Background

Hampshire is well known for the quality of life it provides its residents. It has beautiful and unspoilt rural areas, large areas of woodland, a number of market towns, historic sites, country parks and gardens. There are good transport links to London, east and west along the south coast as well as ferry access to the continent. Flights from Southampton airport link to the rest of Britain and Europe. It is an ideal location for cultural tourism for both residents and visitors .

`We want Hampshire to be the cultural county of the south sensitively exploiting our rich heritage and providing people with life-enhancing opportunities that feed their spirit and their imagination.' Councillor Ken Thornber, Leader, Hampshire County Council

However Hampshire has no major art gallery with an international programme that develops audiences for the contemporary visual arts. It is also not currently known nationally for the quality of the work it presents in the field of visual arts.

It is therefore necessary to look at innovative ways to work with artists and institutions to present work and develop audiences.

4. Context

A review of the Hampshire County Council Arts Service identified gaps in provision, one of which was the visual arts and crafts sector. An analysis of the expenditure on arts infrastructure through the Revenue Funding stream showed that it is dominated by investment in theatre (34%) and music (27%), with investment in visual art and crafts at a much lower level (10%).

The Arts Service priorities are:

· Increase participation by Young People

· Widening participation, including those who do not currently engage with the arts

· Work with the access and inclusion officer to reach culturally diverse communities

· Build capacity to sustain the programme of activity for older people

· Develop a strategic approach to the promotion of the visual arts

· Build on work initiated by the National Year of Reading

· Use resources to leverage new investment in the arts

· Work across the Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs department to put arts at the heart of delivery

The visual arts development strategy has been written within the context of Hampshire County Council's Corporate Strategy, Cultural Strategy and Arts Strategy. The Rural Strategy and Economic Development Strategy, Cultural Tourism Strategy and Culture-all have all informed this Visual Arts Strategy.

If we are to develop strong partnerships we also need to take into account the objectives of the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and in particular Arts Council England's Turning Point: a strategy for the contemporary visual arts in England 2006-16.

The Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) has also highlighted Quality Places as one of its strategic aims.

Appendix 2a provides a fuller account of the key criteria.

5. The Visual Arts in Hampshire

5.1 Definition of visual arts

The visual arts cover a very wide range of art forms and media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, crafts, installation, live art, sound, new media and public art. It also refers to work across historical, modern and contemporary periods and to both temporary and permanent work.

"Far from being an optional extra, good public art engenders a sense of place, contributes to everything that makes us human and demonstrates our commitment to making our environment a desirable place to be."

Annie Templeton, Principal Interior Designer

5.2 Current Provision - what the County Council does now

The County Council has a long history of supporting the visual arts through its public art commissioning in collaboration with the County's architects and environment departments' Recent commissions include the Alice Kettle embroidery in Winchester Discovery Centre, the Martin Donlin glass panels at Gosport Discovery Centre and the `Soundposts' projects led by artists Mark Ware working with visually impaired children.

It manages an Art in Offices collection of 360, mainly 2D, works of art that are hung in council premises. This collection is currently being accessioned with assistance from the museum service.

The County Council manages no major gallery space, since Southampton and Portsmouth became unitary authorities. However it has three venues with dedicated gallery spaces - Winchester Discovery Centre, the Sainsbury Gallery at the Willis Museum and Gosport Discovery Centre. All of these have government indemnity status which provides cost-free insurance and allows the public access to objects within the UK that might not otherwise be available. Winchester Discovery Centre has a dedicated curator and programmes exhibitions of national and international significance.

The Great Hall, Winchester is an early 13th century hall originally part of Winchester Castle. It displays the huge bronze statue of Queen Victoria by Alfred Gilbert (1887). Over the last twenty five years the Hall and the forecourt of the adjoining law courts have been the site for major public solo exhibitions by eminent sculptors: Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink and William Pye in the early 1980s; Michael Kenny in 1996, and more recently Anthony Gormley in 2004 and Bill Woodrow in 2007.

The County Council supports two visual arts revenue clients - Making Space and Artsway. Making Space is a purpose-built craft facility in Leigh Park, Havant providing seven studio spaces, professional development and teaching spaces for craft makers. Artsway runs a programme of international exhibitions and residencies as well as an annual open exhibition. It also runs an audience development programme and holds portfolio days for Hampshire artists.

There are a range of visual arts exhibitions initiated by Hampshire County Council, primarily through the Arts Service and Museums Service. In total, there are three arts centres and four museums in the county which regularly programme visual art or crafts exhibitions. The arts centres in Fareham, New Milton and Aldershot include exhibition programmes of local artists and schools and the Hampshire Open Studios initiative is supported through hosting the website on Hantsweb leading up to and during the annual event in August.

The Arts Activity grants run by the Arts Service are open submission so the type of activity supported varies from round to round. Out of 64 grants awarded in 2009/10 only four were specifically to support visual arts projects; a further four were for multi-art form activities of which visual art was an element of the programme.

6. Research

It became apparent in developing this strategy that in defining future development needs we needed a greater understanding of the current visual arts picture. We therefore commissioned four strands of research to inform any future development:

· Visual Arts Venue Audit - September 2008

· Exploring the notion of contemporary visual art in non-gallery settings - October 2008

· Visual artists audit - September 2009

· Sir Harold Hillier Gardens exhibition audience survey and evaluation - not completed.

The research was undertaken by Audiences South.

The Visual Arts Venue Audit focused on exhibition spaces as the central link between artist and audience and aimed to establish an understanding of the ecology of current visual arts provision. The research included both Hampshire County Council managed venues and other significant visual arts spaces on the periphery of the Hampshire borders, in recognition that artists and audiences resident in Hampshire migrate across county boundaries to pursue their interests.

The research into contemporary visual art in non-gallery settings aimed to explore the notion that a different, potentially new long term audience exists for contemporary art in non gallery settings. The main conclusions were that long term engagement with consistently good quality contemporary visual arts is likely to develop new audiences and that there is clear evidence of predisposition given the condition to explore it.

The visual artists audit received responses from over 200 artists living in Hampshire. It is clear from the research that artists have little engagement with the County Council and that they have a desire to be better networked and have opportunities to present work to an audience in the county.

The Hillier Gardens research is ongoing and was commissioned in partnership with Test Valley Borough Council.

Appendix 2b details key finding from the research.

6.2 Issues arising from the research

The key issues arising from this research are that there is:

· a lack of opportunities for people to see high quality contemporary visual art within the county boundary

· little partnership working across the county or with neighbouring venues in Southampton and Portsmouth

· a lack of curatorial skills for programming visual art in the museums and arts centres

· no reason for artists to engage with the County as there is no direct funding route or support offered

· an appetite from potential audiences to see quality contemporary visual art

· an overall lack of ambition to make a difference.

7. What we intend to do - the three year plan

Over the next three years we will commission and present new work, mining the resource that is at our fingertips and make it a distinctively Hampshire offer. We will bring in artists and curators to work within our historic buildings and sites, museums collections, country parks. Using these resources as our gallery, we intend to make a distinctive contribution to celebrating the place that is Hampshire.

Our aim is to create an expectation that our visual arts offer is distinctive and innovative and in doing so we will legitimise the temporary as well as the permanent, making new work that is inspired by our heritage and by place.

Building on our track record of public art commissioning and managing the Art in Offices collection and to ensure that we maximise resources of people, places and funds at a time when resources are limited, we will work in partnership with others. This will assist us to initiate more innovative projects and ensure that the outcomes are greater than could be achieved on our own.

We will work in partnership:

· internally with the museums, arts centres, library services, country parks and tourism offering curatorial skills to enhance programmes

· with the local district councils as well as Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils adding value for the people of the county and encouraging cross boundary working

· externally with national agencies such as the National Trust, English Heritage, British Waterways who are all developing programmes of contemporary visual art

· externally with a variety of visitor attractions such as Chawton House, Selborne, Marwell Wildlife, Roche Court, Goodwood and others.

In this way we will introduce new audiences to visual art and engage their interests in a rigorous way. We will offer participation and interpretation through talks and workshops and aim to engage other cultural providers. Working with our Tourism Section we will map out existing provision and highlight and market new and temporary activity to encourage both the local residents and visiting public.

In order to introduce our staff and members to what is possible, we intend to hold two or three seminars a year where we will invite a nationally known curator to present projects that they have worked on. This will give us the opportunity to demonstrate how artists work and add value to projects and raise ambition.

To engage with artists we propose to initiate a series of artist portfolio days, offering artists resident in Hampshire the opportunity for the critique of their work by well known curators. Initially we will work with our partners at Artsway, Making Space and Winchester Discovery Centre. Visual artists often work in isolation and crave opportunities to discuss their work with experienced curators in order to develop their practice. We will add information on our website that signposts artists to organisations that offer direct professional support and information on opportunities.

We will investigate allocating an amount out of the Arts Activity grants to offer visual artists support towards their professional development. With CIBAS and Making Space we will explore the potential for developing initiatives that offer opportunities for artists, and particularly makers, to sell their work and gain greater access to markets.

In summary we will ensure that artists are offered opportunities to work alongside our diverse communities and extraordinary places and introduce audiences to exciting new work that engages and delights.

Appendix 2c provides a more detailed activity plan.

Appendix 2a

Strategic Context - Policy Framework and environment

This strategy has been developed in the context of the current policy framework both within the county council but also in relation to districts within Hampshire and on a regional and national scale.

a) Hampshire County Council

There are three key corporate strategies that form the basis of the aims and objectives of the arts service:

Corporate Strategy - key strands:

· Hampshire safer and more secure for all - developing stronger and safer communities

· Maximising well being - maintaining and improving quality of life

· Enhancing our quality of place - protecting local distinctiveness and diversity, ensuring excellent facilities, respecting Hampshire's heritage and planning proactively for the future

Cultural Strategy - a vision for developing the cultural heritage in Hampshire to:

· Support the preservation, conservation, development and promotion of Hampshire's cultural heritage

· Enable forward looking, innovative and creative cultures to flourish in the county

· Encourage affordable and easy access to high quality cultural activities and facilities for all

· Facilitate a recognition and understanding of the history of Hampshire and its people, in the context of United Kingdom, European and world history

· Ensure that the learning opportunities offered by cultural facilities and activities of Hampshire are fully utilised

· Promote and encourage the sharing of the cultures of minority groups within the county

· Ensure that cultural activity plays an increasing role in the economy of the county in a sustainable way.

Arts Strategy 2006-2011 - key objectives to:

· Deliver the Corporate and Cultural Strategy objectives through the actions of the Arts Service and other Directorates within the Council as appropriate.

· Support the development of a sustainable and thriving arts and creative industries infrastructure in Hampshire.

· Prioritise those areas of activity where the County Council can make a real strategic difference.

· Work in partnership with stakeholders at Parish, Town, Borough, District and Regional levels to ensure that joint investments are maximised.

· Lead by example by developing strategic approaches to cross departmental working.

· Ensure that excellence permeates all activity whether supported or directly delivered.

Other strategies and initiatives which directly inform the priorities of the Arts Service are:

· Rural Strategy

· Economic Development Strategy

· Cultural Tourism Strategy

· Culture-all.

b) District Authorities in Hampshire

The District Councils are subject to broadly similar national policy drivers as the County Council although the corporate objectives of each are focused in different ways and the role that culture can play in delivering against core objectives varies quite considerably. Some districts are significant investors in cultural activity and others have little or no investment at all.

Only one district, Eastleigh has a Visual Arts Policy and dedicated post. Some districts have Public Art Policies in place.

Although there is a history of partnership working between the districts, unitary authorities and the County Council this is an area for potential development both for visual arts development.

c) Regional and National Policy

Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has established four key objectives for 2008 - 2011:

· Opportunity: Encourage more widespread enjoyment of culture, media and sport

· Excellence: Support talent and excellence in culture, media and sport

· Economic impact: Realise the economic benefits of the Department's sectors

· Olympics: Deliver a successful and inspirational Olympic and Paralympic Games with a sustainable legacy.

More specifically, in terms of the arts, the DCMS fund Arts Council England which is monitored against the following key strategic objectives to:

· Improve the opportunities available throughout England for people to engage with the arts and in particular to increase the number of people from priority groups who participate in the arts and attend arts events.

· Improve the opportunities for children and young people to experience the arts and develop their artistic and creative skills.

· Support an infrastructure of excellence producing internationally recognised artistic work across the arts sector.

· Be an authoritative development agency and advocate for the arts. To improve organisational delivery.

Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts. They are currently working to a three year plan `Great Art for Everyone 2008-2011' which includes four development priorities:

· Digital opportunity

· Visual Arts

· Children and young people

· London 2012.

Arts Council England's focus on visual arts development is based on `Turning Point: A Strategy for the Contemporary Visual Arts in England 2006 - 2016'. This is primarily aimed at strengthening the contemporary visual arts infrastructure and placing `the arts at the centre of national life and people at the heart of the arts¹

Turning Point has five priorities:

· audiences, participation and education

· support for artists

· innovation and risk

· diversity and leadership

· places, spaces and partnerships.

It aims to have the following outcomes:

· more opportunities for people to experience and engage with the contemporary visual arts wherever they are in the country

· more opportunities for artists to make new work

· a stronger culture of innovation and risk

· a more diverse contemporary visual arts sector and more diverse audiences and participants

· strengthened leadership and a stronger visual arts profession

· stronger contemporary visual arts organisations with longer-term planning and less `short-termism'

· stronger regional, national and organisation-to-organisation partnerships

· greater engagement in, and understanding of, contemporary art and its historical and cultural context.

Arts Council England has also developed a Visual Arts Policy to implement the overarching aims of Turning Point for the period of 2007-2011. The key priorities of this policy include:

· To support a more confident, diverse and innovative arts sector, which is valued by and in tune with the communities it serves

· To enable more people to take part in the arts as both audiences and participants

· To contribute to the development of the creative economy

· To help create vibrant communities across the country

· To celebrate diversity.

Crafts Council, the national development agency for contemporary crafts, aims to `make the UK the best place to make, see and collect contemporary craft'²and works to three key aims:

· To build a strong economy and infrastructure for contemporary craft

· To increase and diversify the audience for contemporary craft

· To champion high quality contemporary craft practice nationally and internationally.

More specifically, The Crafts Council is currently working to a four year plan (2008 - 2012) and by the end of 2012 aims to have:

· Increased the economic value of the sector

· Improved sustainability of makers' businesses and practices

· Higher and wider visibility for craft

· Increased awareness of craft in education

· Increased audiences for contemporary craft

· Greater acknowledgement and understanding of the value of craft practice.