Surviving and thriving as a business in the arts for over 25 years we learned early on in our life that we had to constantly reinvent ourselves. We set up Arc in 1984, through the Enterprise Allowance Scheme , brainchild of the Thatcher Government. And just this week I was tracked down by Toby, a young journalist who wanted to interview me about our experience of it. He told me that a similar scheme is about to be launched by the Government. The cynical bit of me chuckled with Toby as I remember thinking that this was yet another way to disguise unemployment. To set Arc up through the In 1984, we had to find £1000 to invest and this was matched by £1000 from Government and then an unrestricted payment of £40 per week (the same figure as supplementary benefit as it was known then). And it worked for Arc, it gave us an entry into business, green as we were at that stage! I hope this new modest scheme works for young people this time round, given the chronic challenges they have getting into the workplace, not withstanding the cut in EMA and increase in tuition fees. We need to encourage entrepreneurial skills, start -up businesses and tap into the imaginative capital that is alive and kicking in our borough!
Twenty-seven years on Arc is still a going concern and a primary contributor to the arts in the borough, in spite of the challenges and difficulties faced in funding, particularly at the moment.
We are lucky that in Barking and Dagenham there is an appetite for reinvention, perhaps out of necessity, but the option for standing still is not one we can contemplate. Our demographic is changing faster than ever, and the pressure on our council to maintain quality services is greater than ever with the cuts in public spending driven by central government. Never have we needed to be more imaginative and willing to harness the collective creativity and inventiveness of our community. It is a time to think of new ways of doing things through greater collaboration, merging resources, helping each other out, personally and in our businesses. The arts play a central part in this, not least because we have had to relentlessly recreate ourselves in order to survive. The skills needed to create new pieces of art are precisely the same skills needed to vision new ways of working. Creative thinking leads to action which in turn leads to the manifestation of new projects, new buildings, new services. We face some stark choices now, serious challenges to the Welfare State as we have known it, an invitation to embrace Cameron’s Big Society. Whether we like it or not this cannot be achieved without a healthy partnership between commerce, public funding and philanthropy. I am certain that our Council does not want to make many of the cuts we are facing, committed as they are to the value and importance of local services and the building of social wealth.
Councils are already the most efficient part of the public sector – a point recognised by the Treasury, Audit Commission and the prime minister – and have been leading the way in trimming the fat over the past few years by sharing services, reducing costs and making the money they do get from government go much further.
There is no question that we are into a period of austerity for the next few years, but perversely this also gives us the opportunity to forge new relationships and to work collectively to deliver even better quality by being smarter and more creative about what and how we do it.
The arts are not heavily subsidised in Barking and Dagenham , we expect to pay our way at the same time as attracting investment for activities that enhance people’s lives in the borough. A small amount of strategically placed support pays dividends and makes a contribution to the overall well-being of our residents, after all “Man cannot live by bread alone”! The arts are not just something for the elite, they are a fundamental part of being human. Lets talk!
Carole Pluckrose is Artistic Director/CEO of Arc Theatre based at the Malthouse Studios, Abbey Road, Barking. www.arctheatre.com 0208 594 1095
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