McMaster calls for ten-year funding and annual ‘free week’

Published Thursday 10 January 2008 at 13:20 by Alistair Smith

Brian McMaster’s government-commisioned review into excellence in the arts has called on ten of the UK’s ‘most innovative’ companies to receive ten-year funding packages, replacing the current three-year model.

The report, released by McMaster and culture secretary James Purnell today, also called for all publicly-funded organisations to hold a ‘free week’ every year, in which all admission charges were removed. This would see the current free admission practice, which is in place at museums and galleries, extended to companies working within the performing arts for a reduced period.

Meanwhile, McMaster has also claimed that all boards of cultural organisations should include at least two artists or practitioners. He also recommended that Arts Council England and other funding bodies should take a ‘more extensive and strategic approach to touring work’ and that they should find a new method of judging the output of their funded organisations based increasingly on ‘self-assessment and peer review’.

Purnell said he “wholeheartedly” supported the findings of the report. He added: “This report proposes how government and cultural funding bodies can move from measurement to judgement. The time has come to reclaim the word ‘excellence’ from its historic and elitist context, and to accept that the highest quality and the broadest audience can go hand-in-hand. The very best art and culture can change people’s lives, and everyone - regardless of their background or where they live - deserves the chance to experience the very best.

“So this report is a positive and exciting contribution to the future of arts and culture in the UK. I believe it could lead to a fundamental change in the way we view and talk about the arts in this country in the years to come. I warmly welcome it, and look forward to considering each of the recommendations in detail.”

It is understood that many of these recommendations will take some time to implement, with suggestions such as the ten-year funding cycles unlikely to be introduced until the next comprehensive spending review in three years’ time.

McMaster added: “British society today is, I believe, the most exciting there has ever been. It has the potential to create the greatest art ever produced. We could even be on the verge of another Renaissance. So we should do all we can to make this happen. That means moving away from simplistic targets and recognising instead the profound value of art and culture in itself.

“I have found a hunger in the cultural sector for public funding to be more ambitious, and to lift the pressures that favour financial and artistic safety. My recommendations are founded on the simple belief that we have a genuine opportunity to build on our success so far and create some of the most exciting culture the world has ever seen.”

For more on this story, see next week’s print edition of The Stage.