The Stage

ACE launches revamped diversity strategy

Published Tuesday 13 September 2011 at 17:37 by Natalie Woolman

Arts Council England is looking for “agents of change” to make the cultural sector more diverse as part of a strategy launched this week.

The Creative Case is ACE’s new approach to equality and diversity that is to be embedded into the organisation’s ten-year plan, Achieving Great Art for Everyone. At a conference held to launch the report, ACE head of diversity Tony Panayiotou said he was seeking people and organisations to work with the arts council to make the Creative Case a reality.

He said: “We will identify agents of change across regions and art forms that have a proven track record in an artistic approach to diversity. They may be individuals, beacon organisations, groupings or existing networks.”

Panayiotou also pledged to make the culture sector more diverse through leadership development and by supporting a wider range of partnerships.

He said: “We will support the development of a more diverse leadership cohort, by that we mean there is a substantial underdevelopment of diverse leaders especially within the BME [black and minority ethnic] and disability arts communities. Our efforts in this area are therefore aimed to address greater support for BME and disabled artists for their own professional development and also to encourage diverse leadership at all levels of the arts ecology. This applies to both the artistic and operational aspects of any organisation.

“We will support a wider range of collaborations. The arts council is aware that collaborations between artists and organisations from diverse backgrounds in the mainstream is limited.”

ACE will also support open networks with the aim of making the sector more accessible to people from diverse backgrounds. Panayiotou said the arts council will also change internally.

He added: “We will change ourselves. The arts council itself needs to become an organisation that reflects the society that it serves. We will be a more informed and diverse organisation at all levels.”

The launch of the Creative Case follows the publication of Beyond Cultural Diversity - The Case for Creativity, a report published by Third Text that focuses on the visual arts sector.

ACE is scheduled to publish its equality scheme and action plan in April 2012, which will set out the specific tasks the organisation will undertake over the following three years. The new national portfolio organisations must develop their own action plans by April 2013.