Arts Council Of Ireland

Developing the Governance, Independence and Decision Making of a State Agency

Presentation by Orlaith McBrideDirector/Chief Executive Officer

1951 Arts Act established the Arts Council charging it with

• stimulating public interest • promoting knowledge, appreciation and practice• assisting in improving standards in the arts

2003 Arts Act reiterated those three key purposes and re-calibrated the relationship between the Arts Council and Government.

It underlined the autonomy of the Council as the expert body for funding the arts, steering their development, and offering advice on arts and cultural matters to Government.

Arts Council Remit

• Stimulate public interest in the arts• Promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts• Assist in improving standards in the arts• Advise and assist the Minister in the performance of his functions• Advise Government • Furnish advise to a public body in relation to any matter relating to its

function

Arts Act 2003

• By supporting artists to make work of excellence• By enabling people to experience the arts• By working with partners and stakeholders• By advising and advocating

Our mission is to support and develop the arts in Ireland

The Arts Council

The Arts Council

Genres & Disciplines Organisational Functions

Arts Areas x 20

Actions x 4 Pillars

Actions x 4 Pillars

3. Investment

Grants to organisations[Recurring and Non-recurring]

Awards to Individuals[Cnuas (Aosdána); Bursaries; Commissions; Projects; Residencies;Travel and Training]

Schemes[Festivals and Events; Young Ensembles; Touring and Dissemination; DEIS]

Initiatives[Arts Audiences; Raise; Laureate na nÓg; Ireland Chair of Fiction]

Actions x 4 Pillars

People

Audiences 1. Regular 2. Occasional

Audience Development Agenda

[Research, Information and Actions]

Publics 1. Those engaged as participants2. Specific constituencies 3. Those not attending/engaging

National – Regional – Local

People & Places

Arts Council Resources

Number of recurring funding relationships 2008 and 2014

Number of annual non recurring awards and schemes

• 120 – number of different awards and schemes across a range of artforms and arts practice areas.

• 850 - awards made to individual once off projects/individuals decided by peer panel assessment in 2013.

Grants Committee - Council members consider recommendations on all regularrecurring grants annually. Recommendations prepared by theexecutive including the staff and the external adviser (engagedover a 3 year period to ensure ‘new thinking’ contributes to strategy, policy and decision making).

Independent Peer Panel Practitioners from the sector and chaired by a member of Councilmake decisions on all non recurring funding. This ensures thatexpertise and diversity from the sector and current trends in practice contribute to decision making on what is funded.

Decision Making

• Allows a diversity of expert views to inform decision-making process and entrusts the arts community thus ensuring greater openness and transparency

• Council agrees list of panellists annually• Each panel is composed of up to 5 external assessors.

Arts Managers present during meeting. Member of Arts Council acts as an independent Chair

• Peer panel members use their expertise and knowledge to assess, score and make decisions on funding in line with published criteria consistent with overall policy and strategy

Peer Panels

Arts Act 2003 – articulates that the Arts Council is independent inits functions

Government appoints Council Chair and members every five years

Liaise regularly with Department of Arts and work together on arange of areas of common interest but the development of ArtsCouncil policy and all related strategies/decisions including fundingare exclusively the role of the Council

Annual Grant to Arts Council made by Government with noAttached directives/instructions

Relationship to Government

No National Cultural Strategy – vacuum. Necessary to ensure cohesion and affirm delineation of roles and areas of responsibilityfor all public agencies including Arts Council and GovernmentDepartment.

National Cultural Strategy

Commissioned an Independent Review to ask a number ofquestions:

• Is the Arts Council operating as effectively as it can? • Is the Arts Council delivering on its statutory remit?• Is the Arts Council operating to the highest governance

standards in terms of decision making and processes in terms of measuring the impact of investment and development?

• Is the Arts Council as expert an agency as it can be?• Is the Arts Council meeting the needs of the arts sector?

Arts Council Strategic Review 2014

National Arts PolicyVacuum / Stasis

• The arts and wider civil society / public policy and provision

• The internal world of arts and culture

Public FinancesAC € to remain as is

• Change cannot be contingent on more €

• Change might leverage more €

Key Findings of Strategic Review

Professional Arts Sector

•Primary Focus of Arts Council is professional arts sector

• Section 24 of Arts Act (dispersal of monies) is chief strategic focus of the Arts Council and commands most corporate effort

Key Findings of Strategic Review

Key Findings of Strategic Review

Public a secondary concern: largely conceived of as audiences for professional arts……….with several consequences:

•production / consumption model > engagement / participation

•arts a feature of social exclusion

•digital challenge & potential under-explored

•arts planning lacks demographic dimension

•low investment in children/young people in Arts Council areas of responsibility

•risk of ‘disconnect’ between ‘Arts Council Arts’ and public who engage with arts in different ways

Profile and Pattern of Funding• some funding relationships (over) determined by history / precedent

• ongoing funding of 47 arts centres / venues unsustainable

•80% Arts Council € in established funding relationships / 20% ‘new & experimental’

•limited investment in data & information impedes accountability and advice

• little commitment to research

•extremely low investment in development/promotion/advisory functions

Quality• Current definition meets with general approval• Arts Council peer assessment does not apply to grants / unlike international ‘best practice’

Corporate Effectiveness• critical commentary in relation to Arts Council decision-making particularly in relation to the Board:

o issues in relation to conflicts of interesto confusion in relation to procedures in decision-makingo excessive corporate effort particularly at Board level on funding > policy / strategy / planning

Engagement and Communication• Need and appetite for ongoing dialogue about the arts across society• Arts Council take on ‘thought leadership’ role nationally

Proposals

Be the Development Agency for the Arts focussed on the Public Good

1.Develop new strategy which sets out:

•Goals and Objectives of Arts Council as the National Arts Development Agency

•Limited number of priority areas (including children and young people)

2. All actions, decisions driven by strategic objectives & priorities

Make policies and strategies that are explicit and connected

•Have clear policy positions on key areas within whole arts environment

• Develop a spatial strategy (defining national / regional / local)

• Develop precise policies and detailed strategies for each arts area

•Ensure all strategies have priorities / objectives / outputs / outcomes

• Clarify to all stakeholders that strategic / selective = ‘hard choices’

• Underline that the Arts Council values whole arts environment and not just areas in receipt of funding

Change its investment strategies and behaviours…

• Publish and implement an investment strategy (overall and individual areas)

• Make clear budgetary effects of required re-balancing x 4

o Infrastructure / fixed costs and programme activity

o National and regional / local

o Established orgs / new artists and new work

o Direct investment in arts sector / actions to develop the arts

• Strengthen strategic relationship with local government / change funding relationship with individual local authorities to reflect new Arts Council strategy and especially spatial strategy

• Make Arts Council strategic priorities and objectives central to all funding agreements with arts organisations and partners

• Ensure all funding agreements and relationships target, monitor and measure outputs and outcomes

Be well-informed and evidence-based

• Invest in a data and information programme to improve

o Strategic planning

o Evaluating and reporting

• Increase commitment to research to

o Underpin role as lead agency

o Ensure advice and promotion are evidence-based and well-informed

• Encourage Irish research community to develop arts expertise and develop national and international research partnerships

Strengthen AC Capability and that of the Arts Sector

• Focus commitment / expertise of Arts Council members on policy / strategy / planning and oversight of programmes

• Ensure staff and advisers provide Arts Council with range of expertise / depth of knowledge required for Arts Council as effective development agency

• Advise Minister re benefit of broader membership to encompass perspectives / expertise required for Arts Council as effective development agency

•Support a more resilient and resourceful arts sector by supporting professional development, strategic partnership, joint actions, shared services

Engage widely and communicate openly

• Make the Dialogue and Communications process of the Strategic Review an ongoing feature particularly with the arts sector

• Widen circle of arts conversation to include those outside the ‘arts world’ to benefit from its interests and experiences

• Work to fold the arts into appropriate forums and events especially those outside the arts where public good is a particular focus

• Ensure that in all its communications Arts Council represents itself as the development agency for the arts with a primary concern to serve the public

Final Remarks• Maintain a strong relationship with Government but one that clearly respects the autonomy

and independence of the Arts Council

• Ensure decision making is open and transparent and that the external expertise of the arts sector/arts practitioners is involved in the decisions.

• Communicate and dialogue with the public (s) including the sector on an on-going basis demonstrating the leadership and expert role of the Arts Council and the broader impact on the arts to society

• Develop an integrated framework that clearly articulates the strategic priorities/goals of the Arts Council corporately aligned to clear funding decisions/agreements that can also capture and measure key deliverables, outcomes, impacts and indicators to meet the needs of the Arts Council in articulating its argument(s) for public funding

• Invest in research and development initiatives that support public value/investment arguments