Briefing notes for National portfolio organisations
Goal 1: artistic excellence
Goal 2: audiences and reach
Digital
Goal 3: resilience and sustainability
Goal 4: diversity and skills
Goal 5: children and young people
Monitoring and reporting
Goal 1: artistic excellence
Contents:
The Arts Council’s expectation
Talent development
Example talent development text
The Creative Case for Diversity
Fair pay
Self-evaluation practices
International
Example international text
This briefing note explains what the Arts Council’s expectations are for all National portfolio organisations for delivering Goal 1: artistic excellence, and outlines how these are reflected in the funding agreement.Funding agreements are based on organisations’ business (or programme) plans – these will be at the core of the relationship between the organisation and the Arts Council. Organisations will be expected to refresh their business plans annually (this will not require a full review by the Relationship Manager) and may wish to use this briefing note as a prompt.
The Arts Council’s expectation
As a National portfolio organisation, you should demonstrate a genuine commitment to artistic excellence and ambition. You should nurture talent andensure that artists receive proper and fair pay for their work. You should promote an artistically led approach to diversity.Where appropriate, you should support international exchange and export.
Talent development
Q: How is this reflected in the funding agreement?
A: The funding agreement specifies that:
Q: What is meant by talent development?
A: All activity that helps artists to become excellent
Great art and culture for everyone[1] states that ‘without artists there is no arts sector. Talent is our primary resource. We need to support and nourish that talent’. The term ‘artist’ includes some of the following types of creative practitioners living or working in England: dancers, choreographers, writers, translators, producers, musicians, conductors, composers, actors, directors, designers, artists, craft makers, curators, and those working with digital and creative media – all including individuals and small collectives who produce work collaboratively.
We place a particular focus on freelance and non-resident practitioners, who may include associate artists. It is recognised that many arts organisations employ professionals on the list above as salaried staff and we are rightly concerned about how their artistic talent is developed.
However, the creative development of the salaried National portfolio organisations’ workforce is considered within Goal 4 where the development of those individuals is integral to the success of those organisations.
An artist’s career is determined by a lifelong trajectory, encouraged by key opportunities or hindered by barriers along the way. There is an important link between high quality arts and cultural education and the future artistic workforce in England. Our Goal 5 work focuses on ‘high quality cultural education in and out of school’ including ‘learning experiences for, by and with children and young people’. Our Goal 1 work around talent development therefore focuses on the stages after formal education, the transition from education to work, the first few years of professional practice and further career stages.
Q: What is the scope of talent development activity?
A: It does include spotting new talent, commissioning new work, building new relationships and providing resources for these; it does not generally include the showcasing or display of existing work except where the personal artistic development process is an explicit focus.
We recognise that artists develop their practice and their careers in a number of interdependent ways, which include producing, exhibiting and touring their work. However, when focusing upon development in this context, we are thinking particularly of the following:
- space, time and resources to develop artistic practice in new ways. This might include residencies that focus on the process, not the outcome – implicitly accepting risk and possible failure – or enabling research and development
- actively seeking to spot and recognise talent; this can include competitions, open call-outs, prizes and awards
- commissions for new work which contribute to artistic development
- enabling collaborative opportunities for artists to work in new contexts, or with partners across artforms and beyond the arts
- support to artists to access new resources and skills, such as help with funding applications or reaching new markets
- relationships between organisations and artists that span beyond short-term projects to provide challenge and support (this could include mentoring)
- engagement with a community of peers offering critical feedback and support
- appropriate opportunities for feedback from the public, testing out new work and skills
- activity which proactively seeks to support a diverse range of artists at different stages of their careers
- approaches to evaluation of talent development activity which respond to the individual’s experience and seek to increase impact
.
As a National portfolio organisation you should undertake talent development activity thatis appropriate to your mission, that is evidence-based,and,where possible, is delivered with appropriate partners. This will contribute to a joined-up and strategic talent development framework for the arts sector.
Q: How should organisations present their plans?
A: Through a clear and detailed talent development programme.
We will expect your organisation to detail an appropriate talent development programmeas part of your business or programme plan. As a minimum, you should provide information covering the following points, at a level of detail suitable to your organisation:
- what talent activity will be offered
- who this is aimed at(bearing in mind those with protected characteristics from the Equality Act2010)
- what perceived sector need the activity responds to
- how the impact and quality of this activity will be evaluated, placing the personal experience of the artist foremost
Please note that development opportunities that are unpaid, such as the offer of rehearsal, exhibition space or a business skills workshop, should be distinguished from the paid opportunities your organisation offers.
Q: What will the Arts Council do with this information?
A: It will help us to map our provision for talent development.
We will use the talent development sections from National portfolio organisation business plans to help us take stock of the range of activities and artists our investment supports. By being able to see where the gaps are in terms of genre, career stage, geography and diversity, we will be better able to plan our investment strategy.
The Creative Case for Diversity
Q: How do we promote an artistically led approach to diversity?
A:We believe that our national diversity is one of our great resources and we expect the work that we fund will reflect this and will be alive to the opportunities that diversity offers.
Arts Council England observes the public sector Equality Duty 2011 and the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010.[2] We are also committed to promoting equality across differing socio-economic groups.
Diversity and equality are crucial to the arts because they sustain, refresh, replenish and release the true potential of England’s artistic talent – from every background.
We believe the diverse nature of contemporary England offers unique opportunities for artistic collaborations, innovation, risk-taking, and investment in talent development. Since 2011 Arts Council England has been working with the sector to develop an arts-centric approach to embracing diversity. This approach is known as the Creative Case for Diversity.[3]
The Creative Case for Diversity is based upon the principle that diversity,[4] in the broadest sense, is an integral part of the artistic process. It is an important element in the dynamic that drives art forward, creating opportunities for artistic collaboration, innovation and risk-taking through embracing a wide range of influences and practices.
The Creative Case for Diversity provides the catalyst for an arts-centred approach to diversity. It is not a policy or a piece of work to be viewed in isolation. It is a way of approaching how we as organisations or individuals embrace diversity in our everyday practice, across all artforms, organisation types, museums and
participatory practice.
Our arts-driven concept of diversity as opportunity represents a shift in perspective, from regarding diversity as a prescriptive aspect of equality legislation to understanding its creative potential and the ways in which it can promote long-term organisational resilience.
Q: What do National portfolio organisations need to do as part of the Creative Case for Diversity?
A: Demonstrate positive and creative openness to diverse influences.
The Creative Case for Diversity is a way of exploring how organisations and artists can enrich the work they do by embracing a wide range of diverse influences and practices. Organisations are expected to show how they will contribute to the Creative Case for Diversity through the work theyproduce, present and distribute.
We believe that with a clear approach to the Creative Case for Diversity in place, organisations will be better placed to address challenges and opportunities in relation to audience development, widening public engagement, diversifying the workforce, and refreshing leadership and governance to reflect the diversity of contemporary England across all aspects of their work.
Q: What support is available?
A: More information on the Creative Case for Diversity can be found here.[5]
Fair pay
Q: How is fair pay reflected in the funding agreement?
A: The funding agreement specifies that:
Arts Council England recognises the need to make entry routes into employment, and opportunities for people to further their careers, fairer and more accessible to all. This means that opportunities must not rely on applicants having other means of support; they must be opportunitieswhich are genuinely open to all.
Therefore, we expect our National portfolio organisations to provide proper and fair payments to the artists they work with during the funded period.
Q:What evidence does the Arts Council need?
A: We will review budgets and business plans for evidence of artists’ pay and other compensation as part of our ongoing monitoring and risk assessment process.
Relationship Managers will seek confirmation that:
- artists’ fees are in line with recognised codes of practice set by the relevant lead bodies. Salaries, fees and subsistence arrangements should be as good as, or better than, those agreed by any relevant sector. In the absence of a clear code of best practice in a sector, further time may be given in order for relevant lead bodies to undertake a process to resolve this
- touring projects include subsistence payments that are in line with standards from the relevant sector organisations
- organisations are not budgeting artists’ time donated as in-kind support. When development opportunities are unpaid, these should be distinguished from paid opportunities
- work experience and volunteer programmes are not used to circumvent the minimum wage regulations. While there is great value in giving people access to work experience, this must be arranged properly and be mutually beneficial
- Arts Council England has published guidelines to help clarify the legal obligations of arts organisations offering internships[6]
- Voluntary Arts, Volunteering England and Arts Council England published a toolkit on volunteering in the arts[7] which covers pay and job substitution
- there is a description of how fees and rates for artists have been calculated. The following organisations can provide further information:
- a-n The Artists Information Company – for visual artists:
- BECTU – for technical staff:
- Equity – for actors, singers and dancers:
- Independent Theatre Council – for theatre practitioners:
- Musicians’ Union – for musicians:
- National Union of Journalists – for writers: and
- Society of Authors – for writers and translators:
- Theatrical Management Association – for theatre practitioners:
- Writers’ Guild – for writers:
- Incorporated Society of Musicians – for musicians:
- PPL – for musicians:
- PRS for Music – for musicians:
- National Union of Journalists – for writers:
- The Society of Authors – for writers and translators:
Q: How will fair pay for artists be monitored?
A: Relationship Managers will test delivery and flag non-compliance as a risk.
As part of regular monitoring Relationship Managers will test how well National portfolio organisations are delivering fair pay and artist development plans, flagging non-compliance on the Arts Council’s risk register.
Self-evaluation practices
Q: What are we expecting to see?
A: At least one form of self-evaluation along with evidence that it informs business and artistic planning.
We expect National portfolio organisations to demonstrate at least one form of regular self-evaluation. The outcomes of self-evaluation should inform business planning and be used to enable continuous improvements to the quality of the work. National portfolio organisations can refer to our self-evaluation[8] toolkit for further support to help re-evaluate their business model.
We are also currently supporting the sector to develop a quality metrics framework that invites consideration of quality from self, peer and public. We may roll this out nationally during the 2015–18 funding period and we mayexpect all National portfolio organisations and Major partner museums to embrace it.
Further information on the quality metrics framework can be found on our website.[9]
International
Q: What is meant by international?
A: An active engagement with audiences and artists from all over the world.
Great art and culture for everyone includes a commitment to demonstrating England’s status as a world centre for cultural excellence. In practice this means that artists, arts organisations and museums based in England are exporting work internationally, and that visitors cite the arts and culture as a main reason they visited England.
We also want to support cultural exchange. The public should have regular opportunities to enjoy the best of international arts and culture, and we want the best of our arts and culture to find new audiences overseas.
We welcome activity across borders within the UK, but when we talk about international working, our primary focus is on activity from outside the UK that will be taking place in England, or activity from England taking place beyond the UK.As part of the application process, we asked organisations to tell us how they would seek to export their work internationally and attract audiences from around the world to their organisation/consortium.
Q: What is the scope of international activity?
A: Both incoming and outgoing activity, including touring, partnerships, residencies or exchanges that take art and culture across international borders.
International includes both incoming and outgoing activity. It covers touring, exhibiting, taking part in festivals, residencies, exchanges, digital showcasing or creation/distribution with international reach, co-commissions, networking, brokering and showcasing work internationally.
Q: What do we expect from National portfolio organisations?
A: Clear information regarding international activity in organisations’ business plans.
If an organisation plans to work internationally– taking activity out of the country or bringing activity in – then as a minimum, it should provide information that covers the following points at a level of detail appropriate to the organisation and its business plan:
- what type of international activity will be offered?
- the measurement of income from international work – how does it contribute to the business model and what proportion of the total revenue does it represent?
- estimates of audiences for international work
- marketing or outreach targeted atattracting overseas audiences, and/or any CRM data held on visitors from abroad
- arecord of countries the organisation plans to visit
- partners (UK and international) involved, either as funders or co-creators. We are particularly interested in work with the British Council and/or UKTI around export, or in any involvement in applications to Creative Europe
Q: What will we do with this information?
A: It will help us to map the extent and value of international arts activities, for the benefit of all our stakeholders.
We will use the information organisations provide to develop a picture of the culturaland economic value of international activity. We will aggregate export income. We will learn – and share with organisations –more about how international income contributes to resilience. We will track audiences and partner relationships built globally and share these with National portfolio organisations and other stakeholders.
Goal 2: audiences and reach
Contents:
The Arts Council’s expectation
Building audience through SMART objectives
Notes for service, umbrella and networking (SUN) organisations
Sharing data: best practice and Audience Finder
Data sharing agreements
The Arts Council’s expectation
As a National portfolio organisation, we expect you to show how you are sharing your work with as large and wide an audience as possible, including those who are currently least-engaged with arts and culture. You should help to raise the public appetite for quality work and collaborate with partners to increase the number and range of people experiencing and participating in great art. We expect you to make the most of opportunities (including digital technologies) to increase the depth and quality of experience among those accessing their work.
All National portfolio organisations are expected to contribute to developing a bigger and more informed audience for arts and culture as a whole. In order to help achieve that, you will be committed to shared approaches (across arts and museums) to the capture, sharing and reporting of audience data.
Q: How is this reflected in the funding agreement?
A: The funding agreement specifies that: