Room at the Top: Public lecture series
Once a month on a Monday evening speakers from a broad spectrum of the cultural sector will come to the School of Arts to share their thoughts and experiences and debate current issues in cultural policy making.
Once a month on a Monday evening speakers from a broad spectrum of the cultural sector will come to the School of Arts to share their thoughts and experiences and debate current issues in cultural policy making. The aim is to capture policy ideas, development and implementation wrapped in personal narratives from a variety of cultural perspectives. Together, speakers represent snapshots of a cultural landscape that is continuously asked for validation, reassurance and critical discourse. In six lectures and conversations speakers address topics as diverse as what drives artistic vitality in theatre, how one negotiates commercial scrutiny in TV and why tangible impact means success in the world of philanthropic giving. Furthermore, flexibility is questioned when the glass ceiling of the arts labour market meets ambitions for promotion and when local government arts funding is discussed as an oxymoron. Last but not least, festivals are on the agenda, where we will be exploring their fashionable status and querying their unifying community spirit.
We invite you to join the debate. Come and participate, discuss and care for the Arts.
Lecture 1: The Artistic Case
- Amit Sharma, Associate Director of Graeae Theatre Company
Time: Monday 11 January 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL G16
Graeae is one of the leading companies that tours world-class, diverse, high impact theatre. Having received unanimous acclaim from critics and audiences at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for directing The Solid Life of Sugar Water, which will open at the National Theatre in February 2016, Amit Sharma will make the artistic case, asking what policy achieves when drawn between growing interest and dwindling resources. His talk reflects on the rising profile and desire to work and collaborate with Deaf and disabled artists, and what impact funding cuts will have for individual artists, disabled-led theatre companies and the wider theatre world.
Interview 2: Arts Programming at SKY TV
- Philip Edgar Jones, Director Sky Arts
Time: Monday 08 February 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL B20
In February we move to the private sector and focus on arts programming in commercial television, discussing the prospect of ‘good’ arts with Philip Edgar Jones, director of Sky Arts. Philip will share insights into how well the arts fare in a demand-driven environment. Our own Jane Quinn and Sarah Scarsbrook, School of Arts research students, will be interviewing Philip about perceptions of programming strategies and their implementation as well as examining the intricacies of day-to-day management of a global art producer.
Lecture 3: Tangible impact in policy making
- Shonagh Manson, Director Jerwood Charitable Foundation
Time: Monday 14 March 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL G16
In March our attention turns to private support for the arts and associated policy initiatives. We are fortunate to be able to welcome Shonagh Manson, director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, an independent grant-making foundation. Part of the Jerwood family, the Foundation works with emerging artists, aiming to develop and grow professional development opportunities across artforms. Shonagh will talk about the diversity of policy making that is applied to achieve tangible projects while fostering artistic freedom.
Lecture 4: Promotion in the Arts
- Marion Friend, MBE, Consultant and trainer
Time: Monday 25 April 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL 417
In this interactive lecture we will work through some issues that may be hurdles for our personal and professional development. For example, we will be looking at the practicalities involved in taking that next step in a career and identifying barriers to promotion in the arts. We will also be questioning our understanding of the sector and what it takes to move from one subfield into another, besides the often quoted “transferable skills”. Issues in building confidence and resilience will be discussed as well as the relevance of experience and qualifications.
Lecture 5: Local Government sustaining the Arts – An oxymoron for heretics
- Carole Stewart, Assistant Director Arts Heritage and Libraries, London Borough of Ealing
Time: Monday 16 May 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL 417
Local government in England invests more in the arts than the Arts Council. The November 2015 comprehensive spending review will see funding to local government fall by a further 24%. Councils are having to make difficult decisions about what services they continue to maintain and to what level. The arts are not statutory services, so on what basis can they be sustained? How is local government support for the arts changing? What will the future look like? Carole will talk through the changes and the ways in which councils are responding to the choices in funding and sustainability for the arts.
Lecture 6: Colouring Life – a Festivals extravagance
- Jo Vidler, Director Secret Productions Ltd
Time: Monday 27 June 2016, 6pm
Location: Malet St, MAL B18
Festivals are everywhere, and everything is a festival. Although some events have been affected by the recent financial climate, many are flourishing. Jo Vidler will speak from her vast on-the-ground experience in launching and running many of the UK’s bestknown music festivals, discussing the best ways to put new ideas into practice, while creating a niche for a special event that stands out from the rest. How do you create an outstanding experience for the participants -as well as being financially successful?