At a time when the arts are imperilled in way seldom seen before, it is extraordinarily good news to see so many of our current and past arts clients being supported by the UK government via DCMS, Arts Council England, and the Culture Recovery Fund.
These include in alphabetical order…the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (awarded £1,380,023), The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (awarded £2,999,999), The Orange Tree Theatre (awarded £770,538) The Unicorn Theatre (awarded £245,000), and the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (awarded £1,187,530).
The allocation is the biggest tranche of funding distributed to date from the Culture Recovery Fund, bringing the total amount of grant funding awarded so far to more than £427 million. Further funding for organisations is due to be announced in the coming days and weeks.
Arts Council England state “The funding will help 1,385 theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues survive the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic which have had a fundamental effect on so many arts organisations.”
For many cultural institutions, Covid-19 has raised issues of their very survival and it is clear that this grants programme has provided an unprecedented lifeline for our nation’s cultural infrastructure.
With the announcement this afternoon of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine in the offing, perhaps a corner has at last been turned.
For the arts it suggests that the journey back to some form normality may at last be starting, with the world class art exhibitions, theatre, opera and music for which the UK is justifiably famous, being staged once more…………….We cannot wait!