Arts and Culture Plan for South Australia released by Steven Marshall
Alternative funding sources and indigenous art will play big roles in the State Government’s new Arts & Culture Plan, a long-term vision prepared by former Australia Council chief executive Tony Grybowski.
Entrepreneurial non-government funding models and strategic collaborations are on the agenda for South Australia’s arts industry in the State Government’s new Arts & Culture Plan.
Current funding structures and assessment processes will remain in place until 2021, when the government will review funding models and decide on any changes.
Clear rules for local companies to access the Festival Centre’s venues and an annual schedule of festivals are among other key recommendations accepted by the State Government as part of its five-year plan.
The 128-page, $385,000 report` was compiled by former Australia Council for the Arts chief executive Tony Grybowski and strategic consultant Graeme Gherashe in the first half of this year, and accepted submissions from 2500 organisations and individuals across the state.
“The big one is entrepreneurial funding models – not looking to government for funding, increasing collaborations and partnerships,” Mr Gherashe said.
Premier and arts minister Steven Marshall said it would also “consider” doing feasibility studies for creation of a concert hall for orchestras and a multipurpose black box theatre.
The government’s response either accepts or supports in principle most of the report’s 45 recommendations, but it has not committed to funding for any new projects.
“It’s a massive workload that we have over the next five years to implement this Arts & Culture Plan, but it’s a really important piece of public policy that we want to crack on with,” the Premier said.
Indigenous culture is also a focus of the Arts & Culture Plan, which was released at the recently opened commercial APY Gallery in Light Square, that sells work by artists from the state’s Far North and channels income back into those communities.
“In many ways, the story of this gallery is what we are hoping to achieve with this Arts & Culture Plan as well – a fully integrated focus on the arts,” the Premier said.
A proposed Aboriginal Art and Cultures Gallery and upgrades to existing indigenous collections storage, both funded in this year’s State Budget, remain at the centre of the government’s plan.
“We know that there are massive impacts economically on the state from arts, as well as culturally and socially,” Mr Marshall said.
It is almost 20 years since the last arts plan was prepared for the state.
Nice ideas, shame about the details
Analysis — Patrick McDonald
The lack of tangible projects, funding decisions or organisational restructures to accompany the release of the State Government’s five-year Arts & Cultures Plan is a let-down.
While it has accepted or “supported in principle” most of the report’s 45 recommendations, the bulk of these are simply to further investigate or review individual areas of activity.
There are many positive recommendations from what is a comprehensive and inclusive review, including proposals to digitise the collections of our cultural institutions, develop Aboriginal art centres and infrastructure, and devise export strategies for our creative industries.
However, the only go-ahead from the Government is to further explore these ideas.
Those recommendations which have been given a solid commitment – such as developing an annual festival schedule and working with stakeholders to ensure local companies have access to the Festival Centre’s stages – are modest refinements to existing processes.
Of most interest and potential concern to arts companies will be the push for them to pursue non-government sources of funding and develop more collaborations and partnerships.
This, coupled with recommendations that foreshadow changes to funding and assessment processes in 2021, could mean that arts companies will be increasingly expected to pay their own way. Many arts companies already find themselves more frequently required to pool resources.
At the very least, the Government could have committed to feasibility studies for a long-overdue concert hall to house the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and other acoustic music performances, and for a new multipurpose or “black box” theatre. Instead, its response is only to “consider” undertaking those studies.