North East art organisations could benefit from £44.5m funding

Apr 25 2009 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

ARTS organisations across the region could benefit from a £44.5m fund to help them through the recession.

It comes as theatres and venues in the North East admitted a “noticeable shift” in the habits of its regular customers amid the economic downturn.

Arts Council England announced the plans last night.

They are designed to be a “real, tangible help” to those struggling in the current economic climate.

The two-year investment is set to help maintain artistic excellence and will be available to arts organisations nationally. Plans were made public yesterday by council chairman Dame Liz Forgan.

The bulk of funding will be offered through an initiative entitled Sustain, which offers a £40m open application fund for arts organisations suffering as a result of the recession.

Funds have been made available by the Arts Council radically reducing its Lottery cash balances over the next two years.

Philip Bernays, chief executive of the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, said that audiences were holding up despite the economic down turn.

Its current production, Waiting for Godot, starring Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, has sold out for its week-long run, which ends tonight. But he admitted that they were “cautious” about the medium-term impact of the recession as the year progresses.

He said: “It’s about being careful and we are being careful about our marketing expenditure and programme, and our audience is holding up.

“But I think it’s clear to say that people are making decisions later and we are cautious about the medium-term impact as we go deeper into the year.”