Luke Wright, Poet
Wednesday 26th February, Watershed
I attended day two of a packed house for the no boundaries conference #nb2014. I stumbled across some great folks and made a few loose notes. If you want the detail then check elsewhere as these are just random bits that interested me. Any errors about what was said is entirely my bad translation.
Simon Meller, Arts Council, spoke about the case for public investment:
- Need to improve engagement and inequality of access
- Lots of potential for partnerships with higher education – need to measure impact and support continuing and lifelong learning
- Show the links between arts, the creative industries and employment
- We need longitudinal study to show impact
- We can work globally by opening up our collections
- Four key themes are Culture (insights, citizens, identity), Education (Primary/secondary, continuing, higher education), Society (wellbeing, health, engagement), Economy (Creative industry, regeneration, tourism)
- Question from the audience making a plea for arts to focus on the “outside” where folks are e.g. Primark
Tom Morris, Bristol Old Vic said:
- spoke of the power of narrative
- Listening to the stories the public want to tell as its happening with or without u
- Trust our artists
George Ferguson, Bristol Mayor said:
- spoke about the arts being able to bring the City together and its our duty to give a sense of belonging
- Need to sell ourselves better to the public and the politicians
- When asked what kept him awake at 4am he said it was the need for us to “provide a catalyst
York Council boss said:
- we needed to foster the creative potential
- Internationalism and diversity go together
