ARTS RESOURCES

(and should we commit more?)

As to the question of committing more resources – firstly we should ask, are we making best use of our current resources?

• Are the facilities truly accessible to the community and community producers?
• Would more people utilise existing facilities if community accessible programmes were employed?
• Is there maximization within the arts community in regards to invested resources?
• Are we getting a good return on investments in 3rd party resources (e.g. Dance floor in WIT, Spraoi building, Soma, Grand Piano in Large Room, Municipal recording equipment)?
• Is there a creative/economic/marketable return on investments through Arts grant schemes?
• Is the City Arts programme (e.g. Seán Dunne Festival & Awards, Artbeat, FilmLab, Culture Night, Gallery Programme etc) providing a worthwhile contribution to the arts in the city?
• Can we generate additional arts facilities through the pooling of existing arts resources?
• Is there an integrated approach to utilising resources in regards to arts within all areas of the Council?

Secondly should be asking what are the goals for further resourcing and will they measurably impact on our citizens and the reputation of Waterford? Are they to:

• Just maintain the status quo?
• Engender a creative restructuring?
• Create a national impact?

• We should also is there as role for the Council in creative partnerships with arts organisations other than financial assistance? Also whether the Council should take a pro-active, a partnership and/or a guardian approach to resources?

Short term resourcing
Over the years the Council has invested in small capital items for internal purposes. However these item’s uses have far exceeded what they were initially purchased for.

With this in mind we should:

• Continue to identify and research products and purchases.
• Develop a usage policy for equipment purchased by the Council

Measurement
There is a theory that when an arts organization is applying for a grant that by asking for the impossible you create a scenario to allow a compromise to the achievable. This leads to a position that measurement can only be made on a limited quantative basis – how many people came/were affected/participated etc. Quantitative measurement gives little or no indication on whether something achieved creative goals.

Over the past 8 years the City Council has relied on ‘A Critical Friends Report’ as a measurement of an art productions success. This has been based on the action of an art group either over a project or a 12 month period. If we are to move into a situation where we could get a negotiated, honest, achievable, creative proposal for funding we could consider prioritizing spend as well basing it over two years. From this negotiation we could then set and agree on the assessment criteria in advance. Other measures can also be brought to account, depending on the proposal, such as the long-term value of the project, did it achieve its aims/goals? On-going transparency through documentation could also be encouraged.