The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion (2007)
NESF Report no 35, 2007.
NESF Report no 35, 2007.
Submissions received included:
Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Working Group Council of National Cultural Instiutions.
Siobhan FitzPatrick, Royal Irish Academy.
Nuala Hunt, NCAD
JoAnne Marie Mancini, NUIMaynooth
Liz Meaney, Association of Local Authority Arts Officers
Aileen Nolan, NGI
Clare Thornley, UCD
Individuals and Organisations consulted by the research Team:
Arts Council: E Reid Whyte; J Hinde; L Comer; S Bannan; S Crimmins; V Connor.
Independents: Ailbhe Murphy; M Drury; Eleonora Belfiore, Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Warwick
Voluntary Arts Ireland
Axis Ballymun
Business2Arts
Nat. Assoc. Youth Drama.
Assoc. City and County Librarians (x6)
Arts Officers (x23)
Seminar attendees included:
Tania Banotti, Theatre Forum
Jimmy Deenihan, FG
Sile Boylan, National Cultural Instiutions
John O Hagan, TCD
Emma Kelly, Arts Council
Elsie Moxham, Irish Countrywomens Assoc.
Niall O Donnchu
Willie White, Project
Members of NESF incl
Strand 3 Community/Voluntary
NWCI (Orla O Connor)
[In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], in terms of inclusive decision-making, Section 19 requires a gender balance on the board of both the National Library and the National Museum, although not on the boards of any other cultural institutions. Board members are also to be appointed with regard to their attainments or interest in certain areas such as art, craft, design, and, interestingly, social inclusion and education.
Finally, [In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], Section 23 legislates for committees to advise the museum and library on the provision of information and services to the public. This provides a good opportunity for the public to participate in this area.
[In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], the issues of charges, touring and representative decision-making are useful to address in legislation as they can all broaden access to and participation in the arts. However, as outlined above these provisions apply only to some, and not all, of the cultural institutions.
[In ‘Toward 2016’], Section 21 states that the Government will ‘support development in… arts and cultural policies at regional and local level’, and ‘make arts more accessible to all including the support of programmes in socially deprived areas’ (31).
The Department [of Arts, Sport and Tourism] does not appear to have a clear policy to increase participation by all in the arts. Its programme of work for the next three years is set out in its Strategy Statement 2005-2007 (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2005). However, its Mission Statement, which outlines the main overall aim of the Department’s work, does not include broadening participation in the arts. This is a change from the Strategy Statement of 2003, where ‘facilitating greater access to sport and the arts’ was included in the Department’s Mission Statement (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2003:p.1).
Following on from its Mission Statement, the [Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism] Strategy then lists the Department’s high level goal (the key thing it will do to implement its mission) on arts and culture. This is to: —‘create an environment that enables art and culture to flourish, through the provision of an appropriate legislative, policy and resource framework’ (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2005;p.6). Again this does not refer to increasing participation in the arts (p.32.)
Better data is also needed on who is involved in decision-making in the arts (race, gender, social class etc), to assess inclusivity in this aspect of participation.
[On Barriers to Participation in Decision-Making] There is almost no statistical evidence on the extent of participation by different groups in decision-making in the arts. However, submissions for this report did outline a number of barriers to inclusion in this area.
The reasons given for people’s lack of involvement in decision-making
in the arts included the following:
Some submissions also suggested reasons why decision-making in the arts may not be inclusive. These included:
It was also stated that mainstream (non-arts) organisations often do not realize the value of the arts and so do not have representatives in their decision-making structures who are qualified in these areas (p.24).
Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Working Group Council of National Cultural Instiutions.
Siobhan FitzPatrick, Royal Irish Academy.
Nuala Hunt, NCAD
JoAnne Marie Mancini, NUIMaynooth
Liz Meaney, Association of Local Authority Arts Officers
Aileen Nolan, NGI
Clare Thornley, UCD
Individuals and Organisations consulted by the research Team:
Arts Council: E Reid Whyte; J Hinde; L Comer; S Bannan; S Crimmins; V Connor.
Independents: Ailbhe Murphy; M Drury; Eleonora Belfiore, Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Warwick
Voluntary Arts Ireland
Axis Ballymun
Business2Arts
Nat. Assoc. Youth Drama.
Assoc. City and County Librarians (x6)
Arts Officers (x23)
Seminar attendees included:
Tania Banotti, Theatre Forum
Jimmy Deenihan, FG
Sile Boylan, National Cultural Instiutions
John O Hagan, TCD
Emma Kelly, Arts Council
Elsie Moxham, Irish Countrywomens Assoc.
Niall O Donnchu
Willie White, Project
Members of NESF incl
Strand 3 Community/Voluntary
NWCI (Orla O Connor)
[In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], in terms of inclusive decision-making, Section 19 requires a gender balance on the board of both the National Library and the National Museum, although not on the boards of any other cultural institutions. Board members are also to be appointed with regard to their attainments or interest in certain areas such as art, craft, design, and, interestingly, social inclusion and education.
Finally, [In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], Section 23 legislates for committees to advise the museum and library on the provision of information and services to the public. This provides a good opportunity for the public to participate in this area.
[In the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997], the issues of charges, touring and representative decision-making are useful to address in legislation as they can all broaden access to and participation in the arts. However, as outlined above these provisions apply only to some, and not all, of the cultural institutions.
[In ‘Toward 2016’], Section 21 states that the Government will ‘support development in… arts and cultural policies at regional and local level’, and ‘make arts more accessible to all including the support of programmes in socially deprived areas’ (31).
The Department [of Arts, Sport and Tourism] does not appear to have a clear policy to increase participation by all in the arts. Its programme of work for the next three years is set out in its Strategy Statement 2005-2007 (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2005). However, its Mission Statement, which outlines the main overall aim of the Department’s work, does not include broadening participation in the arts. This is a change from the Strategy Statement of 2003, where ‘facilitating greater access to sport and the arts’ was included in the Department’s Mission Statement (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2003:p.1).
Following on from its Mission Statement, the [Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism] Strategy then lists the Department’s high level goal (the key thing it will do to implement its mission) on arts and culture. This is to: —‘create an environment that enables art and culture to flourish, through the provision of an appropriate legislative, policy and resource framework’ (Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, 2005;p.6). Again this does not refer to increasing participation in the arts (p.32.)
Better data is also needed on who is involved in decision-making in the arts (race, gender, social class etc), to assess inclusivity in this aspect of participation.
[On Barriers to Participation in Decision-Making] There is almost no statistical evidence on the extent of participation by different groups in decision-making in the arts. However, submissions for this report did outline a number of barriers to inclusion in this area.
The reasons given for people’s lack of involvement in decision-making
in the arts included the following:
- If people do not attend arts events or become involved in making art (due for example to the barriers listed above), then they are unlikely to become involved in decision-making;
- If people do not access higher education on the arts, then they are less likely to be in a position to become involved in decision-making in the arts; and
- People may not be aware of the opportunities to take part in decision-making in the arts.
Some submissions also suggested reasons why decision-making in the arts may not be inclusive. These included:
- A lack of investigation, evaluation and research, which can prevent good decisions on inclusion in the arts;
- The lack of a coherent approach to addressing the needs of minority groups in the arts, which can lead to poor decision-making in this area;
- The number of organisations working in isolation from one another.
It was also stated that mainstream (non-arts) organisations often do not realize the value of the arts and so do not have representatives in their decision-making structures who are qualified in these areas (p.24).