The Arts Council of England

Arts and education

Artsmark, the new national arts award for schools in England, has been enthusiastically received. The first round of awards, announced in July 2001, saw 377 schools achieving an Artsmark in recognition of their strong commitment to providing arts education. The scheme is available at three levels – Artsmark, Artsmark Silver and Artsmark Gold. It recognises and rewards schools that offer pupils a broad arts programme both within and outside the school day, and that provide pupils and teachers with opportunities to work with and experience the work of professional artists. Extensive press coverage of the first Artsmark schools heightened interest in the scheme. There are early indications that the second round will be even more successful.

Arts and health

Healthcare bodies increasingly see that the arts can play an important role in improving the quality of life for patients and staff alike. There are benefits for artists too, working in new settings and with considerable challenges to their creativity. The Arts Council announced three year funding for the National Network for the Arts in Health, which develops information and resources in this rapidly expanding field. In February 2001, the Arts Council was involved in an international conference on the arts in hospitals and healthcare, co-hosted by Britain and the French Ministry of Culture. Arising from this, we are funding a CD-ROM, available towards the end of 2001 and aimed at senior managers in the health service, highlighting the benefits of the arts within healthcare services.

Arts and the community

Now in its third year, Refugee Week is a nationwide opportunity to recognise the huge contribution that refugees have made to this country. The Arts Council has undertaken to fund Refugee Week for three years from 2001/02, with the aim of reaching new audiences for the arts and challenging negative stereotypes. Results from the 2001 week, held in June, show that the arts were a crucial part of promoting a positive celebration of refugees' culture and their contribution to UK life. Events took place around the country, and included new works from exiled artists.

Arts and criminal justice

The Arts Council works with a range of partners on programmes relating to the criminal justice system. The Arts Council has been involved with the Writers in Prisons scheme for some years and both writers and prisoners speak passionately about its value. Three year funding was announced for the Unit for Arts and Offenders, a national organisation that supports access to the arts for people in prisons, ex-offenders and young people at risk of offending as well as working with artists who are involved in these areas. The Arts Council is also funding two major conferences, one with the Gulbenkian Foundation in October 2001 and another, in March 2002, with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Youth Justice Board on the theme of young people at risk.

Arts and rural life

Public concern about issues such as foot and mouth, genetically modified foods and BSE in cattle is higher than ever before. The Arts Council has helped set up a National Arts and Agriculture Policy Forum to co-ordinate a cultural response to what is now widely acknowledged as a crisis in agriculture. The forum includes representatives from arts, rural, farming and countryside support agencies. Littoral is one of the arts bodies with which we have worked closely. Their projects have included Artbarns, digital media and the rural economy, and documentation of the foot and mouth epidemic. During spring 2001, the Arts Council published regular updates on its web site about how the crisis was affecting arts activities around the country.