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Australia Council dissolves CCD Board

RANSW concerns for loss of national focus on key arts practice in regional NSW

10 December 2004

Yesterday the Australia Council for the Arts announced it would be dissolving the Community Cultural Development Board as part of a reorganisation of the Council's structures and processes planned for 2005.

The full statement on the Australia Council's website (here) states in part:

The reorganisation will see the Community Cultural Development Board dissolved and replaced by increased Council-wide commitment to arts in the community, with CCD outcomes continuing to be a vital component. The Council's Audience and Market Development Division will be renamed Community Partnerships and Market Development (CPMD), with a head of Community Partnerships appointed to coordinate and integrate - across the organisation - strategic support of CCD and other arts activity in the community, along with youth and seniors, edudcation and regional arts activities....

Artists and organisations working in arts in the community will continue to have opportunities to apply for grants through the artform boards, with applications assessed on their artistic and community engagement merits.

RANSW open letter to Australia Council

Regional Arts NSW is concerned about the possible impact of the proposed changes on the regional and rural arts sector, in particular:

• the possible loss of national (and Federal Government) recognition of and support for the importance of CCD work, which is a vital part of the arts development landscape in regional NSW;
• the disappearance of the only existing national forum for CCD practice;
• the loss or dispersal of CCD expertise within the Australia Council and
• the potential for a downfall in the number of grants for CCD work in NSW.

Regional Arts NSW has today presented its concerns to the Australia Council in an open letter to Jennifer Bott which reads as follows:

Dear Jennifer

Regional Arts NSW is the representative organisation for the network of thirteen Regional Arts Boards and Regional Arts Development Officers who provide arts and community cultural development services for over 1.7 million people in rural and regional areas of the State.

Regional Arts NSW acknowledges the significant work the Australia Council's Future Planning Taskforce has been engaged in during 2004, and understands the challenging considerations it has been faced with over the year. We also understand that the arts industry is passionately proprietorial about the Australia Council, a position that clearly does not reflect the fact that it is now 'the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body' and not the national arts industry representative. It will therefore not be surprising if the industry reacts negatively to the significant changes being made, particularly the community cultural development sector and particularly regarding the program that most directly affects regional arts and cultural development in NSW.

It is with this constituency in mind that we write to express our deep concern over the recommended strategies of dissolving the Community Cultural Development Board in favour of it becoming a component of the Community Partnerships and Market Development Division and integrating its activities into all artform boards. While we appreciate that we do not know the details of the strategies attached to these decisions, nor what the expected outcomes are for the CCD sector, we would like to express our concerns about the changes on behalf of the rural and regional sector as follows:

• While we know these decisions will not stop community cultural development in rural and regional NSW, we believe they are likely to impede their growth and diminish the benchmarking of excellence that occurs as a result of the Australia Council CCD grants programs across the nation. At a time when rural local governments are facing increased costs of delivering community services, associated with drought and cost shifting from state governments, the proposed changes will make it more difficult to argue for continued local investment.

• The restructure effectively deprives the CCD sector of a national forum in which theories and practices can be tested, discussed, debated and endorsed. It also diminishes its national profile and status with the Federal Government. The isolating and demanding nature of community cultural development practice, particularly in the regions, and its dynamic and mercurial nature, need the steadying influence of a national point of connection and the guidance of policies that set a high benchmark for CCD practice.

• Unless the existing CCD program managers' and grants officers' positions are transferred to the artform boards to manage applications for CCD projects, and unless peers from the CCD sector inform the process, decisions will not reflect the expertise or authority required to ensure that the quality of CCD projects being funded is maintained and enhanced.

• In regional areas of NSW, the majority of practicing professional artists across all arts media largely rely on income from community projects and teaching to survive in the industry. The work that they do in communities increases the exposure of rural and regional communities to the arts, and increases the market for artists' work and skills, both in rural and regional locations as well as in the cities. Any reduction of funded CCD projects will impact on the sustainability of arts practices in rural and regional NSW.

• While there has been an increase to the Regional Arts Fund by the Federal Government, and that program supports community cultural development projects and programs in rural and regional areas, the funds available are significantly less than those that have been available through the CCDB. Based on last year's figures, there is well over $1 million in CCD grants at stake in NSW, some of which have supported high quality projects and programs in rural and regional NSW.
  
  We are reminded of the unexpected impact that the amalgamation of the Visual Arts and Crafts Board had on contemporary crafts practice in Australia in the 1980s. As a result of the amalgamation, and the greater lobbying profile of the visual arts, crafts practitioners became distanced over time, lost their national focus and the national forum for crafts practitioners in Australia suffered a significant negative impact from which it is only now recovering. The profiles of non 'high arts' artforms and practices are fragile and easily shaken, and those of us who work in the CCD field are only too aware of how fragile this sector is, and the fine threads that hold it together.

Regional Arts NSW would welcome the opportunity to gain more information about the proposed new arrangements that may allay the concerns of the Regional Arts Board network in NSW, and that may encourage us to support and assist the Australia Council's decisions for these changes. Largely these questions are along the following lines:

• If the dissolution of the CCD Board is to lead to the Australia Council becoming a stronger catalyst for arts growth and development, what kind of expertise will it seek from the sector to establish clear priorities and strategies for CCD under the new arrangements?

• What arrangements are being made to ensure that applications received by other artform boards for community arts and cultural development projects from the regions are able to be assessed and considered in an informed environment that understands the processes of CCD?

• What strategies are being put in place to ensure that regional arts activities - which are not considered to be sufficiently catered for through the Regional Arts Fund - will be adequately represented in the strategic work undertaken by the Community Partnerships and Market Development Division?

In conclusion, Regional Arts NSW, the NSW Regional Arts Boards and the NSW Regional Arts Development Officers network are strong supporters of the Australia Council and welcome its consideration of the future and commitment to the development of a strong vision for the arts in Australia. We understand the need for continued assessment and analysis of the environment in which the arts survive and flourish in Australia and offer our expertise and services in support of the Australia Council's move towards offering stronger leadership in arts development.

Other responses

The Australian

The Arts Editor of The Australian, Katrina Strickland, anticipated the Australia Council's announcement in an article on 8 December entitled, 'Arts body to shed limbs as new funding dries up' which stated,

"People working in the community cultural development area yesterday expressed alarm at the thought that the board that funds community projects could be killed off.

"They argued that Australia was a leader in the use of arts to build self-esteem among disadvantaged groups, and that the ability to apply for separate funding of such projects was critical to their success."

Read the full article here.

CCD NSW

Community Cultural Development NSW (CCDNSW) was the first organisation in NSW to provide an official response to the announcement. It states:

"While the press release says that the Australia Council will continue to fund community art through its more main stream arts funds and possibly its Audience Development dept, the absence of a separate board means the silencing of dedicated ccd practitioners within the bureaucracy. These are our advocates, who have worked tirelessly for years to continue funding community based activity. Another danger is that when it comes to arts, the mainstream see communities as a market, or an audience for art, rather than active cultural makers. This is just not case."

Read the full text here.

Sydney Morning Herald

Journalist Clare Morgan's, 'Australia Council's makeover 'step backwards' in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, starts, "Key elements of the Australia Council's structural makeover have been greeted with anger and bemusement." The article includes comments from former Deputy Chair of the Australia Council, Lex Marinos and from former Chair of the Australia Council, Donald Horne, both of whom were dismayed at the announcment.

Read the full article here.

ccd.net

ccd.net, the Australian online CCD commmunity has set up an online discussion forum for its members on the topic here.