Y Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chwaraeon

Adolygiad Polisi: Cyfraniad y Celfyddydau a Chwaraeon at Adfywio Cymunedol

Chapter Arts

Introduction

Chapter (Cardiff) Limited is a registered educational charity. The company manages Chapter Arts Centre and Market House (a studio complex). The centre was founded in 1971 by a group of local artists. The arts centre building, an unused school built in 1905 and in need of substantial repair, was provided by the then city council as a temporary home for the project as part of the city centre plan. With voluntary help and a little money the building became a cultural centre. Adjacent wasteland served as a car park. Other vacant buildings were brought into use and the neighbourhood saw numerous improvements as part of the local authority’s regeneration policy.

Links between arts policy and regeneration policy

The community regeneration policy was the broad framework within which the arts project could succeed. Chapter’s particular success relied on the commitment of many, the vision of the founders, the expertise of the staff and the flexibility and enterprise of an independent arts project. Importantly, Chapter was given time to develop.

How a local project contributed to regeneration

Chapter’s work and the projects it supports are now a multi-million pound business. The charity has developed over three decades to become the main promoter and producer of contemporary art in Wales. Chapter now houses theatre, cinemas, gallery and production facilities for some 50 cultural organisations including theatre companies, film companies, visual artists and arts agencies. The arts centre is also a community resource, a social space where people meet, exchange ideas and experiences. From volunteer beginnings Chapter has grown to employ 35 staff (full-time equivalents) and each day there may be a further 200 people working at the centre. The arts transformed a redundant building and brought new economic life and employment to inner city Cardiff. The process of that transformation drew together community volunteers. The regeneration impact of Chapter can be seen in many ways, for example with the development of local shops and small businesses. A small voluntary arts project has become the largest centre of its type in Europe.

Support mechanisms

The Arts Council and the local authorities have supported Chapter from the beginning. Chapter also achieves support from specialist trusts, European schemes and agencies such as Sgrîn. The main focus of the support is the artistic work, but in recent years public policy has widened the agenda to take in the community regeneration potential and achievement of the arts. With that wider agenda Objective 2 and 3 funds have been significant mechanisms for expanding the impact of Chapter’s work with a number of successful projects since 1995. The new possibilities opened up by the inclusion of the arts within community and economic regeneration are great opportunities but also pose new risks. For example, this year Chapter was awarded an Objective 2 grant after some 18 months of planning, but we declined the award as the conditions imposed were inappropriate for our work. Arts organisations have to be careful that their work is not diverted or distorted by the particular schemes designed to promote regeneration. Generally we have found that public agencies are very willing to embrace community regeneration and the arts, but only a few public agencies are well placed to assist the voluntary sector in accessing support, inter-agency co-operation is still rare and the arts and creative industries are often not well understood.

Best practice

Part of our work is to give advice to community arts projects and groups considering new arts initiatives all across Wales. Generally people come to Chapter either because they do not have access to the particular expertise they need in their locality or, increasingly, because they are concerned about the sustainability of their proposed initiative, often explicitly conceived as part of a community regeneration scheme, and they want to understand first hand the factors that contribute to Chapter’s longevity. There is an opportunity for the many arts organisations across Wales who have been successful with cross-cutting projects and inter-agency work to share the body of experience they have built up, both with others in the sector (which already occurs) but also with officers from the public agencies (which happens more rarely). Perhaps Cymru’n Creu could consider developing a 'knowledge bank’ of relevant arts organisations and consider mechanisms for ASPB staff concerned with regeneration to access this expertise. Janek Alexander Director Chapter Cardiff CF5 1QE www.Chapter.org