Like everyone else involved in the Arts industry, OutdoorArtsUK was very intrigued and encouraged by Keir Starmer and the Labour Party’s “Access to the arts” plan this week.
At the Labour Creatives Conference, which was held at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, Keir Starmer promised that his government would “work together, hand in glove with our creative industries” to “raise the next generation of creatives”.
OutdoorArtsUK will be looking to take up this invitation by advocating for the sector, and we welcome any comments, ideas, and thoughts from our members, too.
This line from Keir Starmer’s speech seems particularly relevant to our sector:
“We will support the arts and creative industries to create more opportunities for working-class kids and more secure jobs in the sector. Because we want the arts to be for everyone, everywhere.”
The 2018 report that OAUK co-created with Audience Agency confirmed that our artform is particularly good at reaching audiences who don’t regularly access the arts. Our carnivals, street festivals, Melas, and artworks in remote rural places are often the first and the only access to artistic work for working-class children and families. If you have any anecdotes of the impact your work has had, we’d love to hear from you. As ever, my email address is here.
As well as sending us your views and experiences, you can directly reach out to your local MPs, too. If you live in a Labour Constituency, it will be really timely to reach out. The Arts Council often encourages us to do this, and they have created an Advocacy Toolkit that gives you some ideas on how to engage with your local MP.
You can read Kier Starmer’s speech in full here.
– Sho Shibata, OAUK Director
