Wildewire

In March, an Arse Council "Relationship Manager" reluctantly agreed to the inevitable "feasibility study" of the proposals for the building to support minority ethnic arts development in North East England that some of us creative professionals have been promoting since late 2009. "Inevitable" because it is a common Arse Council tactic to deflect creative energy by spending money on "research" whenever artists ask for action. So; £50,000 was promised to deliver this feasibility study and a consultancy who had done similar work agreed to do it. The first step in the study was to get the "Key Stakeholders"- Arse Council, local authorities etc to a pre-meeting to agree parameters: the wily consultants did not want to complete the job only to be told there were issues missing. IT TOOK NEARLY FOUR MONTHS for the Arse Council to agree a meeting and rather than the full round table planned, it was an unminuted discussion witnessed only by ...

In a bit of a fit of pique after a NEST meeting where the group refused to stand up against the Arse Council's actions and told me to "just let it go, Oscar" I reviewed a job prospect I'd previously dismissed because I thought that it would be inaccessible to me without a car. When I discovered I could get there in less time than it took me to commute to most of the jobs I had in London, I drafted an application and was really pleased to be invited to interview today. The job's in Blyth- running The Phoenix Theatre. I got there early so I could have a look around the town. I had only heard bad things from Novo Castrians- but then they tend to say anywhere that isn't Newcastle is bad! It was a lovely day and... I really liked what I saw of the town. The theatre is MUCH more than I was expecting. I had a great interview- I liked the people and thought they liked me and what I said. On the way home I began to actually hope they'd say "yes" so it...

I really "feel" for the current Chair of the Sustained Theatre National Artists Team. She is STILL striving to deliver things I had brought to the brink of completion in 2011 just before the comprehensive spending review froze Arts Council funds- things like getting the NAT properly constituted so that it can raise its own funds (for example). When I was Chair, it was the Arts Council inhibiting that development, I never understood why, apart from them perhaps fearing what we might do if we were financially independent. Now, the dissent comes from within the ranks and although I've read their objections I don't understand them. The practical upshot of this decision is that the network has no resources of its own and depends on funded organisations subsidising representatives to participate or individuals doing it themselves. A meeting is planned for the end of the month in Leicester, as the Chair of NEST I am expected to pay for my own travel (not to mention the 4...

So... One of the member of the North East Sustained Theatre Regional Hub: "NEST" came up with an idea for a festival to showcase the work of the groups members.  We had a meeting and came up with a whole list of potential projects that might make up perhaps a two week programme that could be shown first in Tyne and Wear and then in Teesside. I was pleased that something so positive was at last coming out of a group in which I was frankly beginning to lose faith: there is a facebook page, but 95% of the posts and updates are from me, of the 40 people on the mailing list responses only ever came from the same 4 or 5 people and worst of all: few of them were willing to stick their necks out re claiming the Arts Council grant for a building in support of their own development. It was decided that an application for funding would be submitted to facilitate two weeks of "Research and Development" work: artists would book "workshop" space to explore ideas and...

A LOT has happened since my last post. I have wanted to write about it, but although I don't think anyone is actually reading this stuff, I need to be... sensible. Now that the storm is passing, I want to put some record of past events in here, to form the basis of writing I intend to do in the near future. Consequently; the next few posts will be retrospective...