Weekend Arts College: ‘Don’t break our arts’

Published: 19th May, 2011
by DAN CARRIER

A PERFORMING arts centre that has produced a string of renowned musicians and actors over the past three decades will discover tomorrow (Friday) if it has survived a 100 per cent cut to its funding. 

The Weekend Arts College (WAC), based at the Interchange Studios at Hampstead Town Hall in Belsize Park, will find out if the Arts Council is prepared to look again at their grant application.

WAC were told last month that they would no longer receive an Arts Council grant – putting  in jeopardy the future of weekend music, drama and arts lessons that have provided low-cost creative tuition to thousands of young people in Camden over the years.

Its impressive al­umni ranges from Oscar-nominated actresses Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Sophie Okonedo, to leading jazz pianist Julian Joseph, Brit and Mobo-winning rapper Ms Dynamite, and Dappy from the group N-Dubz. 

Around 80 per cent of those who attend lessons at the college are from low-income families, and director Celia Greenwood believes that without WAC many would never get the chance to have music lessons.

Ms Jean-Baptiste, who starred in Mike Leigh’s Secrets And Lies, said: “Without WAC I would not be where I am today.”

The Arts Council does not have an appeal system, but WAC has instead submitted a complaint relating to how its case was handled. Ms Greenwood believes there are two glaring errors in the decision.

She said: “They said our management structure was unwieldy as they stated we had 20 people on our management board. This is patently untrue – we have a board of nine people.”

WAC say the figures were based on a three-month period three years ago, when they merged with Interchange.

Second, WAC say the Arts Council’s report wrongly suggests they claimed income would grow by 30 per cent in the coming year – an extremely tall order considering the current financial climate, says Ms Greenwood. The college believe growth would be in line with inflation, around 3 per cent.

Ms Greenwood added: “It is disappointing to find a body we have worked closely with over the years could produce a report that is so inaccurate.”

She said the decision sent a negative message about access to the arts in Britain, with more high-brow bodies such as the Barbican – who saw their funding increased by 108 per cent – the Royal Opera House, and the English National Opera all granted big settlements. 

Ms Greenwood said such organisations found it relatively easy to attract big corporate sponsorship deals. 

She said: “Bodies like these find it easy to raise private funding, as it is seen as a good business investment. But paying for 650 children to have a saxophone lesson each weekend is perhaps not so attractive for publicity. We have had parents on low wages offering a bit of their monthly salary to keep us going. This is while Eton school boasts on its website that it provides 1,000 hours of music tuition.”

If the appeal fails, the college has vowed to take the Arts Council to an independent ombudsman who would then look through the application with the power to overturn the decision. 

An Arts Council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have received a complaint from WAC. 

“A team of people, including regional and national representatives, will now review the complaint and report to our chief executive, who will make the final decision about whether the complaint is upheld.”