‘ Relief’ as council gives grant to city’s CCA but arts sector needs help
THERE is a feeling of “great relief” for bosses at t he Cent r e for Contemporary Art s ( CCA) after Glasgow councillors agreed to hand over more than £ 90,000 to the struggling arts venue.
The Covid- 19 pandemic has pushed the popular cultural hub “very close to the edge financially”.
Glasgow City Council’s cash will help to save the CCA and, for that, there is gratitude.
But for Francis McKee, the venue’s director, there is also concern, for the third sector as a whole and for Glasgow’s arts scene.
He wants the council, governments and arts organisations to work together to protect the city’s “internationally recognised art community”.
On Thursday, city councillors agreed to give £ 93,000 to the CCA, £ 435,000 to the Citizens Theatre and £ 195,000 to the Tron Theatre.
The three venues, which had all previously received council grants, missed out on money under the new, controversial and oversubscribed Communities Fund.
But, following protests, a £ 4 million transition fund was launched to help some key groups – and the City Treasurer, Ricky Bell, pledged future proposals to support arts organisations.
The money has been taken from underspends, due to Covid- 19, in other funds, such as civic hospitality.
Mr McKee said the CCA was “very grateful” for the £ 93,000 allocation.
But he believes the organisation has a responsibility to keep advocating for the many organisations which have “lost funding and are struggling”.
“We exist in a wider ecology,” he said. “We need these places to exist.”
He appreciates the city council is “trying to respond to everything” and admits arts organisations can “feel guilty” asking for support.
But if arts organisations can’t be saved, there is a “huge knockon effect” for Glasgow, he said.
It is important to have an “indigenous” arts scene, Mr McKee added, without one “you are looking at America, London, Paris, Berlin”.
The council money will help the CCA to deliver an open source programme, allowing individuals and groups to programme their own events across the building for free.
But the sector needs more, Mr McKee said. CCA doesn’t have the capacity, especially with social distancing, to support all organisations.
He said the Scottish Contemporary Art Network had been lobbying the Scottish Government for funding.
The CCA has reopened since lockdown, with people glad to have access to the space again, but an entire programme had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
Mr McKee hopes it can be rescheduled for April next year until April 2022. “Getting people back into spaces is important,” he added.
He said operating is “experimental” at the moment – and the rebuild can be “exciting”.
“What does the art world need? Is it the same culture? Do people want to make the same work in the same way?”
The CCA was also forced to close just two years ago, following the devastating fire on Sauchiehall Street.
And, while the director will not be making any predictions about what the future holds this time, he said the venue has proved it’s adaptable.