Bristol Beacon ‘Spread out art funding fairly’
THE woman who led the campaign to change the name of Colston Hall has welcomed the announcement of a new name, but said more meaningful action needs to be taken in Bristol.
Cleo Lake, one of the founders of the group Countering Colston in 2015, renewed her questions to the city’s authorities about how public money is distributed to arts and community organisations, in the wake of the announcement of the new name for the Colston Hall.
In her first speech as a councillor elected in 2016, Cllr Lake called for the Colston Hall name to be dropped.
Cllr Lake said she was happy with the new name, but more needed to be done.
She said: “I would like to acknowledge CEO Louise Mitchell for her leadership throughout the last few years regarding the name change. I am glad the hall is not named after a person and I am confident the new name will live out its namesake and be that beacon for arts culture and inclusivity.”
Cllr Lake said statues and names were ‘only starting points’ to tackle inequity, and more concrete things needed to be done, especially around funding.
“Changing names and toppling statues are symbolic and a step towards liberation but they are only starting points not the final destination, which is more to do with changing mindsets and toppling inequity.
“What is still not OK for me however, is beyond the rising cost of redevelopment (underwritten by the council) is the discovery that Bristol Music Trust is receiving over a million pounds of taxpayers’ money a year in unrestricted funds.
“This really grits on me because don’t forget I was the Chair of St Pauls Carnival and tried to lead the organisation through one of its most difficult periods. I recall the hoops and ‘begging’ for a small £60,000 a year towards the £250,000 cost of the landmark-free event.
“So I maintain the distribution of funds needs to be spread out more fairly and more given to cultural institutions like the Malcolm X Centre and Trinity Arts Centre. I look forward to being part of this conversation going forwards, the decisions of which lay with Bristol City Council’s Labour administration,” she added.
The call for better funding of blackled arts and community organisations in Bristol is one Cllr Lake has made repeatedly this year, along with a motion asking Bristol City Council to support the call for reparations to be made for the slave trade.
At this week’s launch, deputy mayor Craig Cheney, who is also the council’s lead on finance, admitted Bristol Beacon would need more money from the council to support the refurbishment project, because of the challenges discovered once work began.