Arts venue rises out of shadows to face new future

Michael Alexander speaks to Dundee Contemporary Arts director Beth Bate about the reopening of DCA after lockdown and the reality of the challenging changes that have had to be made

If there’s one area that’s been keenly highlighted by the coronavirus lockdown, it’s that art and culture isn’t some decorative embellishment of life – it’s a social necessity, says Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) director Beth Bate. While the DCA has managed to run a “brilliant” and very popular online arts programme since closing its doors to the public on March 17, Beth says the two-dimensional nature of lockdown has underlined to people the health and well-being benefits of being creative – and she for one can’t wait to get back to enjoying shared cultural experiences in a safe way.

However, as DCA prepares to reopen to the public on Friday September 4 with an exciting programme of safely managed, socially distanced events, Beth is being upfront when she warns that DCA – and the entire arts sector – is facing an extremely challenging future, having been hit hard by the impact of Covid-19.

While lucky that it still receives funds from Dundee City Council and Creative Scotland – but having lost all of its earned income overnight after March 17 from the shop, cafe bar, workshops and the cinema which in itself generates £500,000 per year – she warned that even after reopening, social distancing and reduced capacities, following decades of frozen grants and cuts to funding in the arts sector, will “severely hamper” DCA’s ability to earn at the level it needs to.

“We are entering an incredibly risky trading environment – it’s a very difficult time for all sorts of cultural organisations and we are absolutely in that mix,” Beth explains.

“If you add into that, of course, the additional costs that we now have to pay to ensure we have the right levels of staffing across the building, extra cleaning, PPE – there are now additional costs that we are having to pay out, and rightly so to keep everybody safe.

“But this alongside the reduced ability to earn, in a really tough fundraising environment as well, means we face a

thecouriermagazine very challenging future alongside the rest of the cultural sector.”

Beth said the key to sustaining the DCA through this difficult period is the support of those who “know and love” it – the audiences – and to this end, a fundraising campaign was recently launched through the DCA website with the opportunity for the public to donate.

Reflecting on the “really phenomenal” year prior to lockdown, which included the centre’s highest ever number of cinema visits, the “most incredible” national and international press for exhibitions and a learning programme that had been delivering partnerships with schools and community groups across Dundee, the lockdown could hardly have come at a worst time as the centre looked forward to another busy season ahead.

Cancellations in spring included the launch of a major exhibition with Scottish artist and Turner prize winner Douglas Gordon.

It was also a difficult time with 90% of DCA staff being furloughed.

But Beth is confident that the strong foundations and support for the institution laid down before lockdown leave the DCA in a really strong position to welcome audiences back.

“We know people are really desperate to get back to DCA, because when we announced our reopening date there was an absolute flurry of goodwill on social media,” she says.

“I think it really confirmed to us that what successful arts organisations should be doing in their cities is playing that really important civic role.

“We are here for the citizens and the visitors to the city – that immense good will that came towards us when we announced the reopening date really confirmed that.

“But it’s those audiences and visitors that we really hope are now going to be able to support us when we reopen and hopefully be able to donate to the fundraising campaign as well.”

Beth isn’t a great fan of the phrase “silver lining”, but one which did emerge from the potentially cataclysmic circumstances of lockdown was the