Agenda item

Derbyn y newyddion diweddaraf am y cynnydd sydd wedi'i wneud mewn perthynas â'r Celfyddydau yn ystod pandemig COVID-19.

The Strategic Arts & Culture Manager presented the report of the Director, Public Health, Protection and Community Services, which outlined the progress of the RCT Arts Services in serving its communities during the covid-19 pandemic 2020.

The Strategic Arts & Culture Manager provided an overview of how the service has operated since the closure of all the RCT theatres in March 2020 with live events having been cancelled or postponed. A number of services were transferred to an online platform and have been operating and reaching out to audiences of all ages since.

The Steering Group was advised that a number of Arts Service staff, Senior Management Team and wider management were re deployed to assist with the Test, Track and Protect Service with other staff supporting the Community Resilience Centres.

As an Arts Council of Wales Arts Portfolio Wales client, the Steering Group was advised of the comprehensive free programme of arts events and activities online from April to December 2020 which has resulted in the Coliseum Theatre and Park and Dare Theatre Facebook pages having exceeded 347,356 reaches combined. In addition, the Arts and Creative Industries team has also reached out to a number of children and young people via the Families First commissioned Youth Arts and SONIG Youth Music Industries programmes, Forte (funded by the Arts Council of Wales and the PRS Foundation), and Beacons (funded by Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government’s Creative Wales). 

The report provided a detailed account of the financial support provided to the Arts and Creative Industries such as the Culture Recovery Fund Freelancer Funding which had seen 181 eligible applicants who each received grants of £2,500.

In conclusion, the Strategic Arts & Culture Manager commented that for the Arts Services, 2021 would be a time of reflection, an opportunity for discussions to be held with staff, colleagues and the third sector and respond to the impact the pandemic has had on the Service and undertake a review of it processes and procedures. Information was also relayed with regards to the revenue funding strands such as the awards by the Arts Council of Wales.

 The Steering Group was provided with the opportunity to raise questions and did so concerning the impact of the pandemic on children and young people and whether future plans for Arts and Culture to work collaboratively with education, particularly through the medium of welsh. The Strategic Arts & Culture Manager advised that the future programme of work does include bilingual activity and highlighted particular strands of work which would be forthcoming.

Discussions centred around whether libraries could play a more prominent role in encouraging storytelling, competitions, from residents of all ages and local communities as there had been an increased interest in local history during lockdown.  In response, it was reported that a number of online projects have been undertaken, involving young people and a close relationship has been developed between the Library and Arts Services through a number of writing competitions and collection of old photographs for the annual anthologies.

The Chair acknowledged the talent of local authors whose worked had been published recently and how they could be celebrated and promoted through the local libraries.

Members of the Steering Group commented that although online and digital services could not replace the live performance experience for audiences, the digital services had served the communities well during the lockdown, enabling many residents the opportunity to engage with the Arts service. Many hoped the Arts Council for Wales would re set the dial to include the valleys and not just the capital.

In response to a query regarding the return to live theatres and whether audiences will need to produce vaccine cards, the Group Director Community & Children’s Services commented that it was still too early to anticipate how the return of theatres, travel will be undertaken and scientific evidence would inform the future return to live performances in theatres.

The Arts Services staff present provided an account of their experiences having been redeployed to the Test, Track and Protect Service and they stressed the importance of the work and connection with the local communities.

The Group Director, Community & Children’s Services reflected on the staff experiences and praised all council staff for their contributions to the Test, Track and Protect Service which had been established quickly and effectively. He attributed the success of the programme to the talent of the staff from the Arts Service and from across the whole of the Council and commented that the experience would change the way the Council engages with its communities.

The Chair re-enforced the message of thanks to all staff and commented that the council has been held in high regard following its response to the pandemic and the interaction of its staff with residents. He thanked Officers and members of the Steering Group for their comments and engagement at the meeting and confirmed the next meeting would be held on the 17^th March 2021 when it was hoped