Lasting regeneration (From The Oxford Times)

Lasting regeneration

8:00am Thursday 31st May 2012 in Letters

Sir – As Oxfordshire Artweeks draws to its close we have to be proud of the wonderful evidence of local creativity it has yet again revealed. In difficult economic times it is worth remembering and celebrating the capacity of individuals to make beautiful and worthwhile objects for both use and contemplation.

So a plea from the performing arts sector in Oxford, similarly full of creative talent and positive aspiration, but whose output is both more collaborative and physically ephemeral: bringing our work to the public needs larger shared spaces.

For performers to become independent of ever-diminishing public subsidy we need to be able to generate ticket income to cover the costs of production and presentation, and to be able to build audiences progressively.

Currently Oxford, despite two major universities and pretensions to cultural leadership, has virtually no provision of performing spaces between the tiny and intimate offering up to 150 seats, and major touring venues such as the Playhouse and the New Theatre. Bridging the chasm between the uneconomic experimental and the commercially viable is impossible for local companies and emerging artists and forces them to seek professional survival elsewhere. Far-sighted investment in arts infrastructure spearheaded by Tracey Emin and Tate Contemporary is now bringing economic and social renewal to Margate.

Learning from this example Oxford’s planners and developers should give serious consideration not to yet more retail, but to the building of professional standard municipal performing arts facilities in the heart of the city.

This would provide a lasting regeneration, promote growth and employment through development of an area of activity where local people have much to contribute, and give enduring reasons for visitors not only to come but to stay.

Susie Crow, Ballet in Small Spaces, Oxford

Comments(1)

YetAnotherArtist says...
12:58pm Mon 11 Jun 12

This is a problem that also afflicts the visual arts in Oxford. There simply isn't a proper arts centre here. Try to start a conversation with the Arts Council on the topic and they just say: "But you've got Artweeks, haven't you?", as if a semi-professional open-studios event of 2 weeks duration (originated in response to the lack of exhibition facilities) can replace essential infrastructure such as studio complexes, performance facilities for Live Art, multi-artform and performance events, an arts library, conference facilities, customer facilities such as cafes, etc. etc.
I see the problem as simply being that Oxford City is an extremely conservative place, dominated by an elitist University and its professorial staff and a City Council devoted to promoting an economy solely based on "heritage-tourism" . The "Great and the Good" of Oxford are much more interested in the medi-aeval collection at Christchurch Picture Gallery, and the classical renditions of the Oxford University Music Society, than they are in cutting-edge productions that challenge the social status-quo.
Meanwhile the less-than-great-and-
good of Oxford are too bound up in short term returns on their property investments to be interested in a long-term public investment in cultural infrastructure.
There is, or was, a beautiful ruined old mill in Oxford, of the kind that have been successfully converted into arts centres in towns like Banbury - a listed building on the river waterfront, close to bus and railway stations. 20 years ago I approached the owner about the possibility of converting it into an arts centre.
His reply was to this effect: It's a listed building, so I can't knock it down, all I can do is wait for it to fall down. When that happens, I'll have prime real estate on the waterfront on which I can build a development of luxury flats. Then I'll be very very rich indeed, much richer than I would be if I sold it to you as a potential arts centre.
That, to me, summarises the problems facing creative professionals in Oxford.

This is a problem that also afflicts the visual arts in Oxford. There simply isn't a proper arts centre here. Try to start a conversation with the Arts Council on the topic and they just say: "But you've got Artweeks, haven't you?", as if a semi-professional open-studios event of 2 weeks duration (originated in response to the lack of exhibition facilities) can replace essential infrastructure such as studio complexes, performance facilities for Live Art, multi-artform and performance events, an arts library, conference facilities, customer facilities such as cafes, etc. etc. I see the problem as simply being that Oxford City is an extremely conservative place, dominated by an elitist University and its professorial staff and a City Council devoted to promoting an economy solely based on "heritage-tourism" . The "Great and the Good" of Oxford are much more interested in the medi-aeval collection at Christchurch Picture Gallery, and the classical renditions of the Oxford University Music Society, than they are in cutting-edge productions that challenge the social status-quo. Meanwhile the less-than-great-and- good of Oxford are too bound up in short term returns on their property investments to be interested in a long-term public investment in cultural infrastructure. There is, or was, a beautiful ruined old mill in Oxford, of the kind that have been successfully converted into arts centres in towns like Banbury - a listed building on the river waterfront, close to bus and railway stations. 20 years ago I approached the owner about the possibility of converting it into an arts centre. His reply was to this effect: It's a listed building, so I can't knock it down, all I can do is wait for it to fall down. When that happens, I'll have prime real estate on the waterfront on which I can build a development of luxury flats. Then I'll be very very rich indeed, much richer than I would be if I sold it to you as a potential arts centre. That, to me, summarises the problems facing creative professionals in Oxford. YetAnotherArtist

Report this post »

Lasting regeneration (From The Oxford Times)

Letters RSS Feed

Lasting regeneration

click2find

Jobs

Dating

Homes

Cars

About cookies