Nicholas Serota News

he Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has appointed Dawn Airey CBE as Chair of Arts Council England for a term of 4 years. Learn more here!

130 cultural venues, museums and libraries are set to benefit from a £127.8 million funding boost, helping to ensure that everyone can access arts and culture in the places they call home.

Marcus Davey CBE announced that he will step down as CEO and Artistic Director of the Roundhouse after 26 years leading the organisation. 

This week's newsletter navigates a complex landscape for the theatre industry, from the immediate shockwaves of NEA grant terminations and their profound impact on individual organizations, as detailed by Cara Joy David, to A.R.T./NY's revealing 'Health + Wealth' report offering both stark realities and paths toward resilience in a challenging post-COVID environment. On Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber's potential acquisition of the former Mark Hellinger Theatre and the celebration of the Broadway League's latest award winners. Regionally, we see both ambitious growth with the announcement of David Rockwell's new magic theater in Chicago and concerning retrenchment as Berkeley's Aurora Theatre suspends its upcoming season.

Arts Council England has invited the attendees of a historic Women in Theatre research project meeting in March back to the Arts Council to hear what actions it has decided it is possible for ACE to take to address the under-representation of and discrimination against women in the arts.

In New York, leadership transitions at Lincoln Center signal a new chapter, while regional theaters like Timeline and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival push forward with ambitious projects despite financial hurdles. Internationally, theaters like the Bristol Old Vic and the Old Vic in London grapple with ethical and economic dilemmas.

In this week's newsletter, we look at national trends impacting arts organizations, including financial shifts and attendance barriers from three different data sources. Moving to New York, we cover Soho Rep's relocation, Signature Theatre's interim leadership, and Under the Radar Festival's upcoming season.

We highlight the U.S. House of Representatives' decision to preserve NEA funding, the new collective bargaining agreement between Actors' Equity Association and the Off-Broadway League, and a GoFundMe campaign to save the West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theatre. Additionally, IATSE joins the No Times Square Casino Coalition.

Tom Viola, Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, announced his retirement, and we look at the closure of New York's iconic West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theatre. Additionally, NYC's HERE Arts Center names four new co-directors, and the beloved Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction returns this September.

Leading women in theatre, including Jude Kelly and Lesley Gannon, met with Arts Council England to conclude a five-year research project on gender equality.

Manchester’s landmark new cultural venue, Aviva Studios, the permanent home of Factory International, officially opens today (18 October 2023) with the world premiere of Free Your Mind, a large-scale immersive performance based on The Matrix.

The ENO will receive an extra grant of £24m from April 2024 to March 2026 and more time to leave London, Arts Council England (ACE) has announced.

Bristol Old Vic has been offered £1.25m annually for the next three years as part of Arts Council England's investment programme for 2023 - 2026. 

The Genesis Foundation has announced the second of their Genesis Conversations will take place in partnership with Bristol Old Vic at the theatre's historic venue this November.

Hundreds of cultural organisations have received a share of the final £35 million emergency support package from the Culture Recovery Fund, to help overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport via Arts Council England, Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Backstage Trust have led a campaign for donations to the Theatre Artists Fund over the past 48 hours, alongside other major benefactors and trusts.

Nine new, tour-ready, performance works are to be presented in a range of digital settings, alongside seven new projects, supported as part of a 'residency' programme, which enables artists to play with new performance ideas across a range of formats and genres.

Thames Festival Trust in London has received a grant of £59,562 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and continue through these difficult times.

Riverside Studios has received a grant of £425,000 from the Government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the newly completed redevelopment centre recover and reopen. 

Arts charity Culture Warrington has received a grant of £78,302 from the government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen.