National Campaign for the Arts Relaunches with New Website and More

The National Campaign for the Arts has launched its new website, www.forthearts.org.uk, to increase public understanding of and support for national and local government investment in the arts.

The website features contributions from a diverse range of prominent champions including Michael Palin, Zawe Ashton, Hilary Mantel and Grayson Perry. It has a detailed description of the role of public investment in UK cultural life and a brief history of the work of the National Campaign for the Arts since its formation in 1985.

In partnership with What Next?, the National Campaign for the Arts has recently launched the Hearts for the Arts Awards, a new initiative to reward and thank Councils, Councillors and Council officers who are overcoming financial challenges to keep the arts at the centre of community life. Full details of how to make nominations are included on the new website along with details of a new campaign, Local Heroes, designed to celebrate the role that local theatres, orchestras, art galleries, arts centres and many other places contribute to the UK's reputation as a world leader in the creative industries.

The website has an extensive new range of 'For the Arts' merchandise and there are plans to launch a special Christmas range of gifts by Bob & Roberta Smith in November. The current edition of the Arts Index is featured on the website, with a new edition to be published early in 2017.

National Campaign for the Arts Chair, Samuel West, commented: "For the last five years the unpaid Board of the National Campaign for the Arts has been doing valuable work for arts and audiences, but a lack of resources has meant the organisation has not been as visible as we would have liked. No other organisation is focused on public understanding of and support for government investment in the arts. Thanks to a small grant from Arts Council England and a huge gift of time and effort by Cog Design, we now have a beautiful and effective way to host our campaigns and engage with the public. In these challenging times we need to redouble our efforts to ensure there is public support for every penny of local and national arts funding. I hope the whole arts sector will work with us to promote our campaigns and the new website, so that their audiences and visitors can be informed advocates for the amazing work arts organisations do and the great value they deliver for the investment they receive."

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