The aim of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is to maximise the contribution of the arts sector, and through this to improve the quality of life of all. It also works with the creative industries, which are those industries with their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.
More information on the national picture
Arts Council England South West
Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from the Government and the National Lottery. Working through nine regional offices, its vision is to promote the arts at the heart of national life, reflecting England’s rich and diverse cultural identity. Between 2003 and 2006 Arts Council England will be investing £2 billion of public funds in the arts.
The Arts Council England South West office has regular funding agreements with a range of arts providers and organisations across the region, from orchestras and dance companies like the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Swindon Dance, to festivals like St Paul’s Carnival in Bristol, theatres like Theatre Royal Plymouth and arts education groups like the Kernow Education Arts Partnership in Cornwall.
Arts Council England South West administers the Grants for the Arts Lottery programme, which makes grants available for individuals, arts organisations, national touring companies and other people who use the arts in their work.
The Arts Council also manages Creative Partnerships, the national programme funded by Government to promote creativity in schools, which is targeted at areas of economic and cultural deprivation and areas facing rural isolation. Creative Partnerships gives school children aged between 5-18 years and their teachers the opportunity to explore their creativity by working on sustained projects with creative and cultural professionals. In the South West region Creative Partnerships are based in Bristol, Plymouth, Cornwall and the Forest of Dean.
South West Screen
South West Screen is the film, television and digital media agency for the South West of England. Its aim is to help ensure a vibrant and dynamic screen culture throughout the region. As well as distributing Lottery funding in the region on behalf of the UK Film Council, the agency takes a lead on business development, locations, screenwriting, exhibitions, training and education for the sector in the South West.
Creative Industries
The creative industries include advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software, and television and radio.
The creative industries make a vital and growing contribution to the economy of the south west, providing direct employment for nearly 94,000 people. The region is a hotbed of creative business activity. Clusters of cutting-edge companies working in TV and film production, computer graphics, interactive media, publishing and new music technology have sprung up around the region.
As well as globally recognised innovative companies like Aaardman Animation, Twofour Productions, HP Labs and the BBC Natural History Unit, the South West boasts a flourishing community of craftspeople and artists working in a variety of materials and media, from glass and metal to jewellery and pottery.
All the regional cultural agencies and the South West Regional Development Agency are contributing to the continuing health and expansion of the creative industry sector in the region. Copies of recent studies into the extent of creative industries activity in the region are available on the Culture South West website.
