A total of 19 cultural organisations have been given National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status by Arts Council England (ACE), giving them the national recognition and helping them reach new audiences from all communities and backgrounds. NPO status will also ensure those organisations receive additional funding over the next 3 years from 2023 – 2026.
Arts Council England today unveiled those organisations who were successful in applying to their investment programme for 2023 – 2026, which included 19 organisations from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who have been designated as an NPO by ACE.
City Arts Nottingham, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and Nottingham Playhouse from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are among the 19 successful venues added to the ACE portfolio helping them to develop new programmes and community activities and fly the flag for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’s arts and culture scene.
Suzannah Bedford, Director at City Arts Nottingham said:
“We are very grateful for Arts Council England’s continued support of City Arts. Receiving National Portfolio funding is a vote of confidence in our work, which breaks down barriers to reconnect people with art, culture and creativity. The funding will allow us to support artists from backgrounds that are under-represented in the arts, and to bring artistic excellence into communities that are under-served by the arts establishment.”
Hannah Trevarthen, Director of NUCOL, said:
“We welcome this investment from Arts Council England and thank them for including Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature in this new round of National Portfolio Organisations. We are grateful for this opportunity to deepen our engagement with communities across Nottingham, to champion the power of words to change lives, and to showcase the city on an international platform through the UNESCO Cities of Literature and Creative Cities networks.
Andy Batson, Head of Audiences and Partnerships at Nottingham Contemporary, said:
“We’re pleased to have the continued support of Arts Council England. This funding will enable us to continue to connect the people of Nottingham and around the world nurturing and shaping the future of art and ideas via world class exhibitions, events and our learning programmes. We’re also delighted to see so much support shown to cultural organisations across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, we consider ourselves to be in impressive company.”
Stephanie Sirr, Chief Executive of Nottingham Playhouse, said:
“We are delighted to have received the core NPO funding we applied for. It allows us to continue and build on our work both on-stage and within the wider Nottingham city and East Midlands communities. Increasing financial pressure impacts the costs of running the Playhouse and acts as a squeeze on our audience members’ household budgets. The continued support of Arts Council England offers us resilience in these tough times. It also enables us to consolidate our engagement with the community whom we serve which has never needed us more. It gives us the opportunity to advance our reputation as the producer of, and home to, first class theatre that is accessible to all.”
Arts Council England is the UK’s national development agency for arts and culture. Their work centres on ensuring England has a thriving culture and arts scene throughout all parts of the country and where all people have access to a range of high quality cultural and arts experiences.
They help to achieve this by investing public money from the Government and National Lottery into organisations and schemes to support the sector, including in their National Portfolio Organisations.
To view the full list of NPO organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire please visit Arts Council England website: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/investment23
Posted on 04 November 2022
