Commissioned by CVAN and John Hansard Gallery (University of Southampton), in partnership with a-n, DACS and Plus Tate, and written by Erskine Analysis, the report presents how with the right investment, the visual arts can play a leading role in delivering the UK Government’s goals on: - Economic growth - Health and wellbeing - Education and skills
The report, authored by Eliza Easton, states that in 2023 alone, the sector contributed £4.1bn to the UK economy; the uK is the world’s second-largest commercial art sector; we have some of the world’s most visited museums, top-ranked art schools, and globally recognised artists — yet artists and the infrastructure behind them are seriously threatened.
The report makes the case for investment in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review in June, presenting four key recommendations
These are the four key recommendations published:
1. Cultural Investment Partnership Fund
2. £5m Grassroots Visual Arts Fund
Relating to art and design education, the report calls high impact interventions:
3. Expand Access to Creative Education
An £8.4 million per year investment to:
• Expand the National Saturday Club network from 122 to 1,000 clubs
• Reach 54,000+ young people, especially in underserved areas
• Build confidence, creativity, and pathways to future careers
4. Restore Specialist Funding in Higher Education
Reverse the 2021 cuts to ensure:
• Protection for world-class creative courses
• Support for industry-standard facilities
• A sustainable pipeline of skilled graduates for the UK’s creative economy
The report provides artist, designer and maker case studies; as well as case studies from regional arts organisations that evidence the positive impacts of arts programmes on communities. Also includes is research on arts and educational attainment and creativity as a skill for the future (p 36):
'Although science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM subjects, are often positioned as the primary drivers of economic growth, sidelining the arts, studies on the future of work suggest this is an unhelpful binary. Employers are likely to increasingly value creative thinking and skills, which act as complements to digital and tech expertise, not alternatives....
'Crucially, subjects like art and design and history of art also foster visual literacy: the ability to read, interpret, and respond to visual information. In a world where more than 3.2 billion photos and 720,000 hours of video are uploaded daily, this skill is becoming essential.'
Read the full report, the case studies and recommendations here