Supporting local art and culture

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As the biggest public investors in art and culture in England, the success and sustainability of the arts and cultural sector depends on effective partnership between the Arts Council and local government.

The future: new speech and report

Find out more about the challenges facing local government funding for art and culture, and watch the speech from our Chair, Sir Peter Bazalgette

Find out more
A group of young people perform in bright carnival costumes and purple and yellow headdresses
AAA4success Carnival Troupe representing Leicester Caribbean Carnival at EMCCAN Regional Carnival 2015. Photo © DenPhoto for EMCCAN - East Midlands Caribbean Carnival Arts Network

We work with local authorities up and down the country that share our mission to ensure that there are strong local cultural offers that make life better for people in all of our communities.

We know that the capacity for local government to support for art and culture is being challenged. Our priority is to work in partnership to sustain the local cultural infrastructure, to lever in new funding, develop new business models and provide expertise and advocacy.

On this page you can find resources that illustrate the significance and value of working in partnership at a local level. These include ‘On with the show’ (2014), a report that explores new delivery models to help councils support a resilient and flourishing cultural scene in their localities, and our rural positioning statement that sets out how we will approach the specific needs and aspirations of rural communities in order to deliver our strategy.

Find out more and explore our related funding programmes

An outdoor space viewed from above, as small crowds of people gather around benches.

Community and place

Explore our research and data on the impact of art and culture at a local level

Members of Tangle's 2013 company in rehearsal.

Creative Local Growth Fund

A fund placing art and culture at the heart of local economic growth, supporting creative industries and tourism

A performer juggles a frying pan, an egg, and a burnt baguette as a crowd of people watch.

Cultural Destinations

An initiative which forms part of the three-year partnership between Arts Council England and VisitEngland

Latest news, case studies and blog posts

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. Photo © Joel Fildes

Local government, art and culture

On Wednesday 13 April, Arts Council England and the New Local Government Network will present a speech by Sir Peter Bazalgette on local authority support for art and culture

A man holds a pop-up book open in a library.

Animating libraries with theatre

Supported by our funding The Spark Arts in Leicester is getting children and their families enjoying theatre at local libraries.

Eight performers entertain an audience of families in a church gardens.

In your area

A baby is taught to play a xylophone.

Why culture matters

Figures made from grass appear to grow from the ground beneath an old, arched, tree branch.

How and where we invest public money

Two dancers from Motionhouse perform against a video backdrop, which features a water splash pattern where one performer appears to have hit the screen.

Our strategic priorities

Graphic of a circular chart of various colours and blocks.

Research and data

Image captions
Top left to bottom right: 1. Hands. Photo © CP Photo Art / DigitalVision / Getty Images. 2. Bow Arts Open Studios '13. Photo © Ollie Harrop / Bow Arts Trust. 3. Opera North's Festive Fanfare 2015 in Liverpool. Photo © Opera North 4. Birmingham Weekender 2015. Photo © Andrew Fox / Birmingham Weekender. 5. Tangle Company 2013. Photo © Tangle 6. Birmingham Weekender 2015. Photo © Andrew Fox / Birmingham Weekender 7. Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. Photo © Joel Fildes 8. The Sorting Office's open studio event in full swing. Photo © Harry Usborne. 9. No Credit Displaying 10. The Company of Wolves by Burn The Curtain based on the stories by Angela Carter. Photo © Theo Moye. 11. Daniel Copeland performs Joseph Coelho's Tree Child on the Spark Arts tour. Photo © Pamela Raith Photography / The Spark Arts 12. Kevin Edward Turner leads a youth dance workshop with Company Chameleon. Photo © Joel Chester Fildes 13. Flex Dance performance. Photo © TIN Arts 14. Plymouth Music Zone participants making music. Photo © Plymouth Music Zone / Kevin Clifford 15. Grass Men Bristol Biennial 2014. Photo © Ashley Peevor 16. Scattered by Motionhouse. Photo © Chris Nash / Motionhouse 17. Knowledge is Beautiful (cc) Creative Commons - informationisbeautiful.net