Arts & CulturE ACE names funding recipients


London’s Southbank Centre has been announced as one of the 26 organisations that are to receive funding through Arts Council England’s (ACE) new capital programme. Te Southbank Centre has


received £20m of the £114m invested in the first round of the programme, which will go towards an extensive redevel- opment of its facilities such as the Hayward Gallery. Other major beneficiaries


of ACE’s capital grants include the National Teatre (£17.5m); Gateshead Council (£10m), to provide an annex to Te Sage; and Chichester Festival Teatre (£12m) in West Sussex. Most of the 26 projects to benefit from fund-


Te Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery will benefit from the funding


ing will focus on a refurbishment or extension of existing buildings. It is the first new capi- tal investment by ACE in nine years. Each of the successful applicants will now be invited


to complete a stage two bid within the next 18 months to show plans at a detailed stage of design and development. ACE chief executive Alan Davey said: “We


knew there was a real need to maintain and improve our existing cultural buildings.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=E9X3A


Google unveils ‘major’ Art Project expansion


Internet giant Google has announced a “major” international expansion of the Art Project, aſter it entered into more than 150 new part- nerships with institutions in 40 countries. More than 30,000 objects are now available to view in high resolution, up from the 1,000 in


the first version. Tere are also now 46 venues covered by Google Street View images. A number of institutions across the world,


including the UK, US, Brazil and India, are among the new Art Project partners. Read more: http://lei.sr?a=L2F6v


Ticket scheme evaluation report released


A report evaluating the suc- cess of a programme offering free theatre tickets to people under the age of 26 between February 2009 and March 2011 has been published. According to the report by


Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the initiative saw nearly 400,000 tickets allocated from its initial tar- get of around 500,000. The majority (278,000)


went to young people who said they probably would not have visited the theatre other- wise, with 72 per cent saying price was a main barrier to attending. Te pilot scheme – A Night Less Ordinary


– was launched to increase the number of young people attending theatre shows and


© CYBERTREK 2012 Te programme distributed nearly 400,000 free tickets to young people


productions by removing the admission price as a potential barrier. A Night Less Ordinary saw more than 200 venues participate. Details: http://lei.sr?a=X2h1E


Twitter: @leisureopps Te venue first opened its doors in October 2011


Local authority reports Marlowe Theatre deficit


Canterbury’s £25.6m Marlowe Teatre has recorded a £236,000 deficit during its first six months of trading, according to a report put before Canterbury City Council. Te report, however, suggested that the


financial shortfall had been mainly due to “one-off start-up costs” and issues only identifiable once the venue had opened. Catering start-up and essential training


costs were seen as the primary reason for the deficit at the theatre, which accounted for £100,000 according to the report. Details: http://lei.sr?a=l6m1h


New independent UK theatre survey launches


A new study exploring the influence of pub- licly-funded theatre on commercial theatre has been launched to gain a greater under- standing of public arts investment. Arts Council England has teamed up with


Creative and Cultural Skills and NESTA to commission the survey, with the findings due to be published this summer. Te study aims to track the careers of


people within the industry, as well as the talent that has emerged, to see what effect public investment has on UK theatre. Details: http://lei.sr?a=3L0D6


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital 9


£1.5m digital investment for Scottish arts


Creative Scotland has announced a new investment programme worth £1.5m to sup- port the digital development of businesses within the country’s cultural sector. Te initiative – developed in partnership


with NESTA, AmbITion Scotland and Sync – will react to the needs of organisations that are already “digital natives”. Meanwhile, the programme will support


capacity building around skills and infra- structure in adopting digital technologies in cultural and creative businesses. Details: http://lei.sr?a=C3o4w


image: damian cugley/flickr


image: seth anderson


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