From the Editor There used to be – in some cases there still is – a widely-held opinion that artists and arts practitioners may be imaginative
and creative, but they are not that practical; not that ‘clever’. They can paint a thought-provoking picture, make a fine pot, put on an
entertaining performance, write a perceptive book, design a magnificent
building – but they are not too ‘worldly’; not so good on the business end of things; not so competent at knowing what to
do with their end product. ‘Marketing’ and ‘selling’ are perhaps not words that intrude much into their creative bubble. Perhaps
this myth of impracticality was born in our schools, which at one time reserved
subjects such as art, craft and design technology for those considered not ‘clever’ enough to tackle the ‘proper’ subjects. How things – and hopefully opinions – have changed! Not least in our schools, colleges and universities which now
offer some of the finest arts education to be found anywhere in the world.
Readers of Venue, of course, will have been able to form a much truer view of
arts practitioners because in every issue we have examples not only of the
highest quality work across all the genres, but also examples from our region
of the kind of enterprise and initiative that have taken contemporary arts to
being one of the most significant contributors to the UK economy – you may recall that the UK has the largest creative sector in the EU, possibly
in the world. We have quoted Arts Council figures in the past which show that
in the decade between 1997 and 2007 our creative economy grew faster than any
other sector, accounting for two million jobs and £16.6 billion of exports in 2007. The fact that it continues to thrive is proof
positive that there is no lack of business acumen and marketing appreciation in
the arts.
So if any part of the ‘impractical’ myth survives, we can see it off for good with this issue of Venue, in which we
have examples of fine artists and skilled practitioners who have not only
produced remarkable work but also have been commercially successful with that
work. We have artists successful in one area diversifying to develop new
careers in different genres; we have artists and designers carving out
successful businesses based on their skills; we have highly acclaimed fine
artists exploring all the opportunities of the new technologies to extend the
boundaries of their work; and we have new ventures in which venues such as
cafes and theatres are adding value to their business by turning themselves
into a marketplace for arts. That’s a lot of ‘successes’!
And we must not forget the advertisers in Venue, who clearly demonstrate the
competence of arts practitioners and the wider arts community to market and
sell their work and services. We ourselves are committed to our key role of
working in partnership with them by providing the best possible means for them
to do this, in particular by spreading as widely as possible information about
our creative community and the venues where their work can be seen,
appreciated, sold and bought.
At Venue we recognise we have an important role to play in supporting the arts
in our region by not only providing the highest quality magazine to promote
artists and venues, but also to facilitate cooperation and networking between
practitioners in different art forms that will encourage originality,
innovation and excellence – we value your news and opinions and are always delighted to hear from you!
Fran Goss Editor
In Winter’s Venue:
News / opinions / views
Creatures, great and small . . . all feature in Red Dot Gallery’s By Night exhibition
Printmaking excellence News from the Curwen Print Study Centre
Su Pollard Amanda Vale talks to Su Pollard about her role as Annie in Cambridge this
Christmas
From Luton to the
big apple Artist David Davies concludes the story of his journey from furniture designer to artist
London beat The capital’s new arts events
• David Hockney
‘A bigger picture’ at the Royal Academy of Arts
• Sir Terence Conran at the Design Museum
• William Morris at
Two Temple Place
• ‘The Railway Children’ at the Waterloo Theatre
British comedy genius: Mandy Morton pays tribute to comedy genius David Croft
Art ventures: Rod Shone meets remarkable artists Martin and Nesrin Mossop
Arts on the menu
Our new feature on venues that are successfully combining arts and eating
Web watch | Book review Some inspiring arts websites and England’s story told through her historic places
A Christmas cracker Sea Pictures Gallery’s new winter exhibition of marine art
Outlook Event listings around the counties
,%203329.jpg)
