Featured artists

For everyone

• deaf arts development
• derby and derbyshire creative industries strategy
• employing an artist
• health and safety at outdoor events
• results of rural creative economy research project

For artists

• developing your creative business
• funding advice
• working in schools

For educators

• arts award
• artsmark
• creative learning
• extended school services
• funding for creative learning
• inspire creativity
• planning for safety
• working with artists

Get involved

• getting involved
• join a group
• forums and networks
• volunteering

Festivals

• festivals in derbyshire
• festival toolkit

• Cultivate East Midlands
• Arts About Manchester
• Audiences London
• Voluntary Arts Network
• New Audiences

Further reading:
In recent years several publications have been produced which contain good practical advice, case studies and other valuable essays based on research into cultural diversity and organisations for which this is central to their work.

Navigating difference: cultural diversity and audience development (Arts Council England, 2006)
Navigating difference is a debate about issues that are at the heart of what it means to be British today. Leading voices from the art world discuss the relevance of cultural diversity and cultural identity to the arts.

The Voluntary Arts Network (VAN) have published three Briefing Sheets that provide useful information

• VAN Briefing Sheet no 93 (pdf format) looks at the importance of cultural diversity to the voluntary arts as a concept extending beyond issues of race and equality. It considers the subject from a philosophical stance, discusses why it matters, looks at its interpretation in practice and shows what voluntary arts organisations can do to demonstrate and promote cultural diversity in their work and artistic activities.
• VAN Briefing Sheet no 111 (pdf format) provides general advice on how to increase the range of people who participate in a group, with a checklist of simple things that can be done to achieve this quickly and easily.
• VAN Briefing Sheet no 110 (pdf format) provides guidance on including disabled and deaf people on a board, management committee or advisory group.
  

Demographic Data
Arts Council England has developed Area Profile Reports, a system of creating demographic profiles of specific areas of the UK. You can define the area you are interested in by distance, drivetime or local authority area. These reports will tell you the number and percentage of people from very broad ethnic groups (‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Mixed:White/Black’, ‘Mixed: White/Asian’, ‘Asian’, ‘Other Mixed’ and ‘Other Ethnic’) within each postal sector in the area you define.

Postal sectors contain on average 2,500 households each, a manageable number at which to target marketing activity. Area Profile Reports are only available to funded clients of Arts Council England, the Scottish Arts Council or Arts Council Wales or to venues that present work produced by funded clients. Get more information and an order form by emailing areaprofiles@artscouncil.org.uk

• A detailed commentary on the 2001 census data on ethnicity and religion can be found at the National Statistics website
• The National Statistics website provides more general overview of the UK population including headlines on ethnicity and religion.
  • Focus on Ethnicity and Identity - giving information on characteristics, lifestyles and experiences of the UK’s ethnic groups with an emphasis on comparing and contrasting the main groups.
  • British Asian Demographics - a compendium of data from the 2001 Census.
• A variety of detailed statistics can be found at  Neighbourhood Statistics, providing a break down by ward and local authority district, including data on ethnicity.
  

Further information
The following documents are all available to download or order online at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk

• A practical guide to working with arts ambassadors (word format) by Mel Jennings
  A summary of ways in which ambassadors have been used to reach new audiences around the country including analysis of work pioneered by Audiences Central and Arts About Manchester
• Arts – what’s in a word? Ethnic minorities and the arts
  Key findings and recommendations for developing Black and minority ethnic audiences for mainstream and culturally diverse arts
• Focus on cultural diversity: the arts in England: attendance, participation and attitudes
  Detailed findings of a survey into attendance, participation and attitudes to the arts and culture among Black and minority ethnic adults in England
• Not for the Likes of You – a resource for practitioners and report
  An extensive list of published material around barriers to engagement , and a practical two-part report on this major action research project into how cultural organisations can attract a broader audience
• Respond: a practical resource for developing a race equality action plan

• Are you looking at me?
  A practical guide to recruiting a diverse workforce
  
• Making Diversity Happen
  A practical guide to creating a diversity policy, strategy and action plan including how to involve volunteers, users and employees
  
• Managing Diversity in the Workplace
  Aims to improve the effectiveness of organisations by ensuring that everyone who works and volunteers for them can realise their potential
  
• Social Capital: Beyond the Theory
  Demonstrates the value of the social capital concept and offers practical advice for those working with communities
  
• Voluntary Agencies Directory 2005
  Find project partners with this A–Z list of over 2,000 voluntary sector organisations
  

• Arts About Manchester. Executive summaries of project reports including: Chinese Audiences Profiling, North West Diversity Festival, What in the World? Comic Book Project and Enabling Diversity are available to download under ‘ Completed Projects’ on the left hand menu. There is also a link to a presentation Re-thinking Cultural Diversity under ‘ current projects’.
  
• New Audiences
  Reports, project summaries and articles resulting from the New Audiences programme aimed at finding new approaches to audience and art development that target harder-to-reach audiences.
  
• Arts for All People
  This American site contains a vast array of research reports and other information about audiences for the arts.
  
• Arts Professional
  Subscribers to the magazine can access an online, searchable archive containing features and case studies on cultural diversity issues.
  
• BMESpark
  Part of the Supporting People programme, this site contains research summaries and case studies on working with vulnerable Black and minority ethnic people.

An explanation of key works and their meanings is given in this Word document that is available to download.

Sources of Information about Artists and Companies
No artist likes being labelled. As Jorella Andrews points out, artists aren’t abandoning their cultural heritage, but they want to use it as a resource if they choose, rather than it being something that narrowly defines who they are. So although some artists have proposed an online Black arts register, others are reluctant to associate themselves with information resources that centre on ethnicity.

Here is a selection of the available sources of information:

• Artist's Information Company has a good links section to UK and international artists' networks and professional development organisations.
• Arts Council England has a list of over 80 diversity projects 
• Art Vibes is an online resource for Black and minority ethnic arts, although it’s intended to be used by audiences and participants. Again, it’s not comprehensive.
• As part of its London: Diaspora Capital project, Cultural Co-operation lists 216 audio visual artist profiles searchable by artform, genre, culture or faith origin, country of origin and the London Borough in which they are based.
• The Diversity Programme is a groundbreaking project that aims to increase the visibility of minority ethnic artforms in East England and to support Black, Asian and Chinese artists and performers. The site includes a good links section.
• A list of Independent Theatre Council’s 600-plus members is available at but nonmembers can only search alphabetically.
• London Dance has a directory of London based dance companies categorised by dance style.
• Mainstream Newsletter contains profiles of ‘culturally diverse’ artists and practitioners in the East Midlands. Subscribe by contacting mainstream@artstrainingcentral.co.uk or calling 0116 2425202.
• The  North West Profile (an Arts Council England publication) contains a directory of 40 ‘culturally diverse’ artists and organisations in the North West region.
• Promoting Diversity is a list of ‘culturally diverse’ theatre companies funded to tour in the UK, although it is not an exhaustive list of arts organisations presenting culturally diverse work.
• Shisha, the contemporary South Asian visual arts and crafts agency, finds new artists to work with by putting advertisements in publications and on websites aimed at professional and semi-professional artists in general such as a-n Magazine.
• There is an archive of South Asian literature, art, theatre, dance and music by British based artists and organisations. It is not comprehensive but has plans to grow.
• What’s Apnaing is a quarterly ebulletin produced by Audiences Yorkshire listing South Asian cultural events throughout the region. Sign up through the www.digyorkshire.com website by joining the mailing list and ticking the ‘South Asian Arts’ box.
• Archives of past showcases organised by xtrax, including decibel showcases, at www.xtrax.org.uk.  They also host a directory of street artists.

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