The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill has been awarded £289,165 by the Arts Council for “OUTLANDS”, a new project that will see the creation of a new regional touring network for experimental music. The project will provide an important opportunity for more people, in more places across England to access and enjoy non-mainstream music. Ten venues, producers and promoters will work together to commission and tour three new productions each year over two years. Each of the tours will be accompanied by an important learning and participation programme.
Stewart Drew, Director and CEO De La Warr Pavilion, said: “Over the past decade, we have changed our auditorium programme from loss-making traditional seaside entertainment into a thriving contemporary offer with a strong music programme. OUTLANDS allows us to take this a stage further by taking the lead in creating new partnerships that will allow us to take more artistic risks and to reflect the diversity of the communities at home across the UK.”
This is the second major Arts Council grant for the pavilion this year. Only last month, a settlement was announced from Arts Council England (ACE) for £508,430 per year for four years from 2018-22. This represents a standstill at the current level of funding to the Pavilion as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO).
Stewart Drew, Director and CEO of the Pavilion said then: “This award reinforces the value of our partnership with Rother District Council who, through a bold seven-year funding agreement (2013-2021), recognise our impact on social cohesion, health and well being, the visitor economy, tourism and regeneration.
“The Pavilion was conceived as a democratic space for culture and recreation in 1935 and is now a vibrant hub for a wide and diverse community to experience and enjoy exhibitions, events and entertainment in an iconic modernist building by the sea. This award will allow us to continue to present programmes and activities that are within the original spirit, accessible and relevant to all. The core funding we receive from ACE and Rother District Council gives us the financial stability that will allow us to work towards fundraising for a future capital campaign for the preservation of this Grade One Listed modernist masterpiece.”
Hopefully after 2021, the de la war pavillion will be able to source their own funding, and not rely on tax payers money courtesy of Rother District council,it’s time this loss making Pavillion stood on its own two feet or sold to private enterprise.
Your argument could apply to the swimming pool in Rye which doesn’t make profit either.
“The core funding we receive from ACE and Rother District Council gives us the financial stability that will allow us to work towards fundraising for a future capital campaign for the preservation of this Grade One Listed modernist masterpiece.”
That explains the reason for all this money being poured into the DLW Pavilion in recent years. More than £2m from the ACE with another £3.5m plus inflation from RDC, the purpose of which was to allow progress to obtaining £19.3m from the levelling up fund, and the DLW Pavilion still wants several £million more.
The tax payer does indeed have deep pockets.
Remind me – how much is needed to keep Rye swimming pool open.
This is completely wrong. There was no such a thing as a ‘levelling up fund’ until three or four years ago. The annual £500,000 Rother subsidy to the De La Warr has gone on for the best part of two decades. This wasn’t ever voted for and given by Rother as ‘progress to obtaining’ thruppence, let alone £19 million from a levelling up fund as no such thing existed!