Waterford Council Arts Strategy 2016-2021
The amalgamation of Waterford City and County Councils (2014) into a new single authority has required the administrative and functional amalgamation of the Arts Departments within this structure. This has created the opportunity for the development of a new Arts Strategy for Waterford 2016-2021.
Consultation is currently being held with key stakeholders and the public to ensure that the development of the strategy will take cognisance of:
- All current arts and cultural provision in the city and county of Waterford
- All urban and rural arts provision, emerging issues and any perceived gaps in provision.
- Key strategic priorities and objectives for the future.
- Regional, National and International frameworks of Arts Provision within the current economic environment.
Two public meetings have already been held, one in Dungarvan (26.01.16) and the other in Waterford City (03.02.16). The aim of the public meetings was to offer artists, arts organizations, members of the public and anyone interested in the development of the arts the opportunity to contribute ideas and suggestions as to how they currently perceive arts provision in the county and to highlight any gaps that they feel need to be addressed in the formulation of a new arts strategy. Following on from these meeting, the Arts Office is now inviting anyone unable to attend the meetings the opportunity to contribute to the process by written submission. You will find attached a Position Paper and a number of Questions that were put to the audience participating in the public meetings. Now is your chance to have your say so please feel free to write a response to these questions and send them to Sally O’Leary at aspreyarts@gmail.com
The Process
1. Public Meetings have been held at two locations in Waterford, at which the framework for the development of an arts strategy (locally, regionally, nationally and internationally) was presented. The current provision for the Arts was outlined, including the merging of two Arts Offices, and the participating audience were asked for their ideas about any gaps or issues they felt needed to be addressed for future arts provision for the county as a whole.
2. The same Position Paper (with Questions) is now available online (see attached) for anyone who is interested in completing this please return your responses to Sally O’Leary at aspreyarts@gmail.com. For information on current arts provision from the Arts Office see the links for Waterford County Arts Plan 2012 2017 here, and Waterford City Arts Plan 2011 – 2016 here. Please return your comments for submission by latest 4.00pm 29th February 2016.
3. All responses are important to the Council and will be considered. Once all input has been made the development and drafting of the new Strategy will commence.
4. A public update meeting will be held and an invitation to interested individuals and parties will be issued. The date and venue of this meeting will be announced in due course.
5. A timeframe for developing the Arts Strategy has not been fixed, this is to allow for a certain flexibility, within the process, however every effort will be made to ensure that the publication of the new Arts Strategy will be within the first half of 2016.
6. The new Arts Strategy will need to be developed in line with the current national economic framework. The Local Authority operates on an annual funding basis at present. The development of the Strategy will be in line with current operations. It is intended to allow scope to consider all ideas and aspirations.
The development of the Arts Strategy is proceeding concurrently with other major development strategies for Waterford, both on a local and regional level and will therefore will be reflective of key objectives of these strategies, these include: Library Development Plan, Waterford Heritage Plan, Community Development Plan.
The function of an Arts Strategy is to clearly define the Council’s vision for arts provision and development over the next five years. This will be achieved by prioritizing Goals and establishing Actions that will fulfill stated Objectives.
Priorities Goals
Taking cognisance of the Waterford County Local Authority Arts Plan 2012-2017 and Waterford City Council Arts Plan 20111-2016, the following priorities have been identified as being able to encompass all existing and potentially new areas of arts provision under the headings:
- Participation and Access
- Support for Artists
- Identity and Place
Updated February 12th, 2016
The newly amalgamated Waterford City & County Council (WC&CC) is committed to making a positive difference to the lifestyles of its citizens through aiding the quality and appreciation of Arts in the County. It intends to nurture creativity and work closely with dedicated individuals and arts professionals so that they can, in turn, produce great art for the benefit of all.
WC&CC has appointed Aspry Arts to work with the Council on developing the new strategy. Provisional dates have been booked for public meetings in February. Follow the link for further information
Waterford City Arts Plan 2011 – 2016
Waterford County Arts Plan 2012 2017
Updated January 4th 2016
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