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Campaign for the Arts

@campaignforthearts.org

3K followers 700 following 180 posts

We believe the arts make life better, and everyone should have opportunities to experience and take part in them. 🎶💃🎭🎨✍️📸🎥🧵🏛️ https://www.campaignforthearts.org/join/

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jun 4

🥁 Today, we delivered our petition to the Chancellor – signed by over 37,000 citizens from every one of the UK’s 650 constituencies 🥁

💜 Thank you to everyone who signed, shared, and shouted about the petition.

@RachelReeves — over to you ⌛️

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 7d

£132 million to grassroots culture & sport for young people 💰

£10 million to fund libraries in every primary school 📚

What's actually new from Labour Conference 2025? CFTA explains 🔍

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 8d

Read more here 👇

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

inews.co.uk

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 8d

Today at the Labour Party Conference, the Culture Secretary unveiled plans for a new national competition celebrating culture beyond big cities 🏘️

@lisanandymp.bsky.social has advocated for towns throughout her political career, and this competition will sit alongside the UK City of Culture 🏙

Lisa Nandy at the Labour Party Conference with the quote: "Every town across Britain has its own story to tell. UK Town of Culture will celebrate the creativity, history and identity that has made us such a vibrant, diverse and incredible country."

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 19d

“She said that every child should have access to the arts throughout the country, wherever you’re from, whatever your background. These basic principles are worth looking at again.”

Jennie Lee, Britain’s pioneering first Arts Minister, gets a mention. Read about her legacy, 60 years on👇

Jennie Lee's vision for the arts, 60 years on | Campaign for the Arts

Lee's trailblazing white paper of 1965 insisted that the arts should be central to everyday life and publicly supported for the benefit of all.

www.campaignforthearts.org

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 19d

“My hero is anyone who democratises art, who makes it accessible to everyone, who challenges people but makes them want to get involved.”

Fresh from hosting the Sky Arts Awards, Bill Bailey is in the Telegraph this week with a loud & proud case for the arts 📢

www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/5d8941b...

Bill Bailey interview: ‘Why are we embarrassed about funding the arts?’

The comedian on placing greater value on culture – and how Europe does it better than Britain

telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Campaign for the Arts

Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 27d

Here's our latest pyramid scheme.

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 23d

But arts education is disappearing from state schools at record-breaking speed. Our analysis last month found that since 2010, the share of GCSE entries in Drama has fallen by 48%, reaching its lowest level in 15 years 🪫

Graph showing that the share of GCSE entries in Drama has fallen by 48% since 2010, reaching its lowest recorded level in 15 years.

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 23d

Owen Cooper's record-breaking Emmy win is a result of his time at Drama MOB, a drama school in Manchester. He is living proof of what young people can achieve when they have access to arts education 🏆

Image of Owen Cooper holding his Emmy on stage, with the text "Last night, Owen Cooper made history as the youngest male Emmy winner ever, at just 15."

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · 27d

Today at the DCMS Select Committee, the Culture Secretary spoke about why independent cinemas are critical cultural infrastructure.

She also gave a shoutout to Leigh Film Society 📣

🏷️ What independent cinema deserves some love?

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 26

“You don’t get Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa or Oasis without small venues. The collapse of independent venues puts the entire night-time economy at risk.”

New research has found that 1 in 4 late-night venues have closed since 2020.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

One in four UK late-night venues have closed since 2020, figures show

Industry body calls for urgent tax cuts to save ‘cornerstones of community life’ and halt rise of ‘night-time deserts’

www.theguardian.com

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 21

Compared with last year, arts subjects made up a smaller but similar share of total entries.

But since 2010, that share has shrunk by 48%. Performing arts subjects and Design & Technology have been especially badly affected.

Our full analysis 👇
www.campaignforthearts.org/news/exam-re...

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 21

🚨 NEW: the share of GCSE entries in arts subjects has reached a new low – but the rate of decline appears to be slowing.

www.campaignforthearts.org/news/exam-re...

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 14

📻 Stay tuned for GCSEs next week...

... and read the full analysis 👇
www.campaignforthearts.org/news/exam-re...

Chart showing the breakdown in arts subjects, emphasising that enrolment in performing arts A-levels has more than halved since 2010.

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 14

🚨 NEW: the share of A-level entries in arts subjects has reached a new low

🔻 SO: enrolment in arts A-levels is now 31% lower than it was in 2010 (and under half of what it was for the performing arts)

Chart showing that enrolment in arts A-levels has reached its lowest recorded level in 15 years, having fallen by 31% since 2010.

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Reposted by Campaign for the Arts

The Stage @thestage.co.uk · Aug 14

The number of students studying drama at A level has plummeted by 52% since 2010, according to research by bsky.app/profile/campaignfo...

Read more 👇

Number of A-level drama students plummets by 52% in 15 years – report

The number of students studying drama at A level has plummeted by 52% since 2010, according to research by Campaign for the Arts

www.thestage.co.uk

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 14

Our snapshot report into the health of the UK’s arts sector, featured by @museumsassociation.org 👇

Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · Aug 13

News | Health of the UK arts remains a ‘profound concern’, report warns – @campaignforthearts.org says the last 12 months have been hit and miss for the arts

Health of the UK arts remains a ‘profound concern’, report warns - Museums Association

Campaign for the Arts says the last 12 months have been hit and miss for the arts

www.museumsassociation.org

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 11

Our latest analysis found persistent, and in some cases deepening, threats to that ecosystem:

campaignforthearts.org/the-state-of-the-arts-one-year-on

The State of the Arts: one year on | Campaign for the Arts

Five charts that tell us something about the health of the arts in the UK in 2025.

campaignforthearts.org

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Aug 11

“The ecosystem is essential, not optional.”

🎥 In her maiden House of Lords speech, new peer @thangamdebbonaire.bsky.social highlighted the need for a "political case" for the arts, and for treating them as an ecosystem.

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Reposted by Campaign for the Arts

Create Charity @createcharity.bsky.social · Aug 6

The new #StateOfTheArts report from
@campaignforthearts.org
shows deepening inequalities in arts access.

At Create, we saw during #CreateWeek just how powerful creativity can be - and how vital it is to make it available to everyone.

📊 Read the report: www.campaignforthearts.org/the-state-of...

The State of the Arts: one year on | Campaign for the Arts

Five charts that tell us something about the health of the arts in the UK in 2025.

www.campaignforthearts.org

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 28

We need an equitable sector for a representative culture. This is what the Campaign for the Arts will always fight for. Join the campaign now 🔗

campaignforthearts.org/join/

Part 2 of the quote that reads: Rather than fix 'leaky pipelines', we believe it's vital we build a power-base for those on the outside to work together to change these industries profoundly and permanently – so that everyone can contribute to the culture they live in, in all kinds of valuable ways.” By Neil Griffiths, the CEO of Arts Emergency

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 28

💬 First-hand accounts from the @artsemergency.bsky.social community over the years reveal that many people earn a lot less than their peers in other sectors, and have to leave the industry or struggle to advance in it without having additional financial support.

Part 1 of a quote that reads: Creativity and culture don’t operate like typical sectors. They are not just industries; they are communities. Relationships and access to networks carry amplified influence on who gets in and gets on.

First-hand accounts from our community over the years reveal that many people earn a lot less than their peers in other sectors, and have to leave the industry or struggle to advance in it without having additional financial support.

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 28

The figures hide other disparities around freelance work, the gender pay gap, geographical inequality, and ethnicity 📏

Paragraph on same pale orange background that reads: That's if you earn a salary at all: the available data doesn’t consider the 47.9% of cultural sector workers who are self-employed. Artists Union England reported this month that 79% of their members did not earn enough from their art practice to live on.

These figures hide other disparities: the gender pay gap closed slightly in 2024 after expanding year-on-year since 2021, but women still earn 83.1p for every £1 earned by men. The median wage in 2024 for workers across the cultural sector is over double in London versus the north East. DCMS doesn’t include ethnicity in this data.

So, the long-term, structured support for young people accessing cultural work provided by organisations such as Arts Emergency is essential to an equitable sector – and a representative culture.

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 28

⬇️ Under 21s in the cultural sector are earning a fraction of the average for their age
🏏 This has a knock-on effect on who gets to contribute to the culture they live in

Chart showing the variance between the average annual earnings of employees in the cultural sector (by age group) versus all sectors (by same age groups) that shows a -43.7% difference between 18-21, only becoming positive by 40-49. Header reads: Cultural sector employees now earn below the UK average for their age until turning 40. But under-21s earn a staggering 43.7% less than the UK median at the same age – prompting questions of access for young people without additional financial means.

Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 28

And finally… 5 of 5 of our annual arts health check is Arts Employment, with @artsemergency.bsky.social 🛟

Pale orange background panel showing number 5 in a series and titled Arts Employment. Definition reads "A society in which the arts are healthy is one in which people can sustain a decent living from their work creating or supporting art.”

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Campaign for the Arts @campaignforthearts.org · Jul 23

The Campaign for the Arts will never stop banging this drum, for and with citizens like you 🥁

Join the campaign now campaignforthearts.org/join/

#StateOfTheArts #ArtsFunding

Part 2 of a quotation reading: "The data provided by the Campaign for the Arts shows an erosion of funding that is deeply concerning. We have already seen the impact of years of retrenchment on people and organisations and on the communities that they serve; affecting jobs, buildings, the talent pipeline, innovation and opportunity.

There are holes in the fabric and we cannot afford for this to continue. Government has the ability and the mechanisms to turn this trajectory around: to fix these foundations, but also to be ambitious for our collective future. We need new ideas and models, risk and creativity. We need DCMS and the Treasury to listen and to act.”

By Lizzie Crump & Clare Thurman, Co-Directors of What Next?

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