Department for Culture Media and Sport
opportunity and excellence
Access to the arts can have a lasting effect on people. It has a unique ability to transform many aspects of our lives.
Research has shown involvement with the arts can increase the overall academic attainment of children, help change the behaviour of offenders and enhance community pride, amongst many other positive outcomes.
Opportunity
It is a strategic objective of DCMS to improve access to the arts, increasing the numbers of people both taking part in and attending arts events. Our work in this area includes:
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Increased participation
- In 2008-9 over 75% of adults engaged in the arts at least once, and almost 60% engaged three or more times.
- 9.4 million people participate in almost 50,000 voluntary and amateur arts groups across England (source: Our Creative Talent report, DCMS 2008).
Find arts events taking place near your home on the Arts Council England website.
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Excellence
In July 2007 James Purnell, the Secretary of State for Culture, asked Sir Brian McMaster - former Director of the Edinburgh International Festival - to undertake a review to report on:
- how the system of public sector support for the arts can encourage excellence, risk-taking and innovation
- how artistic excellence can encourage wider and deeper engagement with the arts by audiences
- how to establish a light touch and non-bureaucratic method to judge the quality of the arts in the future.
Read Sir Brian’s review - the McMaster Review: Supporting excellence in the arts - from measurement to judgement.
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