羅伯特.弗魯博士(Dr. Robert Frew)畢業于倫敦大學瑪麗皇后學院(Queen Mary University of London),主修物理學,後又在倫敦城市大學(City, University of London)取得藝術政策與管理學的博士學位。他主要研究創意產業中的盈利與非盈利機構,聚焦文化藝術機構中的管理與領導力問題,並提出了英國主要藝術資助的新型方案。他是英國皇家特許管理會計師公會會士(Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants),也是特許全球管理會計師(Chartered Global Management Accountant)。作為一名財務管理專家,他是許多組織的管理顧問,並在英國、南部非洲和土耳其幫助許多企業起死回生。他的國際職業生涯跨越了諸多領域,包括航空、廣播、休閒、媒體、黃金開採、石油勘探和國際貿易。他也是一名政治活動家,同時是英國保守黨外交和聯邦委員會的成員(Member of the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council)。
Central to arts policy and management in the UK, is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The DCMS is a department of the UK Government. The arts in the UK are funded from a variety of sources, but a significant amount comes from the DCMS. It sets the budget for the arts by providing funds by way of grant-in-aid or government subsidies, which are administered by four national arts councils: Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and Arts Council Wales. The four arts councils also receive money from the National Lottery, a state-franchised lottery. The arts councils operate slightly differently in awarding funds, but essentially they direct the overall arts policy and direction of their respective countries. Overall the DCMS government body will also influence the direction of policy through these arts councils.
So, overall policy is set by government through the DCMS along the overall budget to arts councils, who further impose their own policies on the amounts of subsidy or grant-in-aid that organisations, companies and individuals receive. The majority of the funding is awarded to UK major performing arts companies, such as the major opera, orchestras, theatres and dance companies. Whilst thousands or smaller grants are available to small, medium sized companies and individuals. In the UK these subsidies, especially those given to major performing arts companies, are totally inadequate to run the company. As a consequence, much effort is required by the arts management to secure additional funds especially through sponsorship, giving and bequests.
This is very different situation to that that exists in France or Germany, where government subsidies to the arts are significantly higher and meet most of the costs of running arts organisations.
Arts management in the UK, is more like ‘arts administration’, in that the emphasis is in obtaining sufficient funds for arts organisations to stay solvent. They also need to have sufficient money to pursue additional non-core activities, such as activities related to education and diversity issues as required by the arts councils, as a requirement for their funds and which are not fully funded by them. This situation does create programming issues.
Whilst he creative industries include the profit and the not-for-profit arts, in the context of this question, I think we can consider the creative industries as more related to being profit-based. The digital world and technology has brought innovation, new ways of production and working. This has driven a new substantial creative output from software/games, broadcasting and film production companies, providing the development of new global market opportunities and profit making opportunities. However, from a cultural standpoint, I believe there is a cultural drift amongst the not-for-profit arts companies, which receive inadequate funding. If anything, the UK is in cultural decline. The big mistake that successive UK Governments have made is in not supporting the national culture. National culture is out, multiculturalism is in — UK predominant and mainstream culture has been sidelined and arts organisations underfunded.
There are not so many direct comparisons one can make between the sectors or genres. But by way of an example, it is possible to draw some differences by comparing London’s West End commercial theatre, with other major arts funded theatres and perhaps opera companies.
The big difference is in management style: West End theatre management need to deliver successful theatre production to enable the production company/producers to cover all costs and repay investors and make a profit. At the other end of the scale, arts managers are probably more focussed on keeping alive the legacy art form. The managers have difficulty producing new artistic works, along with hugely popular well-known productions, whilst meeting arts council non-core criteria and keeping the organisation afloat financially. The not-for-profit or government funded arts sector companies operate essentially up to the extent of their government subsidy, which has a direct effect on programming.
Good managers and leaders, in both profit and not-for-profit organisations, will have essentially similar basic skills, but mission and objectives will be different as will be organisational priorities.
Thank you! I have so much to say, however, I think that important questions surround the word ‘Culture’, what is culture, issues of multiculturalism, whose culture is it? My own brief views on this are, that ‘Culture’ can be considered a diamond: a diamond whose lattice is formed by virtue of language, laws, history and traditions. The cultural diamond defines national culture and identity, and that within the lattice or geometry of the diamond, other cultures and sub cultures can exist. These other or multi cultures can only exist within the framework of the main culture. Without a main cultural lattice, all cultures merge into a melange, with competing values or even no values that can break down society and create cultural disorder. Today, generally in the West and specifically in the UK, we are witnessing a situation, where it seems to many people that Government suppresses predominant culture and values, and promotes multiculturalism and the new ‘Woke agenda’. This encourages cultural dissent and cultural disunity, and allows for a ‘divide and rule’ style of government. There is no doubt that Western society is becoming less democrat, subject to more government control whilst society becomes more fragmented.
I raise political issues on a range of subjects on the Internet. My latest on-line article entitled ‘ BBC or BBC PLC ?: Government Policy Needs to be Clarified’ sought to explore the Government’s intention to privatise the BBC. The main concerns I have right now, is the trend to rewrite some of Britain history, cultural past, whether it was good or bad, at the expense of the predominant mainstream cultures of the UK: that is of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.