South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous, has raised the lack of space for painters, sculptors and other artists to produce and exhibit their work. This has been an issue for a long time in Leighton Buzzard where there is a growing artistic community, and there are similar issues in Dunstable.
Following his question in Parliament this morning, Andrew has written to the leaders of Leighton Linslade Town Council, Dunstable Town Council, Houghton Regis Town Council, and Central Bedfordshire Council with the reply from the Minister about applying to the Arts Council for funding for exhibition and workspace to ask them to work with the Arts Council to help our local artists.
The exchange in Hansard was as follows:
The Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries (Julia Lopez): High-quality affordable workspaces are essential to ensuring that we can retain our finest creative talent. The Government are committed to encouraging local authorities and property owners to make spaces available for cultural activities. Arts Council England is already supporting artists’ spaces through funding and brokering partnerships. The national portfolio boasts numerous workspaces that receive revenue funding, such as Spike Island and Yorkshire Artspace, which offer space for artists to create work and gallery space for exhibiting new work.
Andrew Selous: Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable and many other parts of my constituency are blessed with an abundance of artists, painters, sculptors and others, but they have very few places where they can create their work—they need more studio space and more workspaces—and even fewer places in which to exhibit. Providing such spaces should be essential—it aids economic activity, increases footfall and increases wellbeing—so how can we ensure that it is essential, as the Minister said, and not an afterthought? It really does matter.
Julia Lopez: I thank my hon. Friend for raising his concerns about the creative community in Leighton Buzzard—it sounds like a buzzing creative community. As I say, we support creative industries primarily through Arts Council England, which has initiatives that look at workspaces. I encourage organisations in his constituency and community to make applications for grants, because there are specific funds available.