Arts Council cuts bite in south west

By Cathy Reay

A disability arts group has branded the Arts Council “uncaring” of disability arts following a decision to withdraw its funding.

Exeter based disability and deaf arts charity Kaleido has until 5 November to challenge the Arts Council South West’s decision to withdraw funding.

Ralf Togneri, executive director of Kaleido, said that the Arts Council had told him that Kaleido were “not generating sufficient income to justify continuing”. He said that the Arts Council’s threat to withdraw funding has been hanging over them since 2006.

He added: “The Arts Council basically told us that they have been investing in disability arts and black arts, and they’ve seen no generated income, no benefit. But this can’t be measured in monetary terms, the therapy and the creative enjoyment we offer is the reason we’re here.”

Graham Lewis, a disabled artist based in St Ives, said: “If you are a disabled artist in the south west the support Kaleido gives is fundamental. Taking away funding will likely result in Kaleido’s collapse and then there will be no support for us. In 2007 I did work for the Disability Arts Festival in our region and currently I’m working on arts for 2012. Without Kaleido, these projects wouldn’t have got off the ground.”

Tony Heaton (pictured), CEO of disability arts charity Shape, said: “Kaleido carry out much needed work, and the proposed funding cut will be a serious blow to disabled people in the South West wanting to engage with the arts. There need to be cuts in public spending… however, it’s also important that the Arts Council recognises the value of disability-led arts organisations. Our work is as culturally significant as any other sector within the arts, and is equally deserving of funding.”

A spokeswoman for Arts Council South West said: “Our Regional Council recommended that our funding for Kaleido end from March 2010.

The recommendation was made because there is a serious lack of partnership funding for Kaleido. We also feel that they are not delivering the quality of work that we expect for the level of funding that they have been receiving.

We are committed to investing in deaf and disabled artists in the region. Should the decision be taken to stop funding Kaleido, we have ring fenced £124,988 for this purpose in 2010/11.”

The Arts Council will assess Kaleido’s appeal to continue funding on 18 November.