Plymouth Arts Centre

Tim Etchells, Mirror Pieces, 2014

Emerging artists are supported in other ways through Plymouth Arts Centre’s artist development network, PAC Home.  Set up in 2012, PAC Home now boasts over 50 members and was cited by a-n as “one of the best examples in the country”.  Run by Programme Co-ordinator, Vickie Fear, who organises a programme of events and opportunities, the most recent – and technologically-ambitious – being a Google Hangout live streamed to Youtube, relieving PAC Home members from the necessity of leaving the studio to benefit from the sage advice offered on the subject of self-organised practice. A new benefit at PAC for artists visiting Plymouth is a self-catering Residency Flat on the top floor of the building.  With space for up to four people to sleep the flat can be used by visiting artists along with their families or collaborators.  Artists, whether working with PAC or other cultural organisations in the city, take priority but the flat is also let out through Airbnb, creating an additional income stream at a time of predicted further cuts nationwide. With a much more ambitious residency programme now possible and focusing on four strands of artists residencies (local/ UK emerging/ UK established/ international), seeking funding from Trusts and Foundations will be essential to fund the artists using the PAC facilities, as part of an integrated programme of support that also links up with PAC’s partnerships throughout the city. Partnership relationships were a key feature in the launch of Artory, Plymouth’s cultural What’s On app.  The app was produced by Plymouth Arts Centre and i-DAT, and it now groups together and promotes cultural activity from over 16 venues and organisations in Plymouth.  It is an example of how the arts benefit from the collaborative approach we all espouse.

For many people though, their first encounter with Plymouth Arts Centre will be watching a film in the intimate 61-seat cinema, or at an offsite cinema event.  The September-October film programme is looking particularly strong with screenings of Macbeth, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and Woody Allen’s Irrational Man programmed.  The team are also looking at ways to bring back a more substantial food offer for cinema goers and talks about regular ‘guest slots’ from the Barbican Theatre’s B-Bar and Veggie Perrins are well underway.

In May, £5,300 was raised through Crowdfunder for Cinema In The City, a series of 10 offsite film events which culminated in Open Air Cinema at Royal William Yard, part of the Plymouth’s Ocean City Festival.  The events were attended by approximately 2,500 people, watching films in unusual venues like the un-developed industrial Factory Cooperage at Royal William Yard, and the National Marine Aquarium.  The film series also brought on board five new sponsors, four of which, including Bond Dickinson and Twofour, were sponsoring PAC for the first time.

As a National Portfolio Organisation funded by Arts Council England to deliver contemporary art, PAC has its funding secured until 2018, albeit at a significantly reduced level.  In anticipation of further funding cuts, PAC is ramping up its fundraising efforts – the crowdfunding campaign was the first in a series of activities to bring more income into the organisation.  Bids to Trusts and Foundations have been submitted and more planned and over the coming year, PAC will be aiming to persuade its current donor base to become regular donors in order to ensure long-term sustainability.