WELCOME AWARM
In 2023-2024 our social impact and artistic output have continued to grow, and I have been inspired by the programmes the team have developed and delivered over the past year.
Growing the creative talent of the future is in our DNA. Our new Youth Leadership Collective showed that there is a real need for the sector to provide skills development opportunities for young people from under-represented backgrounds. I am excited for what happens next for the young people and the programme.
Creating space and supporting artists to test new ideas and to make new work is so valuable. At a time when all arts organisations are under pressure to maximise income, recognising and investing in creativity is even more important. I am proud that we were able to provide support and investment, including our resident Elder’s Dance Company and new commissions.
We’re very grateful for the continued support of the University of Warwick, Arts Council England and 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust. Their support ensures that we can deliver an ambitious artistic and creative learning programme. What we do is as vital for the profile and reputation of the University as it is for the cultural output of the region. In the year of our 50th anniversary we thank the founders of the University of Warwick for their vision and ambition.
Chair Advisory Board
Warwick Arts Centre’s 2023-24 annual review gives us the opportunity to share the dedication and determination with which the team here works to enrich our lives with arts and culture.
Since Warwick Arts Centre opened its doors in 1974, it has played a crucial role in bringing people together through the arts, creating connections that spark ideas and understanding. Sat right in the heart of our campus, it is an integral part of the cultural life of The University of Warwick, our region, and its diverse communities.
Over recent years, Warwick Arts Centre has gone through a period of transformational change – the largest in its 50-year history. A major capital development has ensured facilities are now modern, accessible, and welcoming to all. The team has also navigated the choppy waters of the pandemic and an enforced closure, and re-surfaced with great zest. Warwick Arts Centre have re-established itself as a leading cultural destination for our region.
At a time when central government money to the arts has been cut, the University has continued to invest in
Warwick Arts Centre. Our University values of thinking freely, sharing opportunities, and creating connections are reflected in every activity that takes place here; from shows to community events, graduation ceremonies to family workshops. We firmly believe that arts and culture can transform the lives of our students, staff and local communities for many generations to come.
Thank you to the team and to our visitors for being part of our journey. Happy 50th birthday to Warwick Arts Centre.
WHENTHEARTSMEET,HAPPENS EXTRAORDINARY
Warwick Arts Centre plays a pivotal role in the region’s cultural and economic life. Over the past year, we welcomed an incredible 227,153 attenders, surpassing our best pre-COVID year!
It has been wonderful to see our spaces filled with families, students, and visitors from the city, the region, and beyond. This remarkable increase gives us hope that more and more people believe in the importance of what we do for them as individuals, in the city, and the region.
Our programme has not only attracted new visitors to the Arts Centre but also strengthened our bond with longstanding audiences who cherish our entertaining programme and friendly welcome. A heartfelt thank you to the many artists and creatives who collaborated with our teams throughout the year, ensuring we could offer a wide and diverse range of experiences to our varied audiences and communities.
We proudly say that we are open to everyone, and our activities and the highlights in this report prove that these are more than just words. We are committed to widening access and fostering a strong sense of relevance and belonging for a diverse range of artists, creatives, and communities. This year exemplifies how we are achieving these ambitions, cementing our civic role while also championing high-quality, innovative work.
As we closed the year, it was a true honour to see our Playing Out in Canley project shortlisted for the Best Community Programme of the Year in the Museum and Heritage Awards. We were thrilled to enter into a new partnership with YMCA Heart of England and Positive Youth Foundation to establish a new youth leadership programme for young people aged 15–22. It was a proud moment to see them featured in The State of the Arts, the Campaign for the Arts & University of Warwick report presented at the House of Lords.
Director Warwick Arts Centre DOREEN FOSTER
PHOTO: DAVE FREAK
DOREEN FOSTER © DAVE FREAK
VIBRANT SOCIAL HUBWITH, BY AND FOR ALL CREATINGA
We are dedicated to making the arts and creativity accessible to all. Our vision is to welcome as many people as possible from our many communities into our arts centre. We want visitors to feel that Warwick Arts Centre is their arts centre. A place where they can find their voice and meet both like-minded people and those who expand their view of the world through arts and culture.
Our commitment includes providing a wide range of free events, created with, by and for our many local residents, students, creative practitioners, visitors and audiences. Working together we are transforming our foyer spaces to create a vibrant social hub for everyone. In 2023 – 24 more events than ever before were free.
THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
We worked with Foleshill Creates, a local group founded to bring people together to create, talk, tackle isolation and improve wellbeing, to rehang paintings from the University Art Collection as part of our summer exhibition The Reason for Painting. Participants spent time selecting the paintings to be featured and wrote their own interpretation panels.
We worked in partnership with Inini Initiative (a group providing culturally sensitive mental health services for those affected by issues surrounding migration) and artist Rumbi Savanhu to explore Afrofuturism and be inspired by artists featured in our Phantom Sculpture exhibition. The resulting exhibition, titled Monumental Visions: Speculative Futures through Art was displayed in our Theatre Bar. This project was supported by the Warwick Institute of Engagement.
We worked with 10 artists across 68 family focused sessions welcoming 3,372 people. Sessions included Mini Creatives, our early years programme for babies and their adults. Hosted by musician Beth Hopkins, the sessions focused on music, sensory storytelling and early years development. Family Sundays, our free weekly drop-in programme for families to engage in creative workshops led by our artists-in-residence. These open, engaging sessions act as an entry point to interacting with our exhibitions and the wider programme.
We are on a mission to empower young people with the confidence to amplify their voices and express their creativity. We do this in many exciting ways including supporting students to produce their own events. Opera Warwick produced Carmen and Warwick Classics Department performed Aeschylus’ The Persians alongside a series of complementary lectures. This year we also developed deeper relationships with three inspiring student collectives. Black [Untitled] led Workshop Wednesday sessions including Harlem at the Arts Centre, our student experience intern Shomi Owudunni worked with fellow Media & Creative Industries students to present Hands that Made Us, a film and evening of conversation exploring the unspoken stories of young black women. And Jesse Ayo & Friends performed an evening of new music to mark the end of their time at Warwick.
We launched PLATFORM, a new student collaboration strand that saw 6 high quality student-led events in our spaces.
Jazz Fridays and Open Mic Nights became regular features with a growing audience of loyal fans. And MC Fest, a festival of student music, saw over 20 acts showcase the diversity of student music making.
“This project taught me to believe in my ideas and that there are people out there who will be happy to support you.”
STUDENT ON THE PLATFORM SCHEME
210 FREE FOYER EVENTS
98 COMMUNITY LED EVENTS
29 STUDENT LED 42 REGIONAL ARTISTS EMPLOYED
351 STUDENT LED EVENTS
15,258 STUDENTS
PRODUCTIONS & CONCERTS participated in music making sessions
WORKSHOP WEDNESDAYS
330 ARTIST LED CREATIVE SESSIONS
844 BABIES, CHILDREN & CARERS participated in sessions
WE PRESENT HUNDREDS OF EVENTS
ACROSS OUR LIVE PROGRAMME, GALLERY AND CINEMAS
Our ambition is to create a culturally democratic arts centre that is increasingly reflective of our region and the global context in which the arts and culture are situated. We set ourselves ambitious targets for working with more artists from different backgrounds, bringing new voices and ideas to our programme.
THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
We hosted the Screening Rights Festival, the Midlands’ International Festival of Social Justice film and debate and the French Film Festival alongside blockbuster films Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The dark comedy thriller, Saltburn, French legal drama Anatomy of a Fall, comedy/drama The Holdovers and Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon all proved popular with cinema goers.
Increasingly popular with audiences, we introduced Exhibitions on Screen to complement Met Opera and NT Live. This year’s highlights included A Little Life (with James Horton) and Vanya (with Andrew Scott), Dear England (with Joseph Fiennes) plus focuses on exhibitions featuring the work of Vermeer, Klimt and Monet.
Live programme highlights included exciting new collaborations with Graeae Theatre Company for Jenny Sealey’s autobiographical Self-Raising (with integrated BSL and audio description), and Frozen Light’s show for adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their carers, entitled The Bar at the Edge of Time. This not only brought new visitors to us but included training on working with people with learning difficulties for our technical and visitor experience teams.
Our comedy programme is a large part of our live schedule. We continued to diversify the programme increasing the number of female performers and artists of global majority heritage. It was especially exciting to see Coventry’s Guz Khan who brought new audiences to the Arts Centre in two sell-out performances in the Hall, as well as the welcome return of Rosie Jones and Sophie Duker
We supported return visits from Botis Seva/Far From the Norm, Chineke! Orchestra and Camilla George
We continued to refresh our orchestral programme with Aurora Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of India and our student orchestras and choral societies bringing new audiences to orchestral music.
The Reason for Painting was the first exhibition where we have exhibited work by community participants alongside ‘established’ artists. We were delighted to work with Art Riot Collective on the curation process and artists Lorsen Camps and Betsy Bradley to create our first Making Space inviting the public to create their own artwork in response to the work in the gallery. All our exhibitions now include a making space.
We continued this approach in Phantom Sculpture, an exhibition inspired by the writings of Warwick graduate Mark Fisher and his conception of the end of history. Including works by modernists Barbara Hepworth and Anthony Caro in dialogue with generations of younger artists including Sarah Lucas and Phillip Lai. We also worked with Coventry University Fine Art students to develop work in response to the exhibition; these were installed alongside the original works.
Families were treated to the likes of Dragons and Mythical Beasts, Nick Cope, and for Christmas, the perennially popular Christmas show, The Gruffalo
RUSSELL HOWARD
2,357 FILM SCREENINGS
REVEREND RICHARD COLES ARTISTS
45 EVENT SCREENINGS
73% ART ACQUISITIONS FROM GLOBAL MAJORITY
29,487 PEOPLE ATTENDED FAMILY EVENTS
14,200 PEOPLE ATTENDED EXHIBITIONS
ANNIE MAC, BEFORE MIDNIGHT
CAMILLA GEORGE
BARBIE
NEW ARTISTS NEWWORK, AND CREATIVES
At Warwick Arts Centre we are committed to helping to grow talent and supporting artists to develop ideas and to make new work. Alongside this we have an important role to play in creating opportunities for professional career development to build the talent pipeline for the creative industries.
We supported new commissions by Phoebe CollingsJames, who produced two new sculptures for Phantom Sculpture (May-June 2023), that are part of an ongoing series of forms titled Infidel. Swiss artist Nicole Bachmann was commissioned to make a new film for her show in the gallery. Exploring concepts of borders and belonging There are tides in the body is set across two locations in Dungeness, Kent and Spon End in Coventry. Italian based, Rwandan artist Francis Offman made several new abstract works for his exhibition, Economics of Painting continuing the theme of displacement and stories of friendship and travel across the world.
As part of our commitment to developing the next generation of artists and creatives and platforming the work of new artists, we were delighted to support our Youth Leadership Collective (in partnership with YMCA Heart of England and Positive Youth Foundation) to make and install their first curated, interactive exhibition Activate/Assemble/Amplify exploring their vision for themselves and their city, in response to There are tides in the body and Economics of Painting. This exhibition was installed alongside the work of Bachmann and Offman, which was a wonderful platform for the young people to see their work in a professional context.
To further support the development of the talent pipeline, we supported a Creative Learning Events Apprentice, offered a paid student internship with Warwick Institute of Engagement, delivered a work experience programme for 16 Year 10 pupils together with the Widening Participation team and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Warwick.
Providing space to develop and share work is an important part of the support we provide. We continued to provide space to our resident dance company for people aged 60+, Out of Whack. In July 2023 they hosted Hold Your Own, A Day of Elders’ Dance featuring dancers all aged 50+. Our artist-in-residence Ellie Gowers hosted a songwriter’s gig in June 2023 where fellow songwriters including Lauren South and Stylusboy performed together and shared about their own songwriting experience.
The University of Warwick Art Collection saw three major acquisitions last year.
Colour Connections by Tine Bech was installed outside University House, Breadfruit by Veronice Ryan was installed outside Warwick Arts Centre and a new cloud sculpture No.1102 by Rana Begum was installed in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building. The cloud sculptures are a distinctive element in Begum’s work and derive from a commission for her exhibition at the Mead Gallery in 2022.
29 YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 15-25 SUPPORTED in our Youth Leadership Collective, internships, Project Search and work experience placements
3 NEW COMMISSIONS
ARE TIDES
IN THE BODY: SPON END BY NICOLE BACHMANN
IN COMMUNITIESOUTANDABOUT
We work with residents in our target neighbourhoods reaching people who might not think that the arts or Warwick Arts Centre are for them. By meeting people in their spaces and co-producing on their terms, we are changing perceptions and increasing the numbers of people from underserved backgrounds participating in the arts.
THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS
We worked with Foleshill Community Centre and Warwick Institute of Engagement on the Planting Roots Project which culminated in a Green Celebration Day on Earth Day 2023. Over 8 months we brought people together through workshops exploring nature, wellbeing, sustainability and how we can make a positive change together. We worked with 4 artists and 9 academics and reached 1,177 participants spanning all ages and backgrounds exploring plants and dyeing, sustainable crops and more.
Playing Out in Canley our collaborative project with Canley residents continued to provide regular creative activities in the area, including the Canley Samba Band, artist-led workshops, the outdoor cinema and the biggest community event the annual Canley Parade. In this final year we moved from co-production to community-led activity. Residents worked with Turner Prize winning Assemble Studio and artists Jane Thakoordin, Niall Singh and Carrie Backhouse on a series of public art pieces to mark the parade route.
Playing Out in Canley was shortlisted for Best Community Programme of the Year in the Museum and Heritage Awards and was supported by Spirit of 2012.
• 94% said they felt welcomed to our activities
• 99% said they would come again
• 98% said it was fun
We launched a new primary school’s project, The Classroom of Creativity, working with 6 key stage 1 teachers, 180 pupils and 2 artists across 3 schools in our target wards of Foleshill, Hillfields and Tile Hill. Working across dance and visual arts, we delivered 24 workshops in classrooms and within the arts centre. The project includes collaborative artist/teacher meetings where plans for the year are developed together to ensure they have greater impact and interest for pupils and offer creative professional development for teachers.
We continued to extend our participatory music offer to include community activities and in May we welcomed 1,100 primary school children to the Hall for a Singing After Sats event devised by our Music Centre team and delivered in partnership with the local Music Education Hub.
“I feel I am an artist!”
LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL PARTICIPANT
As part of Playing Out in Canley we supported the community with a large-scale parade, which was attended by over one thousand residents and included The Big Lunch and free food.
The project was shortlisted for Best Community Programme of the Year in the Museum and Heritage Awards.
38,550 PARTICIPANTS across all participatory activities
51 PARTNERSHIPS
24 CLASSROOM WORKSHOPS OF CREATIVITY
1,100 PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN sang together
CANLEY PARADE 2024
EQUALITY,DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
Our ambition is to create a sense of inclusion and belonging for under-served communities by increasing equality of access, opportunity, and participation, so that local artists and communities tell us we are relevant.
In 2020 we signed up to the More than a Moment Pledge, committing to ensuring equity, investment in, and opportunities for Black artists and creatives within our organisation’s culture and work.
WE HAVE
• Created a diverse Advisory Board
• Ensured all staff have undertaken up-to-date equality, diversity, and inclusion training
• Created a EDI plan
• Agreed to follow the spirit of the Rooney Rule with commissions, productions, and workforce recruitment
• Reviewed programming and curation procedures, setting new targets to reflect the communities we serve
• Built on previous work with Black artists to nurture long-term collaborative relationships
WE HAVE ALSO
• Ensured 24% of our programme featured artistic work led by Global Majority artists
• Ensured post-event feedback evaluates diversity
• Created and embedded our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group and plan across the organisation
• Created staff development days to increase awareness and focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion
Introduced a new inclusive recruitment process and delivered supported internships for young people
Our website received accreditation level 2.1 AA (highly accessible) following the completion of an access audit by the Shaw Trust. 24%
FROZEN LIGHT. THE BAR AT THE EDGE OF TIME
OURROADTOSUSTAINABILITY
Our ambition is to become leaders in our community for advancing environmental sustainability.
WE AIM TO ACHIEVE THIS BY:
• Being lean (use less), clean (service systems), and green (renewables)
• Making ‘working sustainably’ central to our planning
• Managing and reviewing our emissions (direct and indirect)
• Measuring outcomes, recording results, and sharing best practices with our peers
WE HAVE
• Developed and embedded our environmental policy and action plan, creating a team of ‘Green Champions’
• Enabled our teams to undertake ‘Carbon Literacy Training’ with specialist consultants, leading artists, and thinkers
• Curated a programming plan that includes work dedicated to environmental issues, from visual arts installations to high-level discussions
• Delivered staff development sessions to shape our ambitions and embedded environmental training into our talent development programme
• Aligned our plan with University of Warwick targets, establishing a baseline and implementing measures to monitor progress towards UoW’s 2030 net-zero emissions
• Saved approximately 390,000 kWh and 79 tCO2e by resolving issues or shortening heating/cooling schedules, equivalent to:
- Electricity for 42 average UK houses for a year
- Gas and heat for 24 average UK houses for a year
- Drinking water for 700 people for a year
- CO2 absorbed by 3,100 trees for a year, or 46 average petrol cars off the road for a year
• Introduced ‘Green Patrols’ – monthly walk-arounds to capture and deliver ‘quick wins’
PLASTIC DRASTIC FANTASTIC (PART OF OUR PLANTING ROOTS FESTIVAL 2023)
SOPHIE DUKER
FINANCIALINFORMATION
In the three years since the enforced closure due to the pandemic, in 2023-2024 Warwick Arts Centre regained and exceeded its pre-Covid audience numbers:
*Admissions includes live events, cinema and gallery
*Dates 1 Apr – 31 Mar
“There’s a great atmosphere in this space when everyone is chatting and making and sharing.”
JAZZ FRIDAYS
Sandeep
Prof.
Prof.
RUBY WAX
LORE – JAMES WILTON DANCE
DRAGONS & MYTHICAL BEASTS