Firstsite, the contemporary arts centre in Colchester, 50 miles north-east of London, faces closure unless regular government funding is reinstated. The gallery opened in 2011, in a new building designed by the architect Rafael Viñoly, at a cost of £27m.
Earlier this year, Arts Council England, which distributes government and lottery money, withdrew three-year funding from two of its 670 nationally financed arts organisations—Firstsite and English National Opera—over concerns about the way they are run. Instead, it offered a one-off grant for 2015/16 of £815,000 to Firstsite, and future support will be reconsidered by December.
A spokeswoman for the Arts Council says that the aim is to see if Firstsite can “develop a new sustainable business model” and improve its “contribution” to the visual arts. Althea Efunshile, acting chief executive of the Arts Council, warns that unless Firstsite improves its governance and business model, it “could face the removal of our funding”.
The Firstsite organisation was set up in 1993 to show contemporary art in an 18th-century townhouse known as the Minories. In 2003, it decided to build a new arts centre, but a series of delays meant that the building did not open until 2011. Costs rose from an initial estimate of £17m to £27m, with £8m coming from the Arts Council’s Lottery Fund.
The hope was that Firstsite would help to regenerate the town centre. The building is strikingly encased in curved copper-aluminium cladding, although its sloping walls provide limited space for flat art such as paintings. There is a café and a shop at the entrance, and the building also includes a cinema, galleries and educational space. What originally made Firstsite’s programme unique was its changing displays of Latin American art from the Escala collection (see box below).
Firstsite’s main problem is low visitor numbers, which slumped to 80,000 in 2014/15. They have since revived and the hope is to reach 125,000 in the current financial year. To make the gallery viable in the long term, the figure needs to be 200,000. Many visitors use the café and the cinema, but only a minority go to the galleries for more than a quick look, even though admission is free.
Firstsite gets around £1m a year in grants: three-quarters comes from the Arts Council, and most of the rest from Colchester Borough Council and Essex County Council. Given government cutbacks, the local authorities are unlikely to provide greater support. A withdrawal of regular Arts Council money would therefore make it impossible to keep the building open with art exhibitions.
Turning point?
Firstsite is in the throes of major management changes. Matthew Rowe, its director since 2012, resigned in April, and Anthony Roberts is the interim director. Recruitment for a new director is due to begin early next year. Noorzaman Rashid took over as chairman in August. He is a management consultant and his appointment marks a recognition that this area needs strengthening.
Roberts admits that Firstsite has faced a difficult time, but says: “We are in the process of improving the situation and now have some real, tangible results.” He is finalising a business plan that is due to be presented to the Arts Council in November.
Because of the high cost of subsidising contemporary art venues, a few ventures outside London financed by lottery grants have failed, most notably the Public in West Bromwich. But most have been successful, in particular the Baltic Centre in Gateshead, which attracted 516,000 visitors last year.
Where did Firstsite’s Latin American shows go?
The Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (Escala) describes itself as “the only collection in Europe dedicated to modern and contemporary art from Latin America”. Set up in 1993, it is owned by the University of Essex and consists of 800 post-1960 works donated mainly by artists, plus 60 long-term loans. When Firstsite opened in 2011, there was a three-year agreement that Latin American art would be shown in temporary exhibitions. Five were held; the last closed in November 2013. Firstsite’s interim director, Anthony Roberts, says that the decision not to have further displays was made before he arrived and that he is open to discussing their revival. But a spokesman for the university says that although the shows were well received, “we are now developing exciting exhibition ideas” elsewh ere.