Agenda item

Briefing note with report of Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive and Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director, Coventry City of Culture Trust

Chenine Bhathena has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Councillor Duggins, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership and Martin Reeves, Chief Executive, who are the Council’s two representatives on the City of Culture Trust

The Committee considered a briefing note with a report of Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of Coventry City of Culture Trust and Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director which provided an update on activity associated with City of Culture 2021. Chenine Bhathena attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Martin Reeves, one of the Council’s two representatives on the Trust.

The report indicated that since the announcement that Coventry was to be City of Culture 2021, the independent charitable Trust had been working with multiple partners and stakeholders to recruit team members who would be responsible for delivering the exceptional programme and legacy for 2021 and beyond. During the bidding process a timeline, outlining key milestones for each year had been developed and a copy was included with the report.

The report referred to the start of the build-up programme. The Trust were committed to developing the programme with artists, organisations (cultural, community, educational and business) and residents of Coventry and in December, 2018 launched the first campaign ‘humansofcov’. This was to be a yearlong programme shining a spotlight on the everyday heroes in Coventry, individuals who championed the importance of human rights and who articulated the City’s commitment to peace and reconciliation. In addition, every school was being invited to participate in a ‘Flag for Human Rights’ project led by Chinese artist Al Weiwei.     

Reference was made to the support being given to Refugee Week which included presenting ‘Party in the City’ in Broadgate during the summer. The Trust was also working with the City Council to support the displaying of the Knife Angel, a touring art installation created as a response to the national rise in knife crime. The Trust were supporting a national Arts and Mental Health conference led by the Belgrade and the City Council; the Change Festival at Warwick Arts Centre which was focusing on Climate Change and green futures; and the Coventry Social Arts Biennale to commission a project with homeless people. A music health check of the city was being undertaken to provide recommendations to support Coventry as a Music City. Reference was made to the initial partnership working with the University of Warwick and Coventry University. 

The Committee were informed about the recruitment to key senior posts including those of the Chief Executive, the Creative Director, the Production Director, and the Head of Trusts and Foundations. It was currently a busy period for recruitment with a number of candidates currently being sought. The Trust were now looking to recruit four Associate Producers who were to be placed within the teams at Grapevine, Positive Youth Foundation, the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre and the Law Centre. In June the Trust would be recruiting the Head of Volunteering who was to work with partners to develop the volunteering plan.

Information was provided on the public meetings where the two community connectors had been engaging with local residents hearing about what they want from 2021 as well as informing them about the opportunities ahead. Details were provided about meetings held with local artists and training events. These included fortnightly artist surgeries and thematic round tables meeting artists, organisations and individuals to discuss topics such as music, refugee communities, creative writing, women and leadership, and craft. Support had also been provided for the development of digital skills of several arts organisations.

The report referred to the key conversations with national funding partners and sponsors. The anticipated total cost of the City of Culture project was estimated at £40m so significant financial targets were to be achieved. £4m of funding had been confirmed from Arts Council England with another £1m for legacy. Warwickshire County Council had included a grant of £1m in their budget and £200,000 had been awarded from Spirit 2012. Work had now commenced on bids to the national lottery and trust/foundation funders. 

Members were informed that work had commenced with ticketing partners across the city to develop a ‘middleware’ system to enable centralised ticketing for 2021. The Heart of England Community Foundation had been commissioned to manage the Road to 2021 fund which awarded grants of up to £10,000 to support community groups, arts organisations and artists to prepare for 2021.

The Committee noted that work was ongoing with the two local universities to develop the ‘Theory of Change’ which articulated the short term outputs from activities related to 2021 as well as the longer term outcomes and impacts. The commitment was to develop a city-wide programme with 80% of the city’s population engaging on three occasions as well as attracting 2.5m extra visitors to the city. It was the intention to work with 16,000 volunteers as hosts and performers.

Additional information was provided on the establishing media partnerships with the BBC; feasibility studies around the key programme; expanding work in schools; and to identify key dates for tourism promotion. 

Members questioned the representative and officers on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Support for the development of the programme to date and for all the work that has been undertaken including ‘the city without walls’

·  Concerns about residents being excluded from finding out about proposals and opportunities associated with the programme if they didn’t have access to a computer (digital exclusion)

·  Concerns about not being able to contact City of Culture employees via the telephone

·  A suggestion that the City of Culture website should be made more accessible, making more of Coventry’s history and culture

·  A concern that residents might be put off providing details of events, since the website informs that the information they provide might be published

·  Clarification about the role and duties of the Commercial Manager

·  Then requirement to let residents know how the budget for 2021 was being spent

·  The importance of engaging with community groups and associations as a matter of urgency

·  The role of local Councillors in the development of the programme and the promotion of 2021

·  Further information on the development of the city narrative

·  The importance of recognising Coventry’s industry and sporting achievements - past, present and future

·  A request for an individual project in each of the city’s 18 Wards

·  Concerns about the installation of the Knife Angel in the city and the requirement to have the appropriate narrative accompanying the showing of the sculpture

·  A request for further details about the public meetings – the surgeries and round table events

·  What could the City of Culture offer to support other social issues in the city – fly tipping,  library closures, knife crime, anti-social behaviour and homelessness

·  The promotion of the Godiva festival

·  Was the proportions of funding used to pay employees and to fund the events the right balance

·  The importance of City of Culture 2021 being a platform and development opportunity for Coventry people. 

RESOLVED that:

(1) The content of the report be noted.

(2) A further progress report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee in September, 2019.

(3) The Council’s representatives on the Coventry City of Culture Trust be requested to convey the following to the Trust:

(i) A presentation on City of Culture 2021 including the involvement of local communities be made to the two political groups including details of the performance measures, the metric and the evaluation tools.

(ii) Consideration to be given and solutions to be found to the digital exclusion issues raised at the meeting.

(iii) The Community Producers be requested to identify a community project in each of the city’s wards as part of the legacy of 2021.

(iv) Assurances to be provided regarding community involvement which is to be key to the programme.

(4) Chenine Bhathena to provide members with an update about the number of surgeries and round table events that have taken place including details of venues and the number of attendees.

(5) When available the draft city narrative to be shared with members of the Committee.