Staff at Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast may seek a judicial review of the decision by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland not to grant it lottery funding. Their gripe is that they have gone through three stages of the application process - and an external assessment of their application - only to be told their venue is of low strategic priority.
Crescent staff feel the council's priorities have changed. As Robin Mullan, its chairperson, says, "it's a bit late to say now we're outside the strategic priorities."
Damien Smith, the council's public-affairs officer, says it is not up to the council who should apply for funds. It could not have made a decision earlier because the application was not complete, and it is never possible to say if "a particular application worked up in a particular way may not have been successful".
Last Wednesday, the council surprised many by announcing plans for the development of a £3 million sterling arts centre in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. Crescent says it is not against the development but that it should not be at the expense of its own listed building in the university area, which is in bad order.
It rankles with Crescent that, as its acting manager, Liz Donnan, says, "a reporter was waiting for me when I got out of the meeting with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland last Wednesday. They knew before us."
It is not only the suddenness of the announcement that is upsetting the sector. Anne McReynolds of the Old Museum Arts Centre claims the council's press release used "derogatory" language in its explanation why applications for funding by the Old Museum and the Grand Opera House were turned down - it said their bids were "of insufficient business quality to warrant the investment of public funds".
McReynolds says the announcement should have been positive, stressing that £2 million sterling had been granted to the Grand Opera House and £3 million sterling for the new arts centre. "That doesn't happen every day," she says. Although the Old Museum will not now lead the development of the centre, McReynolds expects it will still be a partner in the scheme, despite this perceived put-down. Its rented venue is "bursting at the seams" and not wheelchair-accessible.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has decided to start from scratch in the development of the centre and has put up £100,000 sterling towards its planning. Smyth says they are "open to new ideas". He says the venue will not be traditional but will include a visual-arts space and a medium-sized studio-theatre space, and will be "a creative space where artists are making and doing".
Laganside Corporation has allocated a site for a building or, perhaps, several buildings. Smyth hopes there will be an international design competition for the development of the site.
The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon may not now publish its "implementation plan" - one year's plan abstracted from the forthcoming five-year magnum opus. Council members felt too much had to be held back from publication because the full document is still before the Department of Arts, Gaeltacht, Heritage and the Islands and enjoys Dáil privilege.
So we will probably have to wait until the whole document is recommended by the Department and adopted by the Government before we see anything of the council's new plan. Patricia Quinn, the council's director, is confident this will all happen "soon".
The new plan was written with criticisms of the last one in mind, she says. "People said it was not specific enough, and was written in language that was . . . I suppose we're trying to simplify." She confirms what has already been reported here: the plan will specify what the Arts Council "staff complement" will be; that is, the increase in staff necessary to implement policies. That's putting it up to the Department to come up with a new staffing structure for Merrion Square.
Awakening the 53 trillion cells in the body and quietening the chattering mind is the message choreographer Deborah Hay will bring to a five-day residency at the Institute for Choreography and Dance, in Cork, next week. A veteran of the 1960s Judson Church movement in New York, Hay has since become an influential educator, teaching for periods of up to four months and creating large-scale group dances.
Her central thesis is of "cellular consciousness", the notion that every cell in the body must participate in every moment of the dance. Her solo performances are often triggered by a word, such as "sweet". Rejecting the notion of improvisation in favour of meditation, she maintains that improvisation involves thought, whereas cellular consciousness frees the mind and is closer to meditation.
There will be an open morning class throughout the week, with a one-day workshop, entitled Imaging Choreography, on Thursday. Hay will perform a solo piece, Music, on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Further details from Sharon Sheehan at 021-4507487, or you can e-mail sharon@instchordance.com
Sliabh Luachra. The name conjures up mystery, wild Kerry polkas and battering feet. It's good to see The Gathering music festival exploiting this tradition. It's also good to see such an innovative festival enlivening Ireland's tourism capital. The third Gathering takes place at the Gleneagle Hotel, in Killarney, from February 21st to 24th, featuring a range of Sliabh Luachra musicians, set-dancing workshops and céilithe and the Cork Singers' Club, as well as some of the biggest names in trad: Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Brendan Begley, Gavin Ralston, Altan, Sean Tyrrell and Dervish. Further information from 064-71555
An offer has been made to a candidate for the job of public-art specialist with the Arts Council. The three-year consultancy will result in the development of Arts Council policy in relation to public art and manage a commissioning programme. Watch this space.
Edited by Victoria White frontrow@irish-times.ie
