News

Paintings in Hospitals annual summer exhibition of works available for loan to healthcare facilities is running at the Menier Gallery until 11 August. The works in this exhibition are all from the London branch of the collection, which includes some of the most notable artists of the last 50 years.

The Government has stated its ambition to restore the National Lottery to its original purpose. A priority element of this is the restoration of the shares of the National Lottery Distribution Fund to 20 per cent for each of the good causes of sport, heritage and the arts. The Secretary of State for Culture is seeking views on this proposed change.

Arts Council England has compiled a toolkit for arts organisations looking to influence policy-makers and the public about the benefits of the arts. The Toolkit which includes a range of links and contacts is available on the ACE website and is free to download.

w: www.artscouncil.org.uk/about-us/why-arts-matter/

The National Campaign for the Arts and Arts & Business have together established a Culture Forum made up of representatives from the arts which will meet over the summer to attempt to formulate an approach to government about arts spending and future funding for the arts.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport has closed down the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and is reviewing the role of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. As widely covered in the media last week, these closures pre-empt the autumn Comprehensive Spending Review in which the allocations to government departments will be announced.

LAHF is very grateful to the hundreds of you who took part in our national survey. Your answers will come together to form to an up to date map of arts in health activity in England which will then take the form of a database on the new national website for arts in health www.cultureandwellbeing.org.uk .

George Osborne’s first round of cuts have added a further £19m to the already announced £4m cut to ACE’s budget for this year. Including the £6.5m administrative savings, ACE are taking an overall 5% cut from the DCMS, compared to 3% across the rest of the department.

An online petition to encourage support for arts in mental health is nearing its deadline. The petition on the Downing Street website makes a call for greater resources available within the NHS and Local Authorities for the use of arts as an aid to recovery, wellbeing and social inclusion for people with mental health problems. The deadline for signing the petition is 10th July 2010.

Arts Alliance have launched a new online community for arts in the criminal justice system. The website allows people to become members of Arts Alliance and both link up and interact with arts practitioners and those involved or interested in the arts.

w. www.artsalliance.org.uk

The increasingly popular social networking site Facebook has welcomed the world of arts and health with the launch of both LAHF and Be Creative Be Well’s pages. Please sign up as a friend and keep up to date with events, news and opportunities and also let us know what you are up to.