An update on The Public
It has been a while since our earlier commentary on The Public arts centre in West Bromwich. With recent changes in its ownership it is time to consider what has happened to the centre and identify the key lessons to be learnt. In our opinion this can be done quickly and cheaply, without the need for an expensive public inquiry, as has been called for by some of people. Surely, when so much money has already been spent, these people ought to be concentrating on avoiding wasting more cash rather than grandstanding.
There are two main lessons we can learn from The Public saga:
1. Poor management – the managers behind the original project could not cope with the scale of the project. They didn’t have the expertise to plan the work and manage the budget. Hence, the extensive overrun and ballooning of cost. In future, better project planning and management are needed for such work, with more upfront consideration given to the management skills of the team behind the project. To simply give the work to a team who had the artistic vision was misguided.
2. A vision lost in space – the team behind the original idea seem to have become isolated along with their vision. As the walls of the building were constructed they became more entrapped within them, losing contact with the local communities they were meant to serve. The grand visions they could dream became the reality for them. Space to them became the innovative design of the building and an unrealistic plan for a cyber-space gallery – the section that has still not opened, and the part that visitors will eventually have to pay to visit. The space beyond this, the reality in which local people live, became much too far removed from the dream of those planning the centre.
The centre is trapped in its own world, removed from the local community. This has fed the poor quality, negative media coverage, political wrangling and low public understanding and commitment to the arts centre. As the centre is now in the hands of new management under the Sandwell Leisure Trust for a trial period (for three months, though surely not enough time) there is an opportunity to break out of this trap, a legacy of the original management team.
There are some encouraging signs. Recent events, including a Sunday afternoon concert by the Sandwell Youth Jazz Orchestra (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcclark/3365232562/), and a weekend long beer and music festival have had crowds flocking in. The reason is clear: events which connect with the local communities are appreciated and attended. This is not to say that events have to be limited in scope. The recent ‘Stories in Six Words’ project has shown that artistic activities can be challenging yet also rooted in local lives. Through works such as these we can see Sandwell beginning to construct and assert a positive self-image enhancing the confidence of local people and giving outsiders a better perspective on the borough.
We wish the new owners well and offer our support in their exciting endeavour to reconnect the Public to the local communities. In six words? Public and Sandwell have bright future.
There are two main lessons we can learn from The Public saga:
1. Poor management – the managers behind the original project could not cope with the scale of the project. They didn’t have the expertise to plan the work and manage the budget. Hence, the extensive overrun and ballooning of cost. In future, better project planning and management are needed for such work, with more upfront consideration given to the management skills of the team behind the project. To simply give the work to a team who had the artistic vision was misguided.
2. A vision lost in space – the team behind the original idea seem to have become isolated along with their vision. As the walls of the building were constructed they became more entrapped within them, losing contact with the local communities they were meant to serve. The grand visions they could dream became the reality for them. Space to them became the innovative design of the building and an unrealistic plan for a cyber-space gallery – the section that has still not opened, and the part that visitors will eventually have to pay to visit. The space beyond this, the reality in which local people live, became much too far removed from the dream of those planning the centre.
The centre is trapped in its own world, removed from the local community. This has fed the poor quality, negative media coverage, political wrangling and low public understanding and commitment to the arts centre. As the centre is now in the hands of new management under the Sandwell Leisure Trust for a trial period (for three months, though surely not enough time) there is an opportunity to break out of this trap, a legacy of the original management team.
There are some encouraging signs. Recent events, including a Sunday afternoon concert by the Sandwell Youth Jazz Orchestra (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcclark/3365232562/), and a weekend long beer and music festival have had crowds flocking in. The reason is clear: events which connect with the local communities are appreciated and attended. This is not to say that events have to be limited in scope. The recent ‘Stories in Six Words’ project has shown that artistic activities can be challenging yet also rooted in local lives. Through works such as these we can see Sandwell beginning to construct and assert a positive self-image enhancing the confidence of local people and giving outsiders a better perspective on the borough.
We wish the new owners well and offer our support in their exciting endeavour to reconnect the Public to the local communities. In six words? Public and Sandwell have bright future.
