Access to the arts can be seen in a number of different ways. It might be understood as physical access for old or infirm people. There has been significant legislation in the UK over the past ten years to ensure that those less able to cope physically can gain access to venues and opportunities.

Access is also taken to mean the inability of people to take advantage of opportunities because of their poverty. Financial exclusion is increasingly recognised as being only part of the problem; often people feel excluded because arts establishments are perceived as middle class and “not for us”. Often young people who want to use their creativity to build a career are discouraged by parents who do not see the value of such an enterprise.

At other times access is restricted because arts are too easily understood only in a Western context and don’t make provision for multicultural nature of UK society. Over the past twenty years the number and variety of ethnic arts organisations that have come forward and the breadth of multicultural arts organisations that have emerged, have changed the nature of the UK’s creative scene immeasurably.

Access can also be about remoteness. Much of the UK remains a rural landscape, with major arts venues located in cities and urban areas. In relative terms rural communities have little access to the arts or opportunities to express their creative talents and arts funders and local government have been keen to ensure that this issue is addressed, within the context of so many other competing concerns.

All of these are issues that are recognised within government and within the arts community. The difficulty is not only around opening up opportunity but also around then encouraging people to make the most of those opportunities and ensuring that the opportunities are relevant to their situation.

You can read about UK projects that have overcome these constraints here.