Shock as report calls for Arts Centre board to step down

A report commissioned by Westmeath County Council on Mullingar’s Arts Centre (MAC), has recommended that the current board be asked to step aside, and a new board be put in place - and that to encourage the members to resign, the Council should “signal its intention to [otherwise] withdraw funding” from the board.It proposes that a new nine-member board be put in place, consisting of three nominees of the County Council, three of the County Manager, one of the Arts Officer, and one each from the VEC and the Arts Council.There is fury locally over the recommendations contained in the report, and of the tenor of the document, which says that the prevailing organisational culture at the Centre is “too deep-rooted” to enable the current board to redefine the modus operandi of the management of the centre.There are also complaints that people named by the Arts Centre as willing to be interviewed for the study weren’t interviewed - and that no-one was informed that it was open to them to make submissions. (See page 4 for views on the report).The report - which was drawn up for County Manager Dan McLoughlin by Leitrim’s Arts Officer, Caoimhin Corrigan, says that there is “significant criticism” that the Centre is following too closely in the tradition of the old County Hall, and also, that there is too little commitment within the centre to the visual arts.The report does, however, suggest that Westmeath County Council has not adequately funded the centre, pointing out that since its establishment in 1999, the Arts Centre’s grant from the Council has risen by only 20 per cent from its original allocation of IR£80,000. Mr. Corrigan says in his review that if the Council wants the Centre to programme visual arts, then it must work with the Centre in relation to options around space for the visual arts, and consider providing additional funding, which should be earmarked for the visual arts; and that if the Council wants MAC to take greater commercial risks and lead the development of theatre audiences through “more ambitious programming”, it must provide additional funding for this purpose.Mr. Corrigan also criticised the Council for its “lack of consideration” towards enhancing the arts centre while the new civic offices were being planned and constructed, and accused the Council of demonstrating “a blatant prioritisation of architectural heritage over the current and future potential of contemporary culture”, in refusing to allow proper signage and branding on the building, which would make it clear that this was Mullingar’s Arts Centre.FocusWhile Mr. Corrigan acknowledged the dedication and focus of staff at the centre, and the “good work” being done there, he also made several criticisms, and said that some in the arts community view it as a “closed shop”.He said that the MAC’s programme is varied, with a very strong emphasis on local productions and youth events - but it takes few risks and is led by what is locally produced and locally popular.A strength of the centre was, he said, that it is often the “artistic driver” to an extent far greater than the executive of other centres in Ireland.Mr. Corrigan praised the level of participation in the outreach/youth programmes operated by the centre,although he said there is concern that the recruitment of personnel in this area wasn’t transparent, and that this meant the ideas, energy and expertise of new professionals were not being brought into MAC and new relationships with the wider community were not being brokered.On the outreach programme, Mr. Corrigan suggested that the board should assess whether the youth/outreach programmes are in line with the subsidiary objects of MACs’s Memorandum of Association.Mr. Corrigan said that there were two views among artists of the reception they get from staff at the Centre, some saying the staff were warm, friendly and supportive, and that the director “could not do enough for you”, but others saying they felt unwelcome there, and that the centre director could give the impression that the centre already had its audience and community behind it and doesn’t need others.The report also made some criticism of the level and nature of marketing work undertaken by the centre, criticising staff for “underselling” the venue, and saying that the current “lack of approach” to public relations and brand-building represented “a clear and present threat to the future development” of the centre.Mr. Corrigan also believes that the board of MAC is no longer constituted as meant to be under the Centre’s Articles of Association, and said that while the members of the board were individually committed to the Centre and brought a range of local experience to it, as a board, they “lacked clarity and coherence relating to the nature of their appointments, their role, and their individual and corporate responsibilities and functions”.He stated he was surprised to find that the centre director - Sean Lynch - directs eight shows a year at the centre, and was concerned that this work took from the time he needed to manage, develop and market the venue - even though Mr. Lynch gave much of his time voluntarily to his work in show direction. However, he continued, because of this situation, there was “an obvious risk of over-commitment/burn-out/tiredness affecting other aspects of work”. He recommended that this work be out-sourced.He said he did not doubt that the director and the staff were genuinely community focused, and that this focus was paying dividends in terms of locally-produced entertainment and youth participation numbers, which would be the envy of many other centres, but that this community focus should not preclude a welcome to the community of artists, other practitioners or new community groups who are not yet the core business of the centre.