Council of Ministers Paper No: 2020/429
End of Year Three of National Development Strategy for Culture and the Arts
Progress Report
Introduction
The Action Plan that accompanies the National Development
Strategy for Culture and the Arts ‘Arts, Culture and Creativity
for Everyone’ outlines actions which should be achieved or
started in Year Three by the Isle of Man Arts Council and
Culture Vannin. This third annual report gives a summary of
actions achieved and in progress submitted to the Council of
Ministers and includes an update to Year One and Two
actions.
Summary
Throughout 2020 we have seen the world around us change beyond recognition, but one
remarkable thing that has shone out like a beacon of hope has been the true value of arts,
and creativity. Arts, culture, creativity and community are fundamental to our well-being,
both physically and mentally, they entertain and educate, and they offer a much needed
distraction. How we support creative work and the Creative Industries nationally and
internationally going forward will be crucial. This report will repeatedly turn to the
importance of pivoting quickly, of the need to embrace technology, to build virtual
communities, to connect us all, to move forward positively.
The Strategy and action plan is a living document and its flexibility has been tested this
year, more than ever, by the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. The board members of both
Culture Vannin and IOM Arts Council reacted quickly and positively in testing times to
reimagine and create new programmes including IOM Arts Council’s Home is Where the
Art Is, Covid-19 Emergency Resilience Funding and Culture Vannin’s two rounds of
#treisht2020 creative projects.
There is still a need for private funding for culture and the arts, but the global epidemic has
put pressures on budgets everywhere. Artists and cultural practitioners have shown
themselves to be at the heart of community, producing exceptional work under tremendous
pressures.
Our planned Year 3 actions required some adaptations, but there has been good progress
for most:
1) Celebrate the importance of arts and culture to our UNESCO Biosphere status
We were successful with a bid to the bona vacantia fund for a series of projects in order to
support delivery of the strategy and to celebrate our UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man status.
During the year, we advertised and selected an innovative sustainable design for a shelter at
Conrhenny, and started the process of advertising for an exciting arts project celebrating a
sense of place in Ramsey through public art with our ‘creative toilets’ design brief.
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Culture Vannin’s graduate intern, Sarah Mercer, created a series of Biosphere-inspired
projects under the banner Mann’s Green Footsteps, including the Manannan’s Charms webbased app https://manannanscharms.im/ which appeals to families and young adults in
particular, and Island Utopias, a beautiful film where artists gave their creative responses to
words collected in oral history interviews about people’s view of their ideal Isle of Man in the
future. We will talk more about this internship later in the report.
The IOM Arts Council have launched their Creative Toilets project in partnership with
Ramsey Commissioners, with the selected location being the public toilets in Market Square.
This project will bring creativity to people in an everyday setting, complementing
regeneration and creating a perhaps surprising visitor attraction. Public art, and mural art in
particular, has been proven to immortalise a strong sense of identity of an area, enhancing
uniqueness and character and encourages people to view land and seascapes in new
ways.
The aims of the project are:
 To design and complete a series of internal and/or external murals that create a
sense of connection with the town of Ramsey - this connection should be able to
echo with residents of the town and tourists alike.
 To create a unique and recognisable landmark in the town that will become part of
the culture for the future, demonstrating the connection between culture and the
arts and well-being and the environment.
• To celebrate the land and seascape of Ramsey and its sense of place. The theme is
“Ramsey, aquatic and marine”
Submissions close on 16th October 2020.
We supported Biosphere related projects through our grant-giving, too, grants which
enabled the community to express their own ideas about living within a Biosphere. Grant
awards amplify the effect of money awarded as the benefit of expertise and volunteer hours
is factored in.
2) Establish a mark of excellence for arts and culture organisations
Throughout 2018 and 2019 demands on funding have grown with IOMAC funding requests
exceeding beyond £1million in 2019, far exceeding the annual budget of approximately half
that amount. Culture Vannin’s annual budget for grant awards is regularly requested or
outstripped at each and every quarterly board meeting. Undoubtedly, more awards to
deserving applicants, to both bodies, would have been made had funding allowed.
Recognising these demands and the challenges being faced to support events and
organisations who apply for support on an annual basis, the IOM Arts Council began
discussions in January to create a programme that could offer confirmed funding but which
would also act as a mark of excellence over a 4 year period. Tentatively named “the
National Culture Portfolio” the initial discussions centred around a proposal that
acknowledged events, venues and organisations considered essential to the Isle of Man’s
creative calendar would be recognised as National Portfolio Organisations “NPO” and
guaranteed funding on a tiered basis would be offered for a period of 4 years to aid security
for the funding recipients. NPO status would also act as a mark of excellence for such
recipients.
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Discussions were subsequently suspended due to the lockdown period and brought back to
the Council at their last meeting in September 2020 for further development.
Culture Vannin continued to support well-established festivals and events with ring-fenced
grants, to ensure that the cultural calendar is supported in a way that allows for futureplanning, in order to benefit all parts of the Island’s visitor economy, building confidence in
the exceptional volunteer-run events which are crucial to our cultural identity.
3) Engage with the health sector and not for profit organisations to promote
ways to wellbeing through creative activity
In the autumn of 2019, Emma Callin, Head of Villa Gaiety and the Arts and Jane Corkill, Arts
Development Manager met with Dr John Snelling of the Primary Care Directorate and Julie
Bennion, Specialist in Mental Health Improvement to begin discussions regarding the
development of creative activity for mental health. Once again, lockdown stopped any
further active progression.
Lockdown brought an acute awareness of the value of arts, culture and creativity within the
community, not only for educational and entertainment purposes but for wellbeing and
mental health. The IOM Arts Council Home is Where the Art Is project featured local
artists and creatives, both professional and amateur, showing how the arts and creativity
had been beneficial to them during the extraordinary lockdown situation. A different video
was released every day during May, and saw expressions of the value of the arts in many
creative ways, notably Ruby Biscoe-Taylor’s song, “Gorse”, Molly Bowman’s expressive
dance “I’m Lonely”, Beth Louella’s arts works for NHS key workers and Rebecca Cooil’s
dancing in her garden highlighting her isolation “A single star”. The project gained over
85,000 views via social media and many positive responses.
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Isle of Man Arts Council funding continued to support creatives providing support and
wellbeing within the community such as the Secret Stitch Sewing Bee at the Jurby
Community Centre, which has provided company and creativity for a group of ladies, some
of whom are isolated by their health, physical or mental or by widowhood, for example.
The Isle of Man Arts Council have also provided extra-ordinary Covid 19 Resilience
Funding for creatives within the community who have re-aligned their offering in the
current unprecedented circumstances. The development of online dance lessons and art
classes, for example, not only helped creative businesses to survive, but provided a valuable
creative and artistic outlet for participants, benefitting their physical and mental wellbeing
and it is expected that this will continue to develop as the world changes around us.
Knowing the benefits of music and singing, the IOM Arts Council continues to support the
IOM Government Staff Choir which has seen a large post-lockdown influx of new members.
Culture Vannin developed a series of projects entitled #treisht2020 (treisht means hope,
trust or confidence in Manx) in response to the urgent need to provide projects for cultural
and creative self-employed workers during the public health situation. Both the sense of
purpose and the financial reward that projects and commissions would bring were
considered essential in keeping people actively engaged with Manx culture and, in some
cases, small businesses open. Many of the projects proved important for the well-being of
the creators as well as those who could enjoy their creations.
Funding came from repurposed grants from cancelled events as well as from development
budgets, showing a great responsiveness in pressing times. Work in progress (below):
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Board Members also expressed an interest in someone documenting the lockdown
photographically, so Phil Kneen, who had started his own project, was approached and
agreed to partner with Culture Vannin. Phil was in a unique position as he was able to
capture images safely, close to his vehicle, while he worked as a delivery driver.
Two rounds of #treisht2020 projects were advertised and awarded, with the results of
each uploaded for people to enjoy online. We are excited about the number of projects that
will support Manx Studies in schools, Manx language teaching and promotion, Manx music
education, as well as contributions of an artistic and cultural nature with community
resonances.
In terms of grants relating to well-being and health, Culture Vannin made an award to the
DHSC for the creation of a Nelly Brennan garden, which will celebrate the contribution of the
heroine of the Isle of Man cholera outbreaks in the early 19th century and first Matron of the
1839 Hospital and Dispensary.
4) Promote participation in an Achievement Award for the Arts and other
schemes &
5) Support a Leadership Training Programme specific to and delivered in
partnership with the creative and cultural sector
Development deferred due to lockdown. The time for the development of these is not now –
we have to answer the pressing needs of our Island, and of our creative practitioners and
communities.
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
6) Promote and identify support and funding for a creative apprenticeship
programme
From September 2019 to September 2020, Culture Vannin’s graduate intern, Sarah Mercer,
was given the opportunity to develop Biosphere inspired projects relating to Manx culture.
Under the umbrella Mann’s Green Footsteps www.culturevannin.im/footsteps/about.html
the projects involved collaborating with communities around the Island to record how our
society, jobs, hobbies and personal identities are changing, thinking about our Biosphere
status, about climate change, and about visions of an ideal future. During the year, the
outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdown meant that the projects had to adapt and
change. In addition to the Manannan’s Charms app, a stunning film entitled Island Utopias
was created by recording oral history interviews with people about their experiences of
lockdown and their hopes for the future. Visual artists took those words and created an
artistic response to each theme, making a time-lapse film of their work. With an original
score referencing Manx music, the film was launched at the Erin Arts Centre in September to
a full house. The film will be made available to community groups and will be published
online as a way of reaching as wide an audience as possible. The internship reminded us of
the freshness of ideas of our Island’s youth, and the hope and confidence we can have in
our future.
The IOM Arts Council intern, Olivia Savage will be joining the team late October 2020 and
she will be developing projects with the Arts Team and it is hoped that she will also work to
develop art for wellbeing, particularly focussing on the teenage demographic.
7) Explore partnerships with digital innovators
The impetus to explore digital and online delivery of arts and culture was stronger than ever
during lockdown. Just as the business world turned to online delivery, communication and
creation, the creative cultural world did the same. From online musical collaborations such
as the Ellan Vannin Children’s Choir: www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2696932753966080 and
Manx National Anthem in Manx: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLMULtULWkU to online music
tutorials, narrated books and new digital images: www.culturevannin.im/resources/treisht2020-projects-647532/ there was so much to enjoy, and so much for creative and cultural
practitioners to create. We will continue to upload the finished digital projects from
#treisht2020, and the month-long Home is Where the Art Is projects are still being
enjoyed, for example this stunning poetry film from Janet Lees, recently also shortlisted for
this year's Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film competition. The shortlist was chosen from 288 entries
received from 49 countries once again bringing the Isle of Man to an international audience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGgzLrU_Qo
Lockdown meant that Culture Vannin’s Manx lessons and conversational classes had to
move online, enabling participation from Manx speakers and learners around the world.
What surprised us was the willingness for people in Australia to get up in the middle of the
night to engage in Manx conversation and lessons! Others joined from North America,
reinforcing links with the diaspora. On a more practical note, having lessons online proved
convenient for people who didn’t want to drive at night, and reignited a passion for the Isle
of Man and its culture in those who found themselves working in the UK, Ireland or beyond.
We will continue to look at a blended delivery of online and real life classes as a result.
Isle of Man Arts Council – Culture Vannin: Year 3 National Strategy Report 2020
Summary of Year Three Actions:
Celebrate the importance of arts and culture to our UNESCO Bisophere status GREEN
Establish a mark of excellence for arts and culture organisations AMBER
Engage with the health sector and not for profit organisations to promote ways to
wellbeing through creative activity
AMBER
Promote participation in an Achievement Award for the Arts and other schemes RED
Support a Leadership Training Programme specific to and delivered in partnership
with the creative and cultural sector
RED
Promote and identify support and funding for a creative apprenticeship programme GREEN
Explore partnerships with digital innovators GREEN
Update of Year Two Actions:
Develop new arts engagement programmes GREEN
Develop new cultural engagement programmes GREEN
Take arts activities into communities GREEN
Take cultural activities into communities GREEN
Participation in the International Edinburgh Cultural Summit AMBER
Explore potential to attach cultural and artistic programmes to international sporting
events at which the IOM is represented
GREEN
Update of Year One Actions:
Review Communications GREEN
Engagement Survey BLUE
Audit alternative sources of arts/culture funding BLUE
Establish Legacy Bursary Charity BLUE
Investigate a Government Indemnity Scheme AMBER
Celebrate the importance of arts and culture to our UNESCO Biosphere status GREEN
Investigate potential for international representation and exchange GREEN
Establish a national quality brand for IOM creative products AMBER
Open a cultural centre at St John’s BLUE
Launch Manx Language Strategy BLUE
To support DESC delivery of Manx curriculum GREEN
Develop Manx cultural awareness programmes for business BLUE
Provide opportunities for lifelong learning BLUE
Representation at Department for Enterprise Creative Industries stakeholder group BLUE
Support island-wide opportunities for live screening of arts events BLUE
Colour coding:
GREEN: Project progressing to plan
AMBER: Project may need assistance in the future; currently handling within the
project team but management team: be aware
RED: Escalation: project team need help to resolve a problem
BLUE: Action is completed or superseded and has been closed