Key cultural ambassadors from city and towns across the country were in Plymouth this week to hear all about the city’s stellar cultural journey.
As the Box prepares to open its major new exhibition of the life and works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, members of the Local Government Association’s Culture Sport and Tourism board were here to get the low down on why culture matters as well as see the scale of work going on in Britain’s Ocean City.
As well as attending their own meeting at the Devonport Market Hall, the group were given a tour of the Theatre Royal Production Centre TR2 – where the magic happens in terms of transforming ideas into fantastic stage sets that travel the world. They then ended their day with a tour of the Box.
Council Leader Tudor Evans OBE said: “Plymouth was home to Sir Joshua Reynolds who went on to found the Royal Academy. This week the Box will be launching a major exhibition of his work and we will soon celebrate the 300th anniversary of his birthday.
“Art and culture is a key driver for us – in whatever form it takes. Culture is critical to a thriving, exciting city where people want to live, where they go out, do stuff, see stuff, encourage families, children, communities to get involved in performing or creating and learn be curious.
“It takes commitment and courage to keep on this path. But here we are: over 500,000 visitors have now enjoyed the Box, the Theatre Royal continues to attract and create world class productions and the city now has 365 enterprises – one for every day of the year supporting over 2,200 jobs. It’s magnificent – which is why we want to share and show off to our colleagues in local government.”
Deputy Leader Jemima Laing, who is a member of the LGA CTS Board and invited the group to Plymouth, added: “It’s been a mammoth team effort across the city and region and relationships with the Arts Council and Heritage Lottery over 10 years has been pivotal investing £50m in the city.
“Simply put investment in culture stacks up on so many levels: it’s good for our residents, our communities, our sense of worth and place, our night life, our economy and quite simply brings a lot of happiness to many, many people.
“It was a joy to show them all around and share the story of how we got here and our unshakeable commitment to Plymouth's cultural agenda in the future.”
Some facts and figures about Plymouth’s cultural scene
- It is worth £98m to the city
- £50m external cultural investment in five years
- Visitors spend £34m on cultural tourism
- We have invested large in cultural infrastructure: Ocean Studios, Market Hall, Karst, The Box, Theatre Royal
- We hosted the British Art Show twice and the only UK showing of Songlines with the National Museum of Australia
- We now have eight non portfolio organisations funded by the Arts Council
- We have 8000 students studying arts and humanities
- We have a new Arts University
- We now have a combined cultural audience of 850,000 in the last year
About the LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board is made up of councillors of all political parties from authorities across the country. Its aim is to champion the role that cultural, sporting, tourism and heritage services play in making places where people want to live, visit and work.