Arts Council England
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£600,000 for Bow Arts to raise resilience in London’s property market
The London NPO is one of three successful projects in the new Arts Impact Fund from Nesta.
Bow Arts Trust in East London will receive £600,000 funding to improve its resilience in the London property market, aiding hundreds of artists, creatives and participants who use its services.
The money is from the brand new £7million Arts Impact Fund, the first to offer loan finance specifically to arts and cultural organisations for projects that show a combination of social, artistic and financial return.
What it means to Bow is significant.
London is growing and yet a third of its creative work space will be lost within four years
Marcel Baettig, CEO of Bow Arts, says: "Since 2010 the Creative Industries have become the fastest growing economic sector in London. In 2015, one in every ten jobs offered in the capital was in the Creative Industries and yet the studios and workspace used by these small businesses are increasingly under threat from raising property values and poorly planned residential developments. London is growing and yet a third of its creative work space will be lost within four years - the spaces that would nurture new talent and support the jobs of the future."
Bow Arts Trust is a London NPO providing affordable studio space to artists and creatives. It manages eight sites across London, supporting over 500 artists. Many of these spaces are provided through property developers, housing associations and local authorities. They are leased to the Trust for a predetermined amount time, often with a leasehold fee attached to them.
This fund gives Bow Arts a step up in the market. They would have the opportunity to purchase spaces as freeholders, meaning they would belong wholly to the Trust with no further costs attached.
It is a significant step towards a more sustainable future for Bow Arts, and a future of safeguarded workspaces for London’s artists.
“Over the last year Bow Arts has worked hard in partnership with the Arts Impact Fund to develop a new financial tool to support organisations like ourselves,” says Marcel. “It offers us flexible access to substantial funds over a rolling period and we believe shows both a growing understanding and confidence in our sector.”
Joyce Wilson, London Area Director, Arts Council England, says: “This is an excellent example of our investment in the future of the creative industries. Investing strategically in this way will allow Bow Arts to diversify its income streams and build resilience for the future. Supporting Bow, we support the hundreds of artists who use its services, the hundreds of school children who take part in its education programmes, and the economies in which Bow’s studios thrive. We look forward to seeing the future of this innovative fund.”
More about the fund
The Arts Impact Fund brings together public, private and philanthropic investment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Nesta and Arts Council England with additional funding from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
It demonstrates demand for new and innovative sources of funding from organisations and follows publication of the government’s Culture White Paper, which observed that social investment can help grow the sector’s resilience and sustainability.
Read about the successful applications across the country and the future of the fund.
