Did We Do That?
An evaluation of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Rural Arts Agency Scheme
Tess Hurson
1996
£4.95 + p&p, 78 pp
ISBN 978 0 903319 72 0
Buy from Central Books
‘At the Foundation we wanted very much to help rural people rediscover or establish the values and sense of community which appeared to have been both lost and lamented. We realised that significant change required either great sums of money or what used to be called a “grass roots approach”. While resisting the “grass roots” terminology on grounds of accidental humour and urban political associations, we chose to adopt a policy in which local people made local choices and decisions about how best the Foundation could help them. This we did by appointing agents with knowledge of specific places to make grants for local arts activities.’ Fiona Ellis, formerly Assistant Director, Arts, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The Rural Arts Agency Scheme ran from 1990 to 1996. This report, commissioned in 1995, and written by Dr Tess Hurson, an expert on rural arts, documents and evaluates the programme, providing a ‘warts and all’ appraisal so other grant-makers might emulate its successes and avoid the pitfalls encountered by the Foundation.
Dr Tess Hurson has lectured, published and broadcast widely on culture and rural arts. Previously Information Officer with the Rural Development Council, Northern Ireland, Dr Hurson was a member of the Arts Council Northern Ireland and student support officer at Queen’s University, Armagh.