Gerald Tyler, Artist, Wales

Dear Reader,

I understand and accept that things cannot stay the same forever. I also know that money doesn’t grow on trees and that the already limited resources that ACW manage on behalf of the Assembly, are dwindling as I write this letter. And of course I agree that there are a swathe of exciting, unique and new projects and companies, which warrant having these same shrinking funds invested in them. And to be fair, I don’t think there is a practising artist in this country’s creative community who doesn’t know all of these things.
So please accept that when a large number of us unite to ask you to think again before withdrawing core funding from what could easily be thought of as one of our competitors for scarce financial succour, we are doing it because we honestly think you are making a mistake.

I have no pretence of knowing how the Centre for Performance Research, rates as a financial success. I don’t know even if they manage the funding they have received up to this date efficiently. I can only imagine that their “value for money” must figure greatly in your decision to stem the fiscal flow to them, since even their most fierce critic can plainly see their continual and generous artistic value to ALL of those within the creative community of Wales.

There is no point in my extolling the virtues and achievements of CPR in this letter because they are obvious. What you might not be aware of though, is the huge number of people, organisations and companies throughout Europe and the world at large, who find the resources, networks and support systems established by CPR, invaluable. You might be surprised also to find out just how many of the active and respected artists working in Wales today, owe at least some part of their success or inspiration to being involved at some stage with CPR or one of their many projects.

I don’t claim to have a unique knowledge of how and why artists come together to make new works or find inspiration but I do have a reasonably broad one. In my experience, the “surgery or master-class” type gatherings, painstakingly engineered by CPR, yield a disproportionately high rate of successful new collaborations and exchanges of ideas. These events are ego-less and generous and regardless of scale; consistently attract artists, teachers and enthusiasts who DO NOT meet elsewhere.

But you know all of this. Anyone who has been paying attention over the last quarter century does.

So again I suggest that with their artistic value undeniable, it must be a financial “failure” which you feel demands this withdraw of support. If this is the case and you feel that CPR are just not doing enough with the money; help them out. Appoint them a consultant or a small team of experts to advise and help “tune” their practice. Present them with successful models to aspire to.

I know that there is more to ACW than “giving out money”. I know that within the organisation there are a wealth of experienced and capable individuals and whole teams, with skills and specialist knowledge which could help “rescue” CPR if that is what you feel they need.

Please, I urge you to at least try to help before you pull out.


Thank you for reading this.

Yours sincerely

Gerald M Tyler.