News and views
We are building a shared understanding of the differences that arts, culture, heritage and screen make to people’s lives and to society.
Catch up with our latest news and hear from a range of voices sharing perspectives on cultural value.
Fun Palaces, Feltham. Photo: Helen Murray
Featured news
Collaborate fund – first cohort announced
We are delighted to announce that the Collaborate fund has now awarded research grants to five innovative new partnerships between cultural sector practitioners and academics. Collaborate was launched in October 2021 ...
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Pushing myself out of my comfort zone: reflections on my summer internship at a research centre
Recent summer intern Katie Warrior shares advice for anyone embarking on an internship and reflects on what she has learned from the various creative projects she has been involved in whilst working at the Centre for Cultural Value.

Photo: Andrew Moore
Insight into action: policy recommendations launched at UK Parliament
Following on from our ground-breaking research into the impact of Covid-19 on the UK’s creative and cultural sectors, we are now pleased to publish a new report detailing 12 evidence-led recommendations for policymakers.

Photo: Adah Parris
Welcome new Advisory group and team members
We are pleased to share news of new appointments to our Advisory group and the Centre's core team, including Adah Parris as Advisory group Chair.

Photo: University of Leeds
Fully-funded PhD opportunity – Evaluating Cities of Culture
As part of our collaboration with LEEDS 2023 and The Audience Agency we’ll be hosting a fully-funded PhD starting in September 2022.

Quarantine, 12 Last Songs at Transform Festival, October 2021
Photo: David Lindsay
Collaborate – the matchmaking phase
Read about the ten projects and academics who are developing projects for our Collaborate fund for research collaborations.

The Lowry in lockdown. Photo: Nathan Chandler
Culture in crisis – new report from our major research project into the impacts of Covid-19
New research reveals profound impact of Covid-19 on cultural sector workforce, audiences and organisations

Photo: University of Leeds
Capturing the value and impacts of a year of culture
We are excited to announce that we are working with LEEDS 2023 as their research partner in collaboration with The Audience Agency.

‘4th ought sing raved ink loud’ – Fraz Ireland on the ideas and processes behind their creative commission
Manchester-based artist Fraz Ireland discusses the inspiration and process behind their 'interactive soundscape', an artwork commissioned as part of our Covid-19 research conference.

Three Tables, Tim Etchells, Tate Exchange. Photo courtesy of the Tate.
Collaborate fund now open for academic researchers
We are now accepting Expressions of Interest from academic researchers for our Collaborate fund. Find out more about how to apply and the projects you could be partnering with.

Angela Awuah, founder Mental Health The Arts
From research to reality: mental health and young people
Young practitioner and Mental Health The Arts founder Angela Awuah responds to our latest research digest on young people and mental health.

Dr Robyn Dowlen, the centre's Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Missing voices in culture, health and wellbeing research
In this article for Arts Professional, Dr Robyn Dowlen considers whether more support and training is needed for cultural practitioners working in complex spaces.

Wakefield Council’s Rhubarb Festival 2020.
Stephen Garnett
A call for regenerative practice: reflections on our Covid-19 research conference
Ben Walmsley, Centre Director, reflects on the perspectives and conversations shared at our Covid-19: Changing Culture conference

KALA CHNG performing at Knowle West Fest. Photo: Tanya Hazell
Art – who holds the power? It has to change…
Makala Cheung reflects on who gets to decide what kinds of art and culture are valued, and on other themes emerging from our Covid Culture conference.

Photo: Manos Gkikas
Will we fall under panto’s magic spell this year?
Trevor MacFarlane reflects on findings from our Covid research project and on what may lie ahead for this year's panto season

Inviting academic researchers to collaborate
We'll soon be inviting academic researchers to apply for the Collaborate fund. Join us on 9 December to find out more.

Dr Robyn Dowlen recording the Reflecting Value podcast
Reflecting Value – call out for a co-created episode
Call for podcast episode partner - we want to co-create an episode of the podcast which is centred on the ways in which people have engaged with creativity and culture during the pandemic. Deadline 30 November.

Where next for culture? Join us at our online conference
Join us at our online conference to share and discuss insights from our major research programme examining the impacts of Covid-19.

Watch our Collaborate briefing event
Watch a recording of one of our Collaborate briefing events, where Liz Harrop and Lisa Baxter introduce the fund and talk through the application process. Expressions of interest from the cultural sector are now open.

Orchestras Live, The Lost Letters with Britten Sinfonia at Saffron Hall. Photo: Paul Bellany
The E word – why we’re talking about evaluation
To mark the launch of our co-created Evaluation principles, Ben Walmsley, Anne Torregiani and Oliver Mantell share the essence of the principles and explain why co-creation was central to their development.

Embracing evaluation for the right reasons
To coincide with the launch of our co-created evaluation principles, Holly Donagh from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation shares a funder's perspective on what more can be done to support evaluation in the cultural sector.

Who Are Ya? Tate Exchange. Dan Weill Photography
A UK first – evaluation principles for the culture sector
Dr Beatriz Garcia sets the launch of our co-created evaluation principles in a global context and explains the value for the cultural sector.

Some of your thoughts on evaluation…
We asked you for your thoughts about evaluation for our latest short film. From frustrations and challenges to opportunities, hear what people from across the sector had to say.

Together to the Workhouse Door, with Sinfonia Viva, Gressenhall, Orchestras Live Photo: Charlie Jepson
We’re seeking a Collaborate panel member
An opportunity to join our Collaborate fund assessment panel, helping to develop new research-based partnerships between higher education and the cultural sector.

Natasha Fyffe (left) and Jessica Olliver (right), Centre for Cultural Value student interns
Reflections from our interns
This summer we welcome two student interns - Natasha Fyffe and Jessica Olliver - to come and work with us in paid placements organised by the University of Leeds. Find out how they got on and what they learnt from their time at the Centre.

Three Tables, Tate, Photo: Tim Etchells
Creative commission – call for proposals
Call for artists - we are looking for a creative practitioner to create a participative, reflective, imaginative mode of engagement at our online conference in November.

Circuit at The Lowry. Image: The Lowry
Come and work with us to share findings from our Covid research
We are looking for a freelance Editor and a freelance Marketing and Communications specialist to work on our Covid-19 research project.

Fun Palaces 2019. Photo: Roswitha Chesher
Join our Advisory group
Would you like to help us to develop and implement our activities, and inform thinking and practice in the sector? We're seeking two new members to join the Centre’s Advisory group.

Witness This, Company Chameleon. Photo: Joel Chester Fildes.
The Collaborate fund has now launched
We're excited to have launched Collaborate, a new fund to support research partnerships between the cultural sector and academic researchers. Information about how to apply and what's involved is now available.

The Power of Our Ancestors. Tate. Dan Weill Photography
Collaborate: fostering research-based partnerships between higher education and the cultural sector
Ben Walmsley and Liz Harrop write about the opportunities our Collaborate fund offers for the cultural sector and academics.

Calling cultural audiences and DIY creatives: share your creative and cultural experiences during Covid-19
Do you have a creative project produced during lockdown that you want to share? A moment of cultural engagement that means a lot to you? Did you take part in a creative activity in your community that you want to shine a light on?

Image: Manchester Camerata
Announcing the Collaborate fund pilot
In our Collaborate fund pilot, Manchester Camerata is working in partnership with a senior lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music to explore how audiences respond to live and recorded music.

Wonderlab at National Science and Media Museum. Photo: Lee Mawdsley
More opportunities for Bradford-based practitioners
We're looking for Bradford-based creative practitioners to take part in a number of paid opportunities to help us tell the story of the city and the value of its cultural activities.

Events at Left Bank Leeds. Photo: Sally Molineaux
Call for workshop participants: Valuing Culture – creativity and culture during Covid-19
Can you help us tell the story of your individual or community experiences of engaging with creative and cultural activities during the pandemic?

Image: Greg Rosenke, Unsplash
We need to talk about the E-word
We know it's tough, but we need to talk about the E-word. The Centre for Cultural Value is launching a set of cultural evaluation principles in October and we need your help for a film we're making.

Dr Robyn Dowlen recording the Reflecting Value podcast
Behind the scenes: making the Reflecting Value podcast
What goes into making a podcast? Our podcast host Dr Robyn Dowlen shares the essential ingredients that went into the development of Reflecting Value and provides tips for organisations that are planning their own.

Company Chameleon. Photo: Ben Williams
Calling recent creative arts graduates: take part in our research study
Are you a recent creative arts graduate? Do you want to be part of a national research project exploring the impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural industries across the UK?

Visitors looking at Tim Peake's Soyuz Capsule in Exploring Space. Photo: Science Museum Group
Reflecting on renewal and recovery
In an article we wrote in February, we focused on how the pandemic was seemingly creating a leaner and damaged but more collaborative cultural sector. Now we’re nearly two thirds of the way through our project and while these findings certainly still hold, they have been nuanced as the research has progressed.

The Lowry in lockdown. Photo: Nathan Chandler.
New Covid-19 data shows audiences slow to return to live events
Latest evidence shows that people are reluctant to return to live arts and cultural activities following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Liz Chege and Julia Negus share their stories and reflections on the Covid crisis
In this blog, Liz Chege and Julia Negus share their first-hand perspectives on how they and their organisations responded to the Covid-19 crisis.

Photo: Giu Vicente on Unsplash
Why digital isn’t enough
As Covid-19 has pushed culture online, Danielle Child, Karen Gray, Harry Weeks and John Wright examine how arts and cultural organisations have attempted to make the digital more social.

Healthcare students, University of Leeds
Stepping out of the role – arts approaches in healthcare training
In their joint blog, lecturers Simon Burrow and Dr Helen Pusey discuss our latest research digest and the value of arts-based approaches in healthcare training.

Image courtesy of Grace Quantock
The wounds that arts and culture can cause – stealing our stories and selling our pain
Can arts and research spaces create barriers for people with marginalised identities instead of supporting them? Psychotherapeutic counsellor and writer Grace Quantock explains how and poses the questions we should be asking.

Who are we? Counterpoint Arts and The Open University. Tate Exchange. Photo: Dan Weill Photography
Survival depends on safer spaces
2020 was a year that saw racial tension come to the fore. Amanda Huxtable, Director and Creative Producer at Vanitas Arts, reflects now on the role of cultural leaders to create safer spaces and take responsibility for change.

Move Dance Feel - a dance project for women affected by cancer - founded by Emily Jenkins Photo: Camilla Greenwell
When two worlds collide
What happens when the worlds of culture and health collide? Facilitator and leadership coach Mike Chitty explains how the two go hand in hand, and argues that using health budgets effectively could change society.

Dr Roaa Ali and Lara Ratnaraja share their responses from our first Covid-19 webinar
In this blog, Lara Ratnaraja and Dr Roaa Ali share their thoughts on what the research presented at our first Covid-19 research webinar is telling us about inequalities in both the cultural workforce and in cultural engagement.

Visitors to an interactive exhibit at the Exploring Space Gallery. Photo: Science Museum Group
Reflecting value – a new podcast about culture and research
We're delighted to launch Reflecting Value, our new podcast. Hosted Dr Robyn Dowlen, it shares the successes and challenges of communicating cultural value, bringing together a range of thought-provoking guests for discussion and reflection.

Power Play, Tate Exchange. Photo: Dan Weill Photography
New research reveals scale of crisis affecting creative freelancers
There are 38,000 fewer freelancers working in creative occupations since the start of 2020, our research shows. Freelancers are especially important to the creative economy as they represent a high proportion of the workforce.

Chuttersnap, Unsplash
Recovery isn’t a black and white picture
The impact of Covid-19 was always going to be devastating and the immediate shock severe. Inequities and inequalities that existed before were inevitably going to be exacerbated. But like any crisis, the impacts are rarely all negative and we are certainly starting to see some interesting shifts in thinking across the sector from our early investigations – shifts that might lead to that elusive goal of enduring systemic change.