Learning from elsewhere
London benchmarks
A selection of London boroughs with similar demographic profiles, geographic conditions and cultural trajectories provide a benchmark against which to evaluate the level, nature and scale of provision needed to meet Ealing's cultural ambitions.
Given their similarities, these comparators serve both as inspiration for Ealing and as potential competition as Ealing deploys its strategies to meet audience need.
Lesson: Building a mature network of partners amplifies the power of cultural space.
Population: 390,000
Relevant characteristics: Outer London borough hosting a Creative Enterprise Zone
Total cultural spaces: 63
After a failed bid to become London Borough of Culture in 2019, London Borough of Croydon built a successful 2023 Borough of Culture campaign on the basis of well-networked local partnerships united around a strong vision. This included leveraging the convening power of the Creative Enterprise Zone Consortium, including 28 partners representing visual arts and designer makers, music, performing arts, the tech sector, co-working providers, developers, the private sector, business and enterprise support and education and community partners. Several anchor institutions have been mobilised to provide a delivery framework for Croydon Borough of Culture and to allocate funding for production of the Borough of Culture programme. This includes the BRIT School, Stanley Arts, Talawa, Turf Projects, Whitgift Foundation among others.
the basis of well-networked local partnerships united around a strong vision. This included leveraging the convening power of the Creative Enterprise Zone Consortium, including 28 partners representing visual arts and designer makers, music, performing arts, the tech sector, co-working providers, developers, the private sector, business and enterprise support and education and community partners. Several anchor institutions have been mobilised to provide a delivery framework for Croydon Borough of Culture and to allocate funding for production of the Borough of Culture programme. This includes the BRIT School, Stanley Arts, Talawa, Turf Projects, Whitgift Foundation among others.
A focus on convening partners enabled Croydon to translate support provided for businesses through the Creative Enterprise Zone programme into delivery power for the Borough of Culture programming. For example, over 100 businesses and organisations that received Covid-19 recovery grants through the Creative Enterprise Zone Recovery Grants initiative went on to deliver the Borough of Culture events, reflecting the importance of delivering multi-level support for local creative enterprise and building a strong base of relationships to complement physical cultural infrastructure.
Key to this has been the diversity of institutional and organisational partners who each play a role in the local ecosystem, particularly those with a performing-arts focus. Ealing should pay particular attention to the diverse range performance spaces Croydon provides, namely:
4 theatres, including multi-use arts, entertainment and conference centre Fairfield Halls which includes a concert hall and 200-capacity theatre and provides a home base with studios and offices for the UK's primary Black led theatre company (Talawa Theatre)
4 dance performance venues, including
180-capacity Stanley Hall in Stanley Arts Centre
co-located with a range of other exhibition spaces
and workspaces
9 live music venues (nearly 2x Ealing and 1.2x London average), including 122-capacity Front Room which also has recording and rehearsal space and provides a platform for up-and-coming artists to launch careers