Campaign to keep art gallery open in the face of cuts

Until last year Fabrica received a £20,000 regular grant from Brighton and Hove City Council but following funding cuts, the charity said its bid to renew the grant under the council’s new commissioning model had been unsuccessful.

Despite cuts over the last year, Fabrica said it is still facing a gap which it needs to fill by the end of March 2018.

The gallery has operating from the 200-year-old church in The Lanes for 22 years, and alongside the three major contemporary installations it presents each year, it delivers a range of community outreach activities that reach some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

Liz Whitehead, director of Fabrica, said: “In previous years, a £20,000 gap would not have been such a big deal. But like many other arts organisations we’ve really felt the impact of austerity on our fundraising over the past year – it’s become so much more competitive and fewer of our bids have been successful.

"We’ve cut our staffing bill but due to associated redundancy costs the full impact of this won’t be felt until April 2018.

"Although we’re raising much more profit from commercial activities like venue hire than ever before, we haven’t been able to raise enough income to make up for the loss of our council grant.

"Our reserves simply can’t take a £20,000 hit this financial year so if our appeal is unsuccessful, we will be forced to cut our programmes and we might lose some of the activities that people can access for free or at low cost. This really saddens me because Fabrica is all about reducing barriers to contemporary art – and if you’re on a low income, cost is a major barrier.”

The arts charity set up Brighton’s Men’s Shed in 2017 as part of the city’s suicide prevention framework and regularly hosts Chomp, a free lunch and arts club for low-income families. It provides opportunities for 200 volunteers every year, over 20 per cent of whom have a disability.

Fabrica receives regular funding from Arts Council England, but it said this covers less than half of the organisation’s expenditure. Arts Council England funding has been awarded at a standstill level since 2012 so arts organisations are facing 'substantial year-on-year cuts', Fabrica said.

Combined with the loss of the council grant, this has put the charity’s future in an uncertain position.

Liz said: “Because of our depleted reserves, our Board may decide that it is too risky to keep the organisation afloat if we end the year with a deficit. This would be a massive loss and we’re determined not to let this happen.”

The charity will launch a crowdfunding campaign next week, with rewards including original artwork by artists it has presented, and the opportunity to host a private screening in its 200-year-old Regency building in the Lanes. Further details on the crowdfunder will be revealed next week (February 12).

The charity is holding events to raise cash for Fabrica, including a sponsored Draw-A-Thon and Writers’ Relay fundraiser in the gallery on February 24, hosted by artist Jane Fordham and author Jackie Wills.

The event will see up to 30 local writers take turns to write live – while audiences watch as their writing is projected on a big screen – and teams of local artists drawing continuously for five hours. They will be accompanied by local musicians throughout the day. Members of the public can drop in any time between 11am and 4pm to watch, draw along, and buy tea and cake.

Jane said: “The sponsored event will be a great way to mobilise Brighton’s artistic community in raising funds for Fabrica, which has supported local artists for many years.”