The regional arts boards (formerly regional arts associations) were English regional subdivisions of the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

History

As the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

began to move away from organising art activities in the 1950s, regional offices in England were restructured as ''regional art associations'' (RAAs). The new RAAs were intermediate organisations acting as a link between the Arts Council and the regions set up by local authorities or consortiums of local arts associations. By 1971 there were twelve associations providing funding and advice for arts organisations. From the early 1970s they became the responsibility of the Council's Regional Development Department. When that Department was disbanded in 1976, the RAAs came under the then Deputy Secretary General, Angus Stirling, until 1980 when a Regional Department was formed. The Wilding report of 1989 recommended the RAAs should be replaced as there was significant differences in distribution of funding between different regions. They were replaced by 10 ''Regional Arts Boards'' (RABs) in 1990. The new Boards received the majority of their funding directly from the Arts Council rather than local sources. This changed the nature and structure of regional arts. These were independent non-profit

limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share capi ...

companies with some

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

representation on their management boards, but the democratic role and the link between subscription and governance was broken. Payment of a subscription did not guarantee a seat or a vote. After the Arts Council of Great Britain was abolished in 1994, the RABs were transferred to a new single body:

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

. In 2001 it was announced that the RABS would be abolished in an effort to streamline the administration of Arts Council England. The Boards closed in April 2002 and smaller regional offices were maintained in the regions, except the South East Board which became part of southern region, to bring them into line with the then

regional development agency In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public body, non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Offices for the English R ...

areas.

Regional Arts Associations (from 1956-1990)

Source: * East Midlands * Eastern Arts (Established 1971) * Greater London * Lincolnshire & Humberside * Merseyside * North West * Northern * South East * South West Arts (Established 1956) * Southern * West Midlands *

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Regional Arts Boards (1990-2002)

* Eastern Arts * East Midlands Arts * London Arts Board * Northern Arts * North West Arts Board * South East Arts Board * Southern Arts * South West Arts * West Midlands Arts * Yorkshire and Humberside Arts

References

Arts councils of the United Kingdom Arts organisations based in England Arts organizations established in 1990 Arts organizations disestablished in 2002 Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom 1900 establishments in England 2002 disestablishments in England {{England-org-stub