What do you feel are the main barriers for working class people wanting to come into the arts?
I think there’s real barriers and there’s perceived barriers. I think the real barriers for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are there not being enough cultural education in schools. That’s the biggest barrier of all. I don’t think the arts are elevated, or even represented, in formal education settings at any stage, whether that’s primary, secondary, or further on. I don’t think there’s enough commitment by the government or appreciation of how much the creative industries contribute to the economics of the country. Children aren’t accessing high quality creative or artistic provision in schools, so they’re reliant on that to happen at home or to do it themselves. Usually, that just isn’t available to young people for whatever reason, whether family just don’t have a knowledge of it or they don’t have role models in their own communities or the facilities just aren’t available where they live. Those are the real barriers.
I think the perceived barrier is affordability and being made to feel welcome. It’s about the relationship with a venue, [feeling like] it may be snobby or it’s not for them. Theatre is a classic one of those. Are we pulling that love of theatre through into young people? There has got to be so many more initiatives to get young people into the venues. You might do that with free work or working with youth groups to help young people feel that this is a space that’s friendly and welcoming and interesting and curious enough for their attention. Young people have a lot of demands on their time. Why come to us and not go to the football?
My son’s a football fan and he’s training to be an electrician. He and his mates think nothing of spending £20 a week going to see the footy. So if you look at arts as you would with sport, why can’t young people go to the theatre and see a bit of dance? No matter how old we are, we all make decisions on our own personal resources. Whatever we do, we’re all making choices. Some of us have more money than others, but young people do spend money on things that matter to them. So why not the arts? I think it’s about making the venue feel relevant to them. At the moment, we’re all really wrestling with the idea of how we get young people to begin to fall in love with the arts in its wider spectrum.
Xhosa Cole's exhibition Shared Spaces appeared at Midlands Arts Centre in 2023
(Credit: Tegen Kimbley)
In the time you’ve been in the industry, have you noticed a shift in working class representation in the arts?
In the last 10 years, there is a much better representation of people from ethnic minority groups and those that would say they have a disability. There are more artists represented from a variety of different backgrounds now than ever have been. So hopefully the idea of class is now pulled through all of that, if that makes sense. For instance, our workforce is 225 people and every year we do a survey to look at their cultural backgrounds, disabilities and chronic illnesses, we have good stats on all of that. But we never ask about their class and I wonder if we’ll include that next time. Sometimes, it’s a perception of what people think they are.
I think it’s about where people’s formative years are. We had Stephen Graham here to promote a film he had made. He’s passionate and very keen that we are there as a first port of call for people in our community. They come in here, they look around, and get a feel for it, whether they look to being professional creatives or just feel like creativity and art is a good companion in life. That’s what I always say to young people. It’s not always about forging a career or using some of these skills in your jobs, although invariably you will by communicating with new people, seeing new things, exploring ideas, and being curious about the world. All of these things make you a more interesting person and give you more confidence and resilience.
But art will always be a good companion in life. And I’m not a snob in art, whether that’s gaming, or reading, or watching something on Netflix. Whatever that is, it’s about people coming together to make art.
What does the work you do here at MAC do to help improve working class representation and access to the arts?
First of all, we serve our community. We’re not shareholders and we don’t get big, fat grants from government. We have to really be effective for the community. We serve them not just emotionally and spiritually and artistically and creatively, but we also have to make sure that our food is affordable and our tickets are the cheapest tickets in theatre in the city. We have to make sure that we are attractive. We can’t just put on opera and big theatre and hope people will come. We are very representative of Birmingham and the reason we do that is that we have a close relationship with the communities that we serve.
But who are those people that aren’t coming in to us and what are the barriers for them? You want to be a bit cheeky with a venue and you want it to be fun, as well as affordable. Encourage people with the free stuff, so they see that art is everywhere and the quality is really good. Then people see themselves on these walls and feel that this is a place which is not just about the white, middle class experience. We do a sort of ladder of engagement where we grab people, bring them in, and then we start to build their trust. We have so many different activities going on that hopefully something will encourage them to have a lifelong relationship with us. We are popular with lots of different groups of people.
The No Outsiders family festival at Midlands Arts Centre
(Credit: Tegen Kimbley)
In your work, what are the biggest challenges you face in improving working class representation?
Again, I think it’s a perception. They think things are more expensive than they are and they probably don’t realise how much free stuff there is. That’s for us [to improve]. Really small details make a big difference for people, so we need to break all that down so the public can come and feel that we can offer something for them. We do a lot of free work in the summer holidays with families, trying to bring them in.
We also do work experience with the local schools in the area. I think that’s really important. We’ve talked about people coming in and experiencing art as part of their leisure time, but what about those young people who genuinely [want to get involved]? We have a big volunteering programme for teenagers and we’re over-subscribed. We make very clear distinctions about the young people we can help, so we make sure we are representative of young people. We invite the young people to be all over the building – not just art, but marketing and finance. You can work in the arts in lots of different ways. I still think that’s a barrier. When you say “do you want to work in the arts?”, people think you mean an actor.
The other thing we do is an apprenticeship scheme, particular in our tech team. They come straight to us from school. Don’t feel the need to go to university for the arts at all. We’ve also recently started working with Mencap to give job creation opportunities to young people with learning disabilities in all of our different departments. Just making sure that everyone has the opportunity, if they so wish, to be a part of the arts.
And what advice would you give to working class people who want a career in the arts?
I’d say be brave and check out your local venue, whether it’s a local theatre or a music venue or whatever it is. Go and be brave enough to have a snoop around and see what they’re up to. And if you’re braver still, speak to someone and ask whether there’s anything free or at a discounted rate, or if there’s any tours so you can get to know a bit more about it.
Find out more about what's on at the Midlands Arts Centre and how to get involved via their website.
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