The economic impact of Take Art
This page explores the economic impact of the work of Take Art and how the organisation uses its current Somerset County Council and core funding to lever considerable further investment for its work within the county.
It also looks at Take Art’s role as a valuable Somerset employer; its ability to encourage widespread volunteering and its support of Somerset based artists and practitioners.
Growing your investment
£50,000 revenue funding from Somerset Country Council helps Take Art lever a further £140,000 from the Arts Council and £35,000 from the five District Borough Councils.
Take Art, therefore, currently receives £225,000 annual core funding from these three key funders. This means for every £1 of revenue funding by Somerset County Council, a further £3 is generated through other core funding.
In 2009/2010 this £225,000 also helped Take Art generate an additional £420,000 through project funding and £50,000 through ticket sales. This means every £4 of core funding levers a further £5 through project funding. Money that goes back into serving the towns, villages and rural communities.
Take Art Funding 2009/2010
NB: The project funding does not include Thrive/RFO funding from the Arts Council of England.
Take Art does however receive some project funding from other departments within Somerset County Council.
Project Funding
Take Art consistently brings in additional money into Somerset through project funding. Over the years between 2004/11 Take Art levered £850,000 from external sources for five major projects:
Breaking the Sound Barrier (2004-2006)
£180,000 from Youth Music
Alive & Kicking (2006-2008)
£130,000 from Sport England
Time to Move (2006-2009)
£165,000 from Big Lottery Fund
Step Change (2008-2010)
£90,000 from the Arts Council,
£90,000 from Sport England,
£50,000 from the NHS
Little Big Bang (2009-2011)
£60,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation
£80,000 from Arts Council of England
Take Art also delivers a further 15 to 20 smaller
short term projects a year, which attract additional funding.
Artists and Volunteers
In 2009/2010 the Take Art Live rural touring programme employed professional artists and companies amounting to 333 performer days. Based on a £30 spend per artist per day, plus overnight stays and fuel costs, this resulted in a further £13,000 spent in the local economy. Due to this contribution by visiting artists and the promotion of shows to outside audiences, rural touring helps villages extends the tourist offer well into the Autumn.
The rural touring programme works with over 70 local promoting groups throughout Somerset. 570 volunteers dedicate a combined 2,300 volunteer hours to ensure the success of the programme. Their contribution is costed as £30,200* in kind support (*EU guideline rate).
Front Line Delivery
In 2009/2010 Take Art:
- Spent £430,000 on frontline delivery of Somerset based projects and services.
- Spent £240,000 on staff who all work and mostly live in Somerset, employing 16 payroll people (11 full time equivalent employees.)
- Spent £250,000 on employing at least 35 Somerset based artists and practitioners.
Take Art is supported by: Arts Council of England, Somerset County Council, South Somerset District Council,
Mendip District Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Artlife and Sedgemoor District Council.
