About Visual Arts

The Challenges

The continued improvement and resourcing of the physical gallery infrastructure, including spaces of national and international standing and the curatorial and allied production capacity within Wales, with a more focused approach to touring within the country and out of Wales.

The development of opportunities and supportive contexts, which are favourable to artists and curators in Wales, enabling them to nurture appropriate ambitions for their work and develop national and international careers. This, in turn, embraces studio and production facilities and properly resourced production, presentation, project and exhibition work (both in and beyond Wales) so that artists can take up opportunities as they arise. The development of new types of commercial gallery, acting as agencies for contemporary artists.

Stimulating and supporting critical fora, obtaining critical coverage and maintaining international presence for the contemporary visual arts. This needs to include nurturing native writing talent as well as engaging with critics and writers from further afield and support for publication and critical writing.

Building on excellent models of practice in the fields of gallery education and community outreach to ensure that as a many people as possible are able to engage with the visual arts. Continuing to advance the visual arts within a number of cross-cutting agendas, particularly where there is evidence of a significant contribution e.g. Arts and Health, Arts and Regeneration, Arts and Communities, Arts and Education and many more.

Advancing awareness and support for the visual arts in their interface with the other Creative Industries (Film, New Media, Music etc) as well as in the fields of Science, Technology and the Commercial sectors.

Our Priorities

• Resource the individual development of artists and curators at key stages of their career development.
• Complete the refurbishment and new build programme of gallery facilities across Wales and resource galleries post-development in their enhanced exhibition and other programme work - particularly in exhibition and allied gallery education and outreach work.
• Resource gallery-based visual art education.
• Develop the ways young people can increase their involvement with the visual arts.
• Achieve National facilities for the Visual Arts in Wales: Work, in tandem with Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales on developing the feasibility of two distinct build projects - a National Centre for Contemporary Art and a National Gallery with modern and contemporary collection and exhibition facilities.
• Support the evolving field of work in non-gallery based aspects of the visual arts. Work with partners to position the visual arts in Wales in relation to the Creative Industries, Science and Technology, working on the factors which are conducive to retaining practising artists working in Wales but with UK and International practices.
• Promote culturally diverse and inclusive work in the visual arts.
• Stimulate better critical coverage of the visual arts in print and other media.
• Create a joined up strategy to continue the promotion of the visual arts of Wales in appropriate and significant International arenas.

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