ixia: the National Public Art Think Tank invited me to contribute to a closed roundtable/focus group forum to discuss the organisation’s future after its loss of Arts Council England core funding in 2015, in the wider context of national cuts to arts provision and to sector support organisations. 

ixia was established to promote and influence the development and implementation of public art policies, strategies and projects through creating and distributing knowledge to: arts and non-arts policy makers, public and private sector commissioners, curators, artists and the public.

In 2019 ixia’s newly extended board embarked on a process to appraise ixia’s position considering its history, purpose and future in relation to the changing nature and challenges of the sector. This period of organisational development was funded by Arts Council and supported by Fifth Sector Consultants (Iain Bennett, Lara Ratnaraja and Mandy Fowler).   

Those who were invited to take part in the forums were selected on the basis of one or more of the following criteria:  

• Personal experience of barriers/ challenges to/in the public art sector; 
• Experience of supporting others who have faced barriers/ challenges to/in the public art sector; 
• Experience of trying to make the public art sector more inclusive. 

It was commented in my invitation that an invitation was extended to me as I “would make an important contribution to the discussion of how to create a more inclusive public art sector”. 

Some of the questions covered in the forums were: 

1. What support do you need to work in the public art sector – do you have that support already or do you have a need for it? 
2. If you experience any barriers to working in the public art sector, how would you describe those barriers? This could be anything from lack of resources, knowledge, lack of opportunities, lack of accessible or appropriate opportunities, lack of networks to curators / producers / artists / developers / local authorities etc. through to anything else that is a barrier for you.
3. What does an ethical practice look like for public art? 
4. Are there any voices that are not currently represented in working in the public art sector?