£196,000 TO SPEND ON ARTS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30482, 2 July 1964, Page 3

£196,000 TO SPEND ON ARTS

<NZ. Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 1. The Queen Elizabeth

II Arts Council will have £196,656 to meet commitments and to help the arts in the present financial year. This includes an allocation of £lOO,OOO from the Golden Kiwi lottery.

This was announced after the second meeting of . the council.

Of this amount, £22,630 had been provisionally set aside for an endowment fund and £25,000 would be needed for for commitments made by the Arts Advisory Council. The Queen Elizabeth 11 Arts Council had already disbursed £30,800 this year and approved grants amounting to £33,275. There would be nearly £85.000 available for the remainder of the year. The council had before it many applications for grants towards the cost of capital projects, involving substantial amounts.

At present the council could make only limited grants, however, because it did not yet have sufficient funds available for this purpose.

Various committees of the council ■ had been asked to give the applications an order of priority and when this had been done they would be considered further. Professional Theatre

Increased assistance to the professional theatre approved was:—

(1) £lO.OOO to the New Zealnnd Opera Company for the year ending March 31. 1965. A grant of £25,000 had already been made this year. (2) £17,000 to the New Zealand Ballet Trust for the year ending March 31, 1965. A previous grant of

£5OOO had been made.

To enable both organisations to plan major presentations minimum annual grants of £25,000 to the Opera Company and £15,000 to the Ballet Trust would. be guaranteed for the financial years up to March, 1968. These grants were made on the condition that the or-

ganisations maintained standards acceptable to the council and that progress was made in their efforts to amalgamate their resources for administration, promotion and servicing productions. It was felt that provision should be made for this amalgamation ultimately to include professional drama. An amount of up to £lOOO was guaranteed to the New Zealand Drama Council to help meet the cost of organising master classes for producers in Wellington, and tutorials in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. They would be conducted by Dr. Paul Baker, of Dallas. The council approved grants amounting to £1250 to organisations in the amateur theatre. With the £l7OO given so far, assistance to these organisations this year amounts to £2950.

The grants, for productions to be staged in the period June to December, include:— Phoenix Theatre, Christ church, “Hotel Paradiso,” £5O; Elmwood Players. Christchurch, “J. 8. £5O.

Committees to advise the council on music, the visual arts, drama and ballet were appointed.

These would assess applications for assistance and report to the council on them. They would also be expected to suggest schemes to further the development of the arts. The 1965 Auckland- Festival and the Pan-Pacific Arts Festival in Christchurch next February would each receive a grant of £2OOO- from the council.

Applications for director to the council would be called for in New Zealand. Britain, South Africa, Canada and Australia.

A substantial salary would be offered and committees would be established in Britain and Australia to interview applicants The position of secretary to the council would- also be advertised, in New Zealand The music committee would have discussions with representatives of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Opera Company and Ballet Trust on proposals, made by the Broadcasting Corporation, that regional orchestras -be sponsored in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in place of its concert orchestra.