Victoria and Albert Museum

Arts Council of Great Britain: records, 1928-1997

Series description

Context

Responsibility for Combined Arts, Community Arts and Arts Centres originally lay with the Regional Development Department established in around 1972/73. When this department was disbanded a few years later, the newly formed Regional Department took over this aspect of the Council's work until a new Combined Arts Unit was established within the Arts Division in 1985/86. The files in this series span the period when both the Regional Development Department and its successor, the Regional Department, were operating.

There are also many files relating to Combined Arts, Community Arts and Arts Centres to be found in the Regional Development Department series, ACGB/103. It is unclear why the files in series ACGB/103 and ACGB/113, which were in use through the hand-over period, were sometimes marked as Regional Development and sometimes not. However, in the interests of original order no attempt was made to merge the records into one series.

Scope and content

The records in this series mainly relate to the Arts Council's liaison and funding of individual arts groups, centres and projects. In addition to these there are also some general administration files relating to this work. The files seem to have been mainly created and maintained by John Buston, Regional Arts Officer.

Arrangement

The items in this series are arranged chronologically.

Access

Restrictions on access

Access to unpublished material less than 30 years old is subject to the written permission of the Arts Council of England. Apply in the first instance to the Archive of Art and Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum.