• Home
  •  News
  •  Touring Arts To South East Libraries – Programming a Touring Arts Offer

Touring Arts To South East Libraries – Programming a Touring Arts Offer

December 10, 2019
Libraries

New Video!

We’re pleased to be sharing with you the new video in our series about Libraries Touring.

Dayna White, Programme Development Officer at Slough Curve talks us through how she goes about programming work for Slough Libraries, with audience development at the core of their programme.

As a Library Service, programming your arts offer can be a challenge to balance – whether you’re trying to reach new audiences to engage with your existing offer, give exciting fresh events to your existing audiences, or both, it is important to bear in mind if the arts events are pitched correctly – and that the library space is providing stimulating events of excellence and high quality, just as a traditional arts venue would.

There are some key things to think about:

Why are you putting on an arts event? Is it to reach new audiences? Or is it to challenge your existing audiences? Will this work reach that goal, and how do you know?

How do you know what these audiences are interested in seeing? Have you carried out a survey or spoken to people?

It is helpful to consider not just what audiences want to see, but why they would come along to see it at your library – is it convenient for them? Think about timing, transport and of course ticket prices.

Ticketing can be tricky to navigate – you want to make sure you are reflecting the quality and professionalism of the work you’re programming, but you also want to ensure it is financially accessible for audiences. One option is to set the general ticket price to show the high standard of work but maintain inclusivity by offering discounted tickets for certain groups.

A really important area to consider is quality measures: even if an audience member doesn’t relate to a piece, it’s key they can always recognise the high standard of the work they’re viewing.

Some examples of how to ensure quality when selecting work for libraries are:

• Paying careful attention to how the touring company’s marketing looks, both in text and visual form

• Looking at recommendations and reviews from people you trust

• Going to see work or asking the artists for video footage

• Checking who the artists are funded by

• Researching what kind of work have they done before and whether they have experience with the audience you’re targeting

Take a look at the video here or by clicking the image below and let us know what you think. How does your library service go about programming a touring arts offer?

Survey

There is still time to complete and share the surveys below. They will close this Friday 13th at midday so get your final responses in now if you’d like to contribute to our enquiry!

Final Libraries Button  Final Artists Button Actual

 

CAE 4 Col CMYK New.eps  Print

RELATED NEWS ARTICLE

 
Jill-Davis-Seascape-314x236

How we can support you with Our Day Out

 
poetrywordabstractinwoodtype-314x236

Unleash Your Inner Poet – Creative Wellbeing Packs!

X
X