Charlotte Higgins rightly makes a point of the 60th anniversary of Jennie Lee’s famous white paper (‘Worse than the 1980s’ – that’s the arts sector now. It’s not a good look for a Labour government, 1 February). Significantly, Lee was not just the first arts minister but was also in the cabinet and, with Arnold Goodman as chair of the Arts Council, the Labour party was able to oversee an unprecedented expansion of all the arts with new theatres, concert halls and a growth in arts in education. No Arts Council grant came without a provision for work in schools.
I was the grateful recipient of an Arts Council bursary to study arts administration. With new theatres being built from Coventry to Chichester and Birmingham to Bromley, new skills were urgently needed. Leading actors of the stature of Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave and John Neville, along with bright young directors such as Giles Havergal, and seasoned hands like Laurier Lister and Hazel Vincent Wallace, were all pushing ahead with permanent repertory companies with burgeoning acting talent of the quality of Jane Asher, Maureen Lipman and a young Judi Dench. And playwrights such as Harold Pinter, John Arden and Arnold Wesker were being performed at theatres up and down the land.
This has now all but disappeared in the last 20 years, and the new culture minister has nothing to put in its place. As Charlotte Higgins rightly concludes, such a commitment to culture is still just as relevant today, and it is time for this government to live up to Lee’s promise and inspire us again.
Antony Barlow
Wallington, London
• The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation report The Arts in Schools: Principles, Practice and Provision was published more than 40 years ago. At that time as an art teacher, I remember all the activities beyond the classroom that schools provided: musical shows, serious drama, choirs, orchestras, jazz bands and rock groups, with pupils and led by enthusiastic teachers. These activities were the springboard for many working-class young people to enter and have successful careers in the arts. I agree with much of Charlotte Higgins’ article, but change is needed from the ground up: education, education, education.
Linda Karlsen
Whitstable, Kent
• I am in agreement with Charlotte Higgins on the importance of the arts in UK culture, but nowhere in her article does she mention our universities. Arts and humanities departments have been neglected for years and many are under threat of closure. Keir Starmer’s pre-election speech mentioned the importance of art, drama and music in schools, but from where will we get our future teachers when these subjects are no longer taught at university?
Sue Jackson
Little Neston, Merseyside
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
