Creators who are putting the art into party conference

WHEN it comes to party political conferences Scarborough is steeped in history. Winston Churchill was given a rousing reception when he took to the stage here as Prime Minister in 1952, and it was in this seaside town in 1960 that Hugh Gaitskell, then leader of the Labour Party, vowed to “fight and fight and fight again” to save the party from what he called “pacifists, unilateralists and fellow travellers.” Passions ran so high over the issue of nuclear weapons that 5,000 CND supporters gathered outside the Royal Hotel to shout “Gaitskell must go!”

Such excitement is rare at party conferences and unless you’re a member of the party faithful they can often seem as dull as dishwater, with hours of dry speeches where the biggest challenge is simply staying awake.

But dull is not a word likely to be associated with the Art Party Conference being held later this year at the Scarborough Spa. Organised by the artist Bob and Roberta Smith and Stuart Cameron, director of Yorkshire-based organisation Crescent Arts, it will bear little resemblance to your average party conference, with music as well as art and performance.

Delegates, in this case artists, teachers and ordinary members of the public, are also being invited to bring their own portrait of Education Secretary Michael Gove to the event, which will include an inflatable version of a Henry Moore sculpture.

There will be a fringe feel to the activities with people invited to “take a stand” – market-style stalls where young artists can sell their work. But behind all the frivolity Cameron says there is a serious message to it all with plans to debate issues such as the state of arts schools, access to art for children and the impact of the dreaded cuts.

“We’re world renowned for the art we produce, it’s one of our main exports, so we want to look at ways we can invest in art and arts education in the future and how we can survive in the current environment.”

Cameron says they chose the Scarborough Spa to host the event after Smith came to visit him. “We went on a walkabout and went to the Spa, which has been refurbished recently, and Bob said it was exactly the right kind of venue.”

The event is being supported by the Art Fund, Contemporary Art Society and the National Society for Education in Art and Design, among others, with contributions from the likes of Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller and Cornelia Parker.

The organisers say the conference has no political affiliations and is simply a forum to discuss ways of combating the marginalisation of the arts and promoting smaller, independent artists. “The idea is to get lots of voices to come together and talk about the arts in one place,” says Smith.

“Theatre people and musicians are all good at this sort of thing but visual artists tend not to be, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring people together to talk about why art is important to them,” he says.

“The idea isn’t to create a consensus but just to get people talking about art and to look at ways of dealing with issues like spending cuts, subsidies and investment in the arts.”

The conference is partly a reaction to the feeling that many politicians don’t take art seriously enough. “Art is tremendously enabling and is a great way for kids to express themselves, and 
I object to the idea that it’s a 
soft or easy option, because it isn’t.”

But he believes that too many local authorities view art as an easy way of saving money when their budgets get squeezed. “They say we have to choose between money for a kidney machine or art, but it’s not that simple. Budgets are much more complicated and nuanced.”

It’s something he hopes will be addressed at the conference, although he’s keen to point out that there’s an underlying element of fun, too. “People coming along shouldn’t expect to be corralled into an auditorium, that’s not what this is all about.

“The idea is to have a big celebration of art and culture, so hopefully we’ll have people who do paintings of the Dales alongside sophisticated conceptual artists.

“It will be a very unconventional party, with the emphasis very much on the party, and the plan is to finish with breakfast on the beach the next morning.”

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• The Art Party Conference is being held at the Scarborough Spa on November 23. For more information, or to get involvedemail [email protected]