Space utilisation rates at the National Arts Council’s various arts centres

Question

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what has been the space utilisation rate at the publicly-managed Goodman Arts Centre, Stamford Arts Centre and Aliwal Arts Centre in terms of hours of use of available space; (b) whether there is significant under-utilisation of the space; and (c) if so, whether the Government will investigate the reasons for this.

Response

Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law:

1. Infrastructure and spaces are key enablers for MCCY and NAC to grow a sustainable arts ecosystem, alongside grants, rental subvention, and other schemes such as capability development initiatives. These spaces are managed in a number of different ways, of which the publicly-managed facilities which the Member has asked about, is one. The aim is to  ensure that these spaces are used optimally; that we provide fair access and inclusive opportunities for as many as possible in the community – especially new groups and younger practitioners for a variety of purposes; and that our schemes, grants, and spaces are regularly updated to remain relevant to prevailing needs.

2. In this way, our arts spaces have grown over the years. In the last ten years between 2010 and 2020, arts GFA increased by about 35%, from around 66,000sqm to just over 88,000sqm.

3. NAC makes available different types of spaces under its Framework for Art Spaces (FFAS) initiative. The FFAS recognises the differing needs of our diverse arts community, which requires spaces for art making, incubation, experimentation, and presentation. Goodman Arts Centre (GAC), Stamford Arts Centre (SAC) and Aliwal Arts Centre (AAC) are spaces under the FFAS and provide tenanted spaces and shared facilities.

4. The utilisation rate of spaces at the three arts centres ranged from 65 to 85% in 2019, pre-COVID, although some of the shared facilities had a lower utilisation. For such shared facilities, the average utilisation has been rising in the past six months as we have gradually resumed and expanded arts and culture activities, and stood at 66% in Q1 2021. NAC will continue to monitor this to ensure that arts spaces are well utilised by the community.