Enjoy this article?
Most Museums Journal content is only available to members. Join the MA to get full access to the latest thinking and trends from across the sector, case studies and best practice advice.
The Audience Agency and Culture24 announce merger
Sector support organisations were dropped from Arts Council England portfolio last year
Two sector support organisations that were dropped from Arts Council England’s portfolio last year have merged.
The Audience Agency and Culture24, which are both charities, have come together to offer a range of services to the cultural sector.
The Audience Agency provides knowledge, data and insight that helps cultural organisations to increase their relevance, reach and resilience. The organisation will continue to provide services for Arts Council Wales and Creative Scotland.
Culture24 helps arts and heritage people drive positive change inside their organisations and has has a particularly strong record on digital, particularly through the Let’s Get Real collaborative action research programme.
Both organisations will combine under The Audience Agency name. All of Culture24’s ongoing clients are moving into The Audience Agency, as are its three remaining team members.
The two charities had to make redundancies following the loss of ACE support, but they believe that their new business model and merger mean that years of arts council investment in tools, resources, skills and experience will continue to benefit the sector.
Advertisement
Anne Torreggiani, CEO of the Audience Agency says: “We’ve worked in partnership on a lot of projects so we already had a keen sense of shared values and how well we complement each other.
“For me, some of the highlights people can look forward to include fresh new research about digital change and opportunities to take part in action research following the Let’s Get Real learning blueprint.”
Jane Finnis, consultant director of the Audience Agency and former CEO at Culture24 says: “This is the perfect moment in our histories to join together the expertise and ambitions of our two organisations. Understanding how to meaningfully capitalise on the value of digital has never been more critical for our sector.
“Equity, inclusivity, climate change and environmental sustainability are major challenges our sector faces. We know that a key part of what is needed to meet these challenges is high levels of digital literacy, and confident digital leadership.
“Together, we can offer the sector a new generation of services, built on our shared learning, that will support the kind of positive change so urgently needed.
“This merger harnesses the expertise, knowledge, insight and relationships of both organisations.”