Amidst the gloom of budget cuts, there is some good news desperately trying to see the light of day. The Old Red Lion, a tiny fringe theatre in a London pub, has announced that it is to open a sister venue – in a currently empty bar. It is an example of an encouraging trend: as funding for capital projects becomes scarcer (last week’s AP looked at whether the Liverpool Everyman’s redevelopment can still count on its promised £15m from ACE and £2.5m from the Regional Development Agency), more and more gallery and theatre organisations are popping up in empty buildings, shops and bars (see AP220 for a more in-depth analysis). The slightly terrifying “survival of the fittest” (or possibly fattest) mode of thinking is somewhat prevalent in the arts, particularly amongst organisations used to sailing close to the wind. By re-appropriating empty spaces, though, the sector illustrates an equally Darwinian “evolve and thrive” mentality, which is essential to adapt to the current funding environment. A recent BBC report suggests that one in five shops in the UK are currently standing empty – dreadful for business, but what a goldmine for the arts ­and potentially for the local community. Although the view that the arts do best during austere times is a fashionable but simplistic one, it is easy to see that dynamic, creative organisations that are prepared to take advantage of the spaces available – rather than mourning closures and focusing on ambitious new building projects – are better placed to weather the current storm.

This post was first published in ArtsProfessional’s News from the Nationals, 1 June 2010.