For the first time in its history, Arts Council Malta (ACM) has united the role of head of funding and that of director of strategy. Mary Ann Cauchi is the first person to occupy this position.

You have recently been appointed director of funding and strategy at ACM. What does this role involve?

This is a two-fold role whereby the fields work together and independently of each other. For instance, the Council’s strategic aims are interwoven into the criteria of the various funding programmes, all of which reflect and help implement these aims.

In funding, my job includes various aspects from the operational to strategic such as setting of guidelines, brokerage and monitoring. ACM manages around 12 funding programmes, and each of these comes with its own pre- and post-application processes. This is important in order to ensure transparency. All the funds work to achieve artistic excellence as well as to help implement the Council’s strategic priorities across the cultural and creative sectors.

Strategy includes education, internationalisation, diversity and community, business development, research and the EU Affairs, both for ACM directly and for the Public Cultural Organisations (PCOs) that fall under its strategic remit. Namely, these PCOs are the Manoel Theatre, the Mediterranean Conference Centre, ŻfinMalta, Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Teatru Malta, Festivals Malta, KorMalta, the Valletta Cultural Agency, Spazju Kreattiv, MICAS and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

What is your plan for this new role? And what are you planning on doing differently from your predecessors?

At the moment, I am fully committed to continuing the implementation of Stra­tegy2020, the Council’s five-year strategy for the cultural and creative sectors.

A new strategy will need to be drawn up and actioned after 2020. At the moment, I am researching and looking into different types of funding and stra­tegy systems internationally.

Similar to Strategy2020, artistic excellence and creativity will remain a focus, together with artistic innovation. It will also include a greater focus on sustainability, on a strategic and business level. We are also thinking of looking into intra-sectorial collaboration such  as health and well-being.

In terms of funding, one of my main goals is to work on the application process of funds. The plan is to simplify and digitise the whole process, to build on the efforts to keep making it easier and more accessible.

We would like our funds to be accessible to a wider pool of beneficiaries, to be more inclusive. That is why I would like to provide training to help artists acquire the necessary skills and competences in terms of pitching, budgeting and marketing.

One area that we will be focusing on is what we refer to as the Cultural Partnership Agreements (CPAs) and the Creative Industries Platforms (CIPs). Broadly speaking, these are funds managed by the Council which are administered over a three-year period with various cultural organisations and festivals, according to a strategic plan.

The first cycle of the Cultural Partnership Agreements is now coming to an end and while this was aimed to fully sustain, in the second cycle – which will come out this year – we are also looking to enable these organisations and festivals to gradually become more sustainable.

I would like to provide training to help artists acquire the necessary skills and competences in terms of pitching, budgeting and marketing

I am lucky to be working with very professional people and this gives me a certain amount of security and inspiration, but I do believe in ongoing self-development and training.

At the moment, ACM and PCO staff members are taking part in a number of courses and travel mobilities as part of the €1 million European Social Fund dedicated to cultural management. After all, to remain relevant, we need to keep raising the bar, updating ourselves, and staying informed.

You have quite a long career behind you: Which lessons will you be bringing on board in your new role?

I’ve always been involved in the arts. Initially, I started off playing the piano, and this passion led me to read Music Studies and History of Art at the University of Malta, and then to graduate with an MPhil in Musicology, which included factors like pitching and events management.

Since then, I founded Notte Bianca and was its artistic director for the first two years, and also the Malta Children’s Festival, the precursor of Żigużajg. I spent eight years freelancing in artistic direction, event management and project consultation and this is where I gained a big chunk of my experience. As a former freelancer, I have full respect for freelance artists and for applicants as I understand their position. All this has taught me that communication, networking and disciplined management are invaluable to any role.

My current role merges the operational with the artistic: the aim is to support the sector. We want to be inclusive, and I will do my best to ensure it happens.

What is your advice to artists looking to get their project funded?

Arts Council Malta is not a funding institution but an investor; it invests in its strategy. We invest in artists, the audience and the public. And that’s crucial.

The team provides the necessary support as well as advisory services to guide artists to apply for the appropriate funding programme and on how best to fulfil the criteria and maximise their chances of receiving the funds. In all cases, feedback is provided so the applicants can take it on board accordingly.

Arts Council Malta intends to focus strongly on being inclusive and enabling sustainability both through its funding programmes as well as its strategic planning ahead of 2020 within the creative sectors, its audiences and society in general.

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