THE chief executive of the Arts Council has hailed the town's cultural scene following the announcement that the Heart of Glass and St Helens Libraries have been added to the organisation's national portfolio.

Last week the Star reported that the Heart of Glass will benefit from £1.4m of funding during 2018-2022 and the St Helens Council Library Service will receive £440,000.

Darren Henley, who last year hailed the town's "remarkable" artistic revival and has paid visits to the town, has commented on the town's artistic scene exclusively for the Star.

Mr Henley wrote:

As chief executive of the Arts Council, I spend a lot of time travelling around England – and I see how investment in art and culture can transform lives and help bring jobs and fresh confidence to communities.

Whenever I visit St Helens, I am struck by the town’s pride and sense of identity – it’s not overwhelmed by its proximity to the two major metropolitan centres of Liverpool and Manchester.

That sense of individuality has been boosted by the town’s growing reputation as a centre for art and culture, and its determination that they should reflect and play an integral part in everyday life.

Look at Dream, for example, Jaume Plensa’s stunning, enigmatic sculpture at Sutton Manor Colliery, which celebrates the town’s industrial past.

The Arts Council is the national development agency for arts and culture. We invest money from Government and the National Lottery to support the arts, museums and libraries. We invest in world famous organisations, but we also fund music in schools, reading programmes for young children and dance for older people - activities for all the family, in villages, towns and cities across England.

We want to make sure people all over England can experience the pleasure that art and culture can bring. And that includes the people of St Helens.

We want to help St Helens continue to grow and thrive as a cultural centre and as a town.

This week we announced how we will be investing the major part of our funds from 2018-22, and I’m delighted to say there’s great news for St Helens.

While we’ve been consistent investors in the town’s cultural scene, it hasn't had an organisation in our “National Portfolio” – those organisations that receive regular, ongoing funding and form the backbone of the work we do.

That’s changed. From 2018, St Helens will have not one, but two members of the National Portfolio – collaborative arts agency Heart of Glass and St Helens Libraries.

Heart of Glass has been doing exceptional work since it started in 2014. The ambitious arts project has drawn together an impressive group of supportive partners from across the spectrum, from the council, St Helens College and the town’s Arts Partnership, to carer groups and health organisations, and – a core supporter of the initiative from the outset - St Helens RFC, to help develop creative work with, for and in the community.

The Arts Council made an initial investment of £1.5 million in the organisation from our Creative People and Places programme, which is aimed at increasing cultural engagement at community level, followed by another £1 million last year. And Heart of Glass has made a real difference to people’s lives in the town through the arts.

It has also received £485,000 from our Ambition for Excellence scheme to create a new work in time for the borough’s 150th birthday in 2018.

I’m especially pleased that St Helens Libraries has entered our National Portfolio – this is the first year that we’ve opened it up to libraries, and it's a tribute to the success of the community-focussed, arts related programming that St Helens libraries have run. I’ve seen first hand how they have been trailblazers in showing the enduring importance of libraries.

Wherever I go, I see how public investment in arts and culture makes a huge difference to us all - in every village, town and city in England.

The arts improve our health and wellbeing, bring education to life, attract new business and rejuvenate town centres. Our world leading national arts institutions are an incredible calling card for our nation, while across the country thousands of smaller arts organisations create the shared culture that brings communities together.

By investing in St Helens, we are proud to invest in the town’s ambition for its future. As taxpayers – and National Lottery players - this is your money, coming back to support creativity in your community, for you and your families.

I am sure that it will help St Helens flourish over the coming years.

Cllr Sue Murphy, St Helens Council cabinet member for libraries and leisure services, added: “I think it’s a tremendous accolade for St Helens that the Chief Executive of the Arts Council has taken the time to write this following the announcement, on what must have been a very busy day for them.

“It’s a wonderful endorsement of everything our libraries, arts service and partners like Heart of Glass strive to accomplish – making St Helens a centre for inclusive, accessible and engaging culture."