£90,000 funding axed for Wolverhampton Light House arts centre
An arts centre which is known for its high profile photography has had its £90,000 arts council funding axed.
The Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton will as a result no longer be able to offer a full-time, curated programme of photography exhibitions in the main gallery and will be unable to display the work of some of the big names it had previously heralded.
Bosses at the centre however, say they are looking at the cut as an opportunity to open up their gallery space to a more diverse forms of artwork – and not just display photography.
The Light House Media Centre which is based on Fryer Street, Wolverhampton, had received Arts Council funding since the mid 90s, and had applied for £90,000 for a two- year programme.
This amount would then be matched by their own funding and a Wolverhampton City Council contribution. But the Arts Council said they were unable to provide the funding.
In the past the gallery has exhibited works from the likes of Martin Parr, Bruce Gilden, Simon Roberts, Edmund Clark, Michelle Sank, Kurt Tong and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Due to the loss of funding the curator's role at the centre no longer exists, but bosses at the venue were keen to point out this job was not paid for out of the Arts Council funding.
CEO of the centre Kelly Jeffs said: "We are of course very disappointed."
