As you’re on our website, you’ll probably agree – without the arts, public life would be much poorer. From large scale outdoor operatic performance, to the kids crafts table in your local library – “the arts bring happiness, the arts make things happen.”

So say the Arts Council England. Founded in 1940 they were originally the Committee for Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) they’ve undergone several incarnations to become the government and lottery funded organisation they are today. They  support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.

And the great thing? The projects that get funded aren’t just a grand amount of fun, many also make a phenomenal difference to peoples’ lives. Take SprungDigi, a digital project to help learning disabled people become more connected to their community. Or Music for Change which was developed by Plymouth Music Zone to improve the health and emotional wellbeing of the most vulnerable children, young people and families going through challenging and traumatic changes. Or just think the last time a song, or show or picture made you feel something, because we’re willing to bet it was in the last 24 hours.

Arlington Arts are proud to be hosting some of the best Arts Council Funded projects and companies this season. Stopgap Dance will be bringing their latest production Artificial Things  Stopgap Dance Company create exhilarating dance productions for national and international touring, employing disabled and non-disabled artists who find innovative ways to collaborate. Slowly suffocating in each other’s company, a group of individuals seek escape in a bash of riotous rock-n-roll. However, their wild disorder descends into playground politics and reveals some uncomfortable truths.

Benji Kirkpatrick (of Bellowhead & Faustus) arrives in September with his solo show Bendrix. Reinventing the greatest songs from Jimi Hendrix on bouzouki, banjo and mandolin, it’s Hendrix like you’ve never heard it before. Badac theatre, whose work focuses on exploring human rights tragedies, perform The Flood. Set against the bloody backdrop of WW1, a romance struggles to stay alight between a soldier and frontline nurse. As both the characters’ (and the audience’s) mentalities are tested, everything banal and brutal is brought to the foreground.

You can find out more about the Arts Council, or recent cuts to their funding, here. For more details on Arlington performances call the box office on 01635 244 246, or visit our website..