Context

That Wales forms, attracts and fosters a broad, viable and ambitious Applied Arts sector where makers have access to a resourced network of galleries, services and facilities, allowing their work to flourish and reach an ever-increasing number of people locally, nationally and internationally.

• Arts Council of Wales sees a renewed need to support the spread of exhibiting spaces in Wales and recognise that support in curatorial development specific to the Crafts and Applied Arts needs to be pursued.
• Supporting quality, innovation and professional development in careers for both makers and curators needs matching to display possibilities in resourced and networked galleries, and the fostering of an expansion of interest within and beyond Wales.
• Wales has a number of maker-run spaces and membership organisations that promote and sell their work through retail and gallery spaces. These organisations are important to the sector; they provide a platform for their members to operate economically and artistically. The level of creative ambition of such organisations needs to be nurtured and developed more.
• Arts Council of Wales must encourage collecting of the Crafts and Applied Arts by public institutions and by individuals. The very serious and independent development of practice and understanding of the Crafts and Applied Arts in our day is creating a growing demand for Wales to develop a distinct national collection in this area.
• The competitive edge of the higher education facilities hinges on quality of practice and on innovation and openness to technological experimentation and advances. Our aim is to improve the circumstances for early career development for graduating makers, by creating circumstances conducive to the sustainability of fledgling careers in Wales.

• To give support to individual practice at key career stages.
• To improve support to Gallery programmes across Wales: exhibitions, education, outreach and the development of audiences paralleling development of curatorial practice.
• Improve support to facilitate makers access to a diversity of markets regionally, nationally and internationally.
• Carry forward advocacy for Crafts and the Applied Arts particularly for their role in the creative economy of Wales and the advancement of the practice of Design.
• Work in tandem with the Crafts Council to provide services to makers, develop exhibition programmes, and participate in research projects.
• Improve dissemination of practice in Wales: getting more editorial and critical coverage.
• Achieve greater visibility for culturally diverse work in the crafts and applied arts.
• Develop networks for practitioners and curators including via international exchanges.
• Foster development of studio spaces and their clustering.
• Advocate for a focal point to bring together interdisciplinary work interfacing architecture, environmental sciences, design, crafts and applied arts, technologies and art in the public domain.

This information was taken from Arts Council of Wales "Artform Strategies 2008-13" document.